Imphal, December 09 2009: A three day long Independent Peoples' Tribunal on Torture, Extra-Judicial Execution and Forced Disappearance aiming at to offer a platform for victims and civil society to narrate experience and to identify the underlying causes of these human rights abuses will be held on December 11, 12 and 13 at the conference hall, Retreat House, Mantripukhri.

The tribunal is to be organized jointly by the Human Rights Law Network and Extra Judicial Execution Victims Family Association, Manipur in association with Kanglei Young Women Socio Cultural Organisation, Human Rights Initiative, Human Rights Alert and Eastern Rural Development Centre, announced Maihoubam Rakesh, spokesperson of the organising body today at a press conference.

The tribunal is organising in order to offer a platform for victims and civil society to narrate their experience and to identify the underlying causes of these human rights abuses, the state response, as well as exploring steps to eliminate its practice in Manipur, Rakesh said.

During the three-day hearing, the victims will depose in front of a jury of retired judges of various high courts of India, eminent jurists, intellectuals etc.

on December 11 and 12, he said adding that on the third day of the session (on December 13), there will be a session of hearing from various resource persons/experts/eminent social activists and to be followed by an open discussion.

About 350 people had been killed in extrajudicial manner since January this year in the state of Manipur, Rakesh said citing reports from media and observed that it is count of two or three killing a day.

This is a sense of frustration amongst the people of Manipur that there exist no rule of law and the state police have been functioning with complete impunity.

Over and above all this torture, a prolific crime against humanity and dignity is endemic throughout state, despite its prohibition by law, torture often leads to custodian deaths, disappearances and deaths in "encounters".

Despite the introduction of the national as well as state human rights commissions over a decade ago hundreds of cases go unreported, he observed.

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