Recommendations from Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and UN on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

28 March 2012

Christoff Heyns, United Nations Special Rapporteur with delegation from Manipur at Guwahati

CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN MANIPUR AND THE UN

Prof. CHRISTOF HEYNS, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who is on an official mission to India from 19-30 March 2012, visited Guwahati on 28th March to meet victims and with civil society and government. The North East region consultation was co-organised by the North East Human Rights Defenders' Network, Women in Governance Network North East, the United NGOs Mission – Manipur and the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN.

Justice (retd.) W.A. Shishak, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh and former Chairperson of the Manipur Human Rights Commission, chaired the consultation which was also attended by Justice (retd.) C. Upendra, and former members of the Manipur Human Rights Commission, Yambem Laba and R.K. Rajendra Singh. Delegates, including news media-persons from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura were present at the well-attended consultation at the Hotel Brahmaputra Ashok. The President of the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union (AMWJU) also attended the consultation.

During his visit to the North East region, Prof Heyns met with members of the Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families' Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) and Gun Widows' Association Sadar Hills, family members of arbitrary killings from Assam and human rights defender organisations of the region in an interactive meeting.

The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN (CSCHR) submitted a memorandum that describes killings of indigenous persons and groups that are in violation of international human rights and humanitarian law occurring in Manipur, India.

The memorandum focused on killings by law enforcement officials due to excessive use of force during arrests, deaths in custody and killings of vulnerable groups. It elaborated on the political context of the armed conflict prevailing in Manipur for the past over three decades, which forms the context of the summary or arbitrary killings, information on the domestic legislative provisions, gaps in the investigation and judicial processes and the independence of the judiciary, the limitations of inquests and post-mortem procedures, absence of a witness protection programme and issues concerning impunity, justice and reparation for the victims' families were also provided. Many recommendations were made to the UN Special Rapporteur.

The recommendations from CSCHR included:

After listening attentively to the participants of the consultation, Prof. Heyns said that he was moved by the narratives from the region, especially the way the memories of the deceased are being kept alive. He also said that though it was important to keep those who had become victims alive through our memories his mandate is to ensure that people are never taken away suddenly from their families by summary or arbitrary killings. He stated that he would share his recommendations to the government of India on the last day of last mission when he will hold a press conference at New Delhi.

Download the entire memorandum here

(Laifungbam Debabrata Roy)
Convenor