VOTE 4 IROM SHARMILA - Unsung Hero

Sharmila has been nominated for the Indian of the Year award...It is given by NDTV and LIC. the polling has already started...

the last date being 1st December 2007.

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http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/poll_ioy2007.aspx

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People`s Dialogue on Peace Building in Manipur

IMPHAL, Nov 17: Issues relating to peace building in Manipur, with particular emphasis on the role that the public and civil society must play, were thoroughly examined today in a one-day workshop held at the GM Hall, Imphal.

The workshop, `People`s Dialogue on Peace Building in Manipur from Religious and Civil society`s Prespective was organised by the People`s Initiative for Peace, Manipur.

Dr Lenin Raghuvamshi, joint winner of the Gwangju Human Rights Award 2007 along with Irom Sharmila, participated in the workshop, and in his address strongly emphasised the need to guarantee the full democratic and human rights of citizens for any peace process to be meaningful.

Dr Ksh Bimola, dean of social science, Manipur, gave the key note address, observing that the pain of conflict has been felt in Manipur for a long time, and the people of the state have a broad feeling that this should stop.

People don`t feel that violence arising out of conflict cannot bring any solution, and they feel that it is time to act and speak out for peace. The formation of the PIPM prompted by this need, she said, adding that the PIPM feels that not only the path of violence should be abandoned, but a real new start needs to be made for Manipur.

Various speakers, including Maulana Sayed Ahmed, Jameut-Ulma, Chand Thingmei, development secretary, Manipur Baptist Convention, Dr Hawlngm Haokip, president ALM, Prabhu Manamali, ISKCON, Pradeep Phanjoubam, editor, IFP, Laingam, secretary All Manipur College Teachers Association, and AK Kom, secretary, UCM, spoke on peace building in Manipur from different prespectives.

A draft declaration was adopted at the end of the meet, which took the stance that real and lasting peace can only be achieved by involving civil society directly in the peace process, and stressed the need to guarantee democratic and internationally agreed human rights of civilians, and give them the role they deserve in the peace process.

The declaration appealed to the political leaders in Manipur and the government of India to help stop violence and save the lives of the civil population, and strongly urged that military forces should work according to the legal framework of the country, and as well international treaties on humanitarian law.

It further urged all insurgent groups to prevent, and stop the violence in Manipur and look for alternative ways of responding to the demand and interests they want to represent.

It further appealed to all the people of Manipur to help prevent and avoid violence and speak out for peace and move forward for a process of building peace.

The declaration called for the repeal of the AFSPA, in conformity with the long-felt needs and demands of the people which is supported by the Justice Reddy review committee report.

It also took the stance that peace process should be started that includes all citizens of Manipur, and called for taking up a programs for demobilisation, disarmanent and rehabilitation. It also sought initiation of a support program for orphans, widows and women affected by violence, immediate and independent monitoring of the human rights situation in Manipur, and supported a free press, protected from corruption and violence.

It also stressed the importance of providing education for all, creation of employment opportunities, and guaranteed access to land, and called for a state-wide program to fight corruption.

It was stressed the need for inclusion of women in decision making bodies, and the development of a structure where all civil society can share roles and responsibilities for peace.

Observe 19th November as nation wide protest against continuation of AFSPA!!

From: NPMHR Delhi <npmhrlink@gmail.com>
Date: 14 Nov 2007 15:50
Subject: Observe 19th November as nation wide protest against continuation of AFSPA!!
To: NPMHR South <npmhr_south@yahoo.co.in>

Please join a protest on

19^th November against AFSPA
outside Peary Lal Bhavan (ITO),

New Delhi

between 2 and 4 pm

Organized by

Manipur Students Association, Delhi (MSAD),

Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS),

Naga People's Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR),

People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

NO MORE ARMY RULE!

DEMAND REPEAL OF ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL) POWERS ACT, AFSPA

FRIENDS,

• Why is it that nearly 40 million people in North East and Kashmir live under army rule?
• Why is it that in some parts, this army rule has continued unabated for nearly 60 years?
• How can a country which boasts itself as the largest democracy justify army rule and continue to suppress its citizens?

Friends, Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act is a law which gives the state just such a license: a license to kill with impunity, to shoot at sight anyone on mere suspicion, to occupy or destroy any building, to enter any home and to arrest anyone without a warrant. A license that is available to even a non commissioned army officer of the lowest rank. And to take such action the officer needs no permission from a superior and is not answerable to anyone. And it is not easy to prosecute the security forces for offences as the Act provides immunity to them. Wherever such absolute power exists, those empowered turn criminal. So, rapes, torture, custodial deaths, enforced disappearances or fake encounters happen and happen repeatedly, precisely because guilty officials know that the law protects them.

Beginning in 1958 when it was enacted, today the Act covers most of North East and Jammu and Kashmir. Both the enactment and its long duration have been justified on the grounds that the North East and Kashmir are disturbed areas and therefore need a strong law to tackle militancy and insurgency. But consider for a moment the following:

• Should peoples’ aspiration be dealt with militarily? More importantly, should the Indian state, or for that matter, any democratic state, demand subjection and loyalty at the point of a gun? Occupational rule is never just or desirable. And this is precisely what AFSPA does. Today, as many as 11 lakh security personnel are deployed in North East and Kashmir.
• Coercion and military might, can and does suppress people and the extensive use of the AFSPA is proof of this. Be it the Oinam massacre in the 80s, operation Rhino in the 90s, or the Patharibal massacre and rape and torture of Manorama in this decade, army rule is accompanied with a history of heinous offences which no government can justify.
• Besides killing and torturing ordinary civilians in the name of militancy, the brutality with which the forces treat families of militants is reprehensible. This is what the security forces are currently doing in Assam, Manipur and Tripura.
• But political aspirations and convictions are not determined by length of the gun or strength of bullet. If anything, long-term army deployment alienates people instead of convincing them. Continuous protests by the Kashmiri people over widespread crimes committed by the security forces and the lack of any justice to the people against these crimes is a fact that the rest of the nation cannot deny. Protests over Manorama’s rape and murder by the Maira Paibis and the long agitation in Manipur, equally, tell us that army rule is not acceptable.
• When political solutions are sought, if unaccompanied with sincerity on the part of the government, the possibility of lasting peace recedes. The decade long ceasefire between the Indian government and the Naga people has not meant either withdrawal of AFSPA or reduction in deployment of forces. As a result, the armed forces, have entrenched themselves even more firmly within Naga society.

People have protested against this infamous and draconian Act. People have protested time and again. Irom Sharmila’s heroic resistance in the form of hunger fast since 2000 is very well known. But why haven’t successive governments paid heed to these protests? Simply, because no government has genuinely engaged with the question of people’s aspirations. Moreover, all governments believe in the rule of the strong state. Therefore, by leaving the need of opposing AFSPA to only those who are affected by it, we will aid the present government in believing that there’s nothing wrong in using this draconian law.

There is only one-way: a united protest by all against AFSPA – for its unconditional repeal.

Observe 19^th November as nation wide protest against continuation of AFSPA.

Oppose military rule in Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh

Support people’s struggles against military regimes

Manipur Students Association, Delhi (MSAD), Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti (MASS), Naga People’s Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)

Join protest dharna on 19^th November against AFSPA outside Peary Lal Bhavan (ITO), New Delhi between 2 and 4 pm

REPEAL

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act -- AFSPA

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) is one of the heinous draconian legislations that the Indian Parliament has passed in its history. In a brief discussion that lasted for merely three hours in the Lok Sabha and for a paltry four hours in the Rajya Sabha, the Parliament approved the Armed Forces (Assam- Manipur) Special Powers Act with retrospective from 22 May 1958.

Under this Act, all security forces are given unrestricted and unaccounted power to carry out their operations, once an area is declared ‘disturbed’. Even a n

on-commissioned officer is granted the right to shoot to kill based on mere suspicion that it is necessary to do so in order to ‘maintain the public order’. Section 6 of the AFSPA provides them with absolute impunity for all atrocities committed under the AFSPA. A person wishing to file suit against a member of the armed forces for abuses under the AFSPA must first seek the permission of the central government. This basically vests complete impunity to the armed forces.

This Act gives a complete carte blanche to the security forces and not surprisingly it has been severely abused and misused in various conflict areas of northeastern India. For example in Kohima in 1995, the Rastriya Rifles mistook the sound of a tyre-tube burst from their own convoy as a bomb attack and began firing indiscriminately in the town. The firing lasted for more than one hour, resulting in the death of seven innocent civilians (including two girls aged 3 ½ and 8 years old), 22 were also seriously injured.

Similarly, special anti-terrorist legislations like POTA and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2005 have created a politico-legal system that encourages abuse by security agencies. POTA was extensively abused to victimize the minorities and other marginalized sections of the society as is evident from its selective use against the accused persons in the Godhra case. At the time of its repeal, more than 500 cases of POTA were pending in Gujarat alone and all against religious minorities. It was also widely misused for political vendetta as demonstrated by the arrest of MDMK leader, Vaiko by the Tamil Nadu police on extremely flimsy grounds. It must also be noted that the cases registered under the Act subsist even after the repeal of the Act.

The UAPA Act, which came after the abolition of POTA, is a virtual replica of its infamous predecessors. It retains almost all the infamous provisions of POTA like the wide and open-ended definition of terrorism, and the provisions on terrorist organization and guilt by association. In addition, it has explicably added a new chapter on “terrorist organizations” when the original Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act had an elaborate framework for outlawing “unlawful organizations”. Such a declaration was to come into effect only after confirmation by a tribunal consisting of a high court judge. The absence of similar safeguards in the new statute is extremely critical and paves the path for several abuses.

The AFSPA has sparked widespread and repeated protests against its brutalities and abuses in various conflict areas. There were massive protest campaigns in Manipur in 2004 against the Act after the “rape and killing” of Ms Manorama Devi allegedly by the security forces. The Government of India tried to quell the mounting moral and political pressure by constituting a Committee to Review the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

In October 2006, the human rights community in India was surprised at the disclosure by The Hindu newspaper in which it reported that it had managed to secure a copy of report by Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (the Commission). The Commission, established by central government in November 2004, and headed by Retired Justice B.P. Jeevan Reddy, presented its report to the Government in June 2005. Since then the human rights community had tirelessly called for its findings to be released officially.

One positive aspect of the Commission’s recommendations is that the Commission calls for repealing the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). In addition, the Commission recommends that some of the excessive powers granted to the armed forces under AFSPA be abolished - for instance, the authority to use lethal force against any person contravening laws or orders “prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons”. The legislation proposed by the Commission also includes the “Do’s and Don’ts” attached to AFSPA, and rendered binding law by the Supreme Court, and which impose certain restraints on the behaviour and powers of soldiers deployed under the Act.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act must be understood as an instrument through which the Indian State has ignored political solutions to the questions of autonomy in the region and instead, resorted to increased militarisation to curb all such struggles. There is a need for the human rights community and civil society organizations to view the organic linkages between AFSPA and underpinning questions of impunity, militarization, and pervasive undermining of democracy in North East and Kashmir.

There is an urgent need to demand:

· Unconditional Repeal of AFSPA; and non-retainment of any part of the Act.

· Repeal UAPA

· Rigorously protect the civilian population from violent crimes, including terrorism, and prosecute suspected criminals within the framework of criminal law in conformity with international human rights law and standards;

· Unless war breaks out, ensure that the armed forces operate under strict control of civilian authorities, and are not granted any powers beyond those of civilian law enforcement agencies.

· Amend Section 19 of the Protection of Human Rights Act which prohibits the NHRC and State Human Rights Commissions from independently investigating allegations of human rights violations by the armed or paramilitary forces personnel.

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS NETWORK