CEDAW Recommends the Repeal of AFSPA

22 July 2014

Ref: HRA/PR-11/14

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is an international human rights treaty that focuses on women's rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 18, 1979. India ratifies this Convention on 9 July 1993. Once ratified, India had to submit periodic reports to the CEDAW Committee on the steps taken to improve the status of women and end discrimination and violence against women. The combined fourth and fifth periodic report of India was examined by CEDAW Committee on 2 July and its Concluding Observations and Recommendations available at UN document no CEDAW/C/IND/CO/4-5 dated 18 July 2014.

From Manipur UNM-M submitted an alternate report and Human Rights Alert contributed in drafting the chapter on Women in Conflict Areas as a part of the National Alliance for Women’s Organizations (NAWO). In the larger public interest we are reproduced the section of concluding observations and recommendation on violence against women in border areas and conflict zones:

Violence against women in border areas and conflict zones

(a) The provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act requiring prior authorization by the government for prosecuting a member of the security forces, and the reportedly high risk of reprisals against women who complain about the conduct of the security forces

(b) The significant number of displaced women and girl, particularly in the North Eastern region, as well as a result of sporadic communal violence, their precarious living conditions and exposure to serious human rights violations and the lack of gender sensitive interventions at all stages of the displacement cycle;

(c) the continued marginalization and poverty of women and girls survivors of the Gujarat riots living in the relief colonies and their precarious living conditions with limited access to education, health care, employment and security, and poor infrastructure in terms of sanitation, water, transportation and housing;

(d) The lack of centres providing medical, psychological, legal and socioeconomic support to women and girls who are victims of sexual violence in conflict-affected areas;

(e) The limited regulation of arms trade and the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and their impact on the security of women;

(f) The restrictions imposed on women human rights defenders, particularly on those operating in conflict areas including restrictions to international funding and the surveillance under which they are placed; and

(g) The absence of women in peace negotiations in the north-eastern states of the State party.

13. The Committee calls upon the State party to:

(a) In accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee report, promptly review the continuance of the application of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and related legal protocols and to enforce special powers protocols in conflict areas and assess the appropriateness of their application in those areas;

(b) Amend and/or repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act so that sexual violence against women perpetrated by members of the armed forces or uniformed personnel be brought under the purview of ordinary criminal law and pending its amendment or repeal, remove the requirement for government permission to prosecute members of the armed forces or uniformed personnel accused of crimes of violence against women or other women’s human rights abuses and grant permission to enable prosecution in all pending cases;

(c) Amend section 19 of the Protection of Human Rights act and confer powers to the National Human Rights Commission to investigate cases against armed forces personnel, in particular cases of violence against women;

(d) Ensure that the security sector is subject to effective oversight and that accountability mechanisms, with adequate sanctions, are in place and provide systematic training on women’s rights, to the military and other armed forces involved in security operations and adopt and enforce a code of conduct for members of the armed forces to effectively guarantee respect for women’s rights;

(e) Ensure the full and effective implementation of the Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims) Act, as soon as enacted;

(f) Adopt an integrated policy to enhance the living conditions of women and girls survivors of the Gujarat riots including by adopting appropriate economic recovery measures, the allocation of Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards and the provision of other available government Scheme benefits; intensify witness protection and security measures especially for women and girls living in relief colonies;

(g) Ensure the participation of women in peace negotiations in the north eastern states as well as their participation in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in line with Security Council Resolution 1325 and the Committee General Recommendation 30; and

(h) Remove restrictions to the work of human rights defenders such as restrictions to their funding and by not placing them under surveillance.

Babloo Loitongbam
Human Rights Alert
Kwakeithel Thiyam Leikai
Imphal – 795001, Manipur, India
Email : hramanipur(at)gmail(dot)com