More than 260 extrajudicial killings in Manipur in 11 months

More than 260 extrajudicial killings in Manipur in 11 months

A Press Release from Human Rights Alert (HRA), Imphal, forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), says:

Independent Citizens Fact Finding Mission to Manipur, Imphal
Press Release

A team of concerned citizens comprising of Dr. K. S. Subramanian IPS, formerly of the Manipur-Tripura cadre and currently visiting professor, Jamia Millia University, New Delhi; Mr. Sumit Chakravartty, Editor, Mainstream; Ms. Kavita Srivastava, National Secretary People’s Union for Civil Loberties; and Ms. Vasundhara Jairath of Delhi Solidarity Group is on a fact finding mission in Manipur from November 5. The mission was undertaken in the wake of heightened tensions in the state since July 2009.

Mr. Prabhash Joshi, veteran Hindi journalist and a consistent voice against violation of human rights, who was to join the team on November 6 and had expressed grave concern over the situation in Manipur, asking his doctor to allow him to make this visit, passed away due to a cardiac arrest on the 5th night. We are shocked and saddened by this sudden loss. His undoubting commitment to justice, peace, and free speech shall continue to inspire everyone, particularly in the field of journalism.

Our Terms of References are:
- Visit and interact with families of those killed in alleged fake encounters;
- Take account of the number of people killed, arrested, tortured, detained, etc by forces;
- Interact with those in jail or those released after detention/arrest;
- Meet the Chief Minister, and other officials concerned with the law and order situation;
- Prepare a narrative and photo documentation of the visit;
- Compile a comprehensive report of the facts collected with analysis and recommendations and present it to all the stakeholders and national/regional media.

In the last three days in Manipur we have met a cross-section of people here, including the Chief Minister, Director General of Police, Inspector General - Human Rights and Prisons, members of the civil society, citizens' groups, academics, media persons and families of the victims of state violence.
At the meeting with the Chief Minister, in which the DGP was present, the general situation in the state was reviewed. The DGP confirmed that in the past 11 months over 260 people have been killed in the state. The DGP also asserted that all of them are underground activists.

When the committee expressed concern that more than a quarter of the prisoners in Manipur were detained under the National Security Act, and brought up the case of detained human rights defender, Mr. Jiten Yumnam, the DGP defended Jiten's detention and said he too was connected with the underground.

The Chief Minister said he was prepared for a second round of talks with those agitating over the 23rd July killings, after the first round on October 31. The Chief Minister said that several of their demands could not be met. Regarding the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, he said the matter rests with the Central government. The team members appealed to the government that in order to prevent further alienation of the citizens from the state, each killing must be properly investigated, the National Security Act cases reviewed and the family members of the deceased appropriately rehabilitated through a just rehabilitation policy. The team also raised the issue of Ms. Irom Sharmila Chanu's health, accommodation and access to the hospital.

On 6th November, the team was happy to meet Sharmila, now in the 10th year of her heroic hunger strike against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. The team calls upon the government to provide similar access to other civil society organizations to meet Sharmila. Her family members should be permitted to meet her on a regular basis. Being allowed only a limited number of visitors, she expressed her desire to meet, see and speak to more people more often. Her strength and courage in undertaking the longest satyagraha in the world, completely peaceful and non-violent, leaves us in awe of her struggle. Her demand for the repeal of the Act must be considered in the light of several official recommendations.

Since Ms. Mahashweta Devi was denied permission to meet her the previous day, Sharmila handed over a letter to the team members for the respected Magsaysay Award winner. She further expressed her concern over the number of innocent persons that were killed everyday in Manipur due to the high degree of violence in the state.

Through our discussions in Imphal, we have come across repeated allegations against the state security forces. The team expresses its deep concern over the deteriorating situation and the prevailing climate of impunity in Manipur. It conveys its solidarity with the victims of violence and calls for adequate recompense to the hapless women and children who have lost their husbands/fathers/sons and the only earning members of the families and to ensure employment opportunities to them.

Many have described the killings as fake encounters – murder of innocents who perished either in custody or otherwise, but without legal sanction. Each of these allegations must be investigated in a transparent manner and the guilty punished. Further, there have been charges of using preventive detention laws to curb citizens' democratic rights to protest and freely express their views. The high degree and the frequency of violation of human rights in the state is also cause for alarm. Restoration of peace and order must go hand in hand with the promotion of the rule of law and justice for the sustenance of democracy.

This is an interim report. The final report will follow. We hope to release the findings of the team on 18th November, 2009 in New Delhi.

The team feels that the consequences of continuing violence would be disastrous and will adversely affect peace building and reconciliation in society.

For further information, please contact: 
Mr. Babloo Loitongbom
Human Rights Alert
Imphal, Manipur
INDIA
Telephone: + 91 9862008838
Email: bloitongbam@gmail.com

Security Forces Acting as 'Mercenary Killers' in Manipur

An Indian Reserve Battalion Personnel lobs a grenade causing serious injuries to 5 civilians. The grenade is of the type that are usually used by Armed Opposition Groups. The law-enforcement personnel has been arrested. Police says, militants may hav...e infiltrated the security forces. Human Rights Defenders say, security forces acting as 'mercenaries'.

The Telegraph reports,

Grenade blast near hospital - Five hurt in Manipur, IRB jawan held

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Imphal, Aug. 21: A grenade blast in front of a hospital at Thangal Bazar here this morning left five persons wounded, two of them seriously. Police have arrested a rifleman, T. Munal, from the IRB’s 2nd battalion on suspicion of having thrown the grenade and are investigating whether he has any links with the Kangleipak Communist Party (Military Council). The grenade exploded about 20 feet from the main entrance of Chamber Hospital, Medical Care and Research Centre, along the approach road around 6.30am. The site is about 200 metres from Imphal City police station and 150 metres from the Assembly. “Not many people were present at that time. I saw something rolling on the road and suddenly it exploded in front of our medicine store,” a salesman of the store, Rajen Singh, said. He was lucky. Eight-year-old Yashika Jain was not. The girl, who lives on the first floor of the building next to the hospital, was coming down to buy medicines for her fever when the grenade exploded near her feet. Splinters hit her right ankle and belly. Doctors said the splinters would have to be surgically removed. Md Leihaluddin, 18, was just stepping out of the hospital to get medicines for his mother, Fatima, who had undergone a surgery, when the blast occurred. A splinter is lodged in his lungs. He was referred to Shija Hospital for immediate operation. Doctors said the condition of both Yashika and Leihaluddin was serious. Three others, relatives of patients and passersby, were discharged after first aid. The blast damaged the exteriors of nearby shops. Confirming the arrest of the IRB jawan, senior superintendent of police L. Kailun said, “We are investigating and interrogating him to know more details.” The police are probing whether the jawan is a member of the KPC (MC) or whether he was engaged by the outfit for a fee. The police suspect the KCP (MC)’s involvement in the blast because the outfit had earlier owned up to leaving a pinless Chinese hand grenade at the entrance of the hospital on August 15 morning. They said a Chinese grenade was also used in today’s blast. The outfit had said in a statement the next day that the grenade was a warning to the hospital for not complying with its rules and regulations. A functionary of the hospital’s managing committee today said, “We did not receive any threat or demand from any group. No one contacted us. We cannot say whether our hospital is the target as there were several medicine stores near the gate of the hospital.” The police believe the motive for today’s blast could be extortion. The recovery of a grenade last Saturday and today’s explosion have terrified doctors, nurses and patients at the hospital. The staff and doctors staged a sit-in in front of the hospital this afternoon in protest against the attack.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090822/jsp/frontpage/story_11394515.jsp

A Fake Encounter in Barak Valley of Assam

A Fake Encounter in Barak Valley of Assam

It was reported in the news papers on 23 October, 2007 that on 22 October at about 10am five Central Reserve Police Force personnel belonging to Gharmura Camp of E-147 Company shot dead one Jamir Uddin Laskar of about 35 years of village Boinchera (also known as Bhaichera) under the Katlichera Police Station in the district of Hailakandi in Barak Valley of Assam. Members of the Barak Human Rights Protection Committee talked with family members, relatives and nieghbours of the deceased, local journalists, CRPF personnel of the said camp and police personnel of Katlichera Police Station. According to the sources, other than the two mentioned last, the victim Jamir Uddin Laskar was a poor daily wage labourer. He is an innocent peace loving and law abiding citizen. There were no complaints whatsoever against him in police records. His nieghbour Moijun Nesa states that in the morning of the day of incident the victim was collecting grass to graze his cattle from a paddy field adjacent to her house. At about 10am she saw five CRPF men accompanied by one Rezwan Uddin, who is known to be a CRPF informer, going towards the paddy field where the deceased was working. She smelt something wrong and informed Sajna Begum and Anwara Begum, sister and wife of the victim respectively. When three of them went to the place of occurrence they saw Rezwan Uddin identifying the victim was asking the men in uniform to shot by pointing his fingers towards Jamir Uddin who was dumbfounded at the sight. At that moment Sajna and Anwara started to cry and beseech the men with arms to spare the life of Jamir Uddin at which they were beaten, kicked, abused and humiliated. As per the accounts of the eye-witnesses named above, at the instance of Rezwan Uddin a bullet was shot targeting Jamir Uddin which was missed, the second shot also missed but the third bullet hit on the back of the target, who had already started to run away, and piercing his chest exited. The critically injured victim was sent to the Silchar Medical College Hospital, Silchar where he was declared dead at 6.30pm that day.

The relatives of the victims believe that the CRPF men was induced and bribed by Rezwan Uddin who wanted to teach Jamir Uddin a lesson for his denial of marrying his brother Jakir Uddin Laskar with the daughter of Sams Uddin who is a relative of Rezwan Uddin. But some villagers believe that there is something deeper. Requesting anonymity they claim that many CRPF personnel of the Gharmura camp extorting people in collusion with an extremist outfit dominated by Riyang (a tribal community) named United Liberation Front of Barak Valley. They cited the act of fixing sign boards containing the words "Beware, you are under the watch of CRPF" in electric posts and other conspicuous public places in the entire Gharmura area as an example of tactics adopted by the force to create panic in the minds of the people. However, the sign boards were withdrawn at the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner. The villagers of Boinchera are convinced that Jamir Uddin might have come to know of some concrete evidence of such extortionist and terrorist activities of CRPF there, for which it was necessary for the force to shut his mouth for ever.

On the other hand, CRPF and police claim that Jamir Uddin was a terrorist and died in an encounter but they are unable to say to which outfit he belonged. When B Rajput, the commandant of the camp was contacted he asked us to contact Rabindra Sinha, in-charge of Katlichera Police Station for more information who just told us that an FIR against the deceased was registered lodged by CRPF commandant.

The people of the valley demand unanimously and unequivocally an impartial investigation of the incident.