THE ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL POWERS) REPEAL BILL, 2017 By
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1 AS INTRODUCED IN LOK SABHA Bill No. 21 of 2017 THE ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL POWERS) REPEAL BILL, 2017 By DR. THOKCHOM MEINYA, M.P. A BILL to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Sixty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 1. (1) This Act may be called Armed Forces (Special Powers) Repeal Act, 2017. Short title and commencement. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification 5 in the Official Gazette, appoint. 2. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 is hereby repealed. Repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. (Act No. 28 of 1958). STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA) is a draconian law that gives Indian soldiers impunity while battling insurgencies in north-eastern parts of India. The battle against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is a long, bitter one. On August 15, 1942, Lord Linlithgow, the viceroy of India, promulgated the Armed Forces Special Powers Ordinance to suppress the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatama Gandhi. Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and most leaders of the Indian National Congress were imprisoned under this law. A few years after Indian independence, the Government of India led by Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister. faced his first insurgency in Naga districts of Assam, along the Burmese border. In 1954, the Nagas began an insurgency for independence. India responded by sending in thousands of Indian army soldiers and para-military forces to crush the rebellion. An intense cycle of violence followed. To further arm his counter insurgents and provide them with legal protection, the then Government passed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958. The discontent in the borderlands of India wasn't limited to the Naga areas. Signs of trouble and disillusionment with being ruled by a bureaucrats from New Delhi were growing in the former princely State of Manipur, which had merged with India in 1949. In 1964, a separatist militant group seeking independence from India, the United National Liberation Front, was formed in Manipur. India reacted to the centrifugal force by granting statehood to Manipur in 1972, which brought an elected local Government and greater financial resources. A few years later, inspired by Maoist ideas, some Manipuri rebels travelled to Lhasa and, with Chinese support, formed an insurgent group, the People's Liberation Army, which sought independence of Manipur. Several smaller insurgent groups came into being. India responded by declaring Manipur a "disturbed area" and imposed the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in late 1980. A brutal cycle of insurgency and counter insurgency has continued ever since, claiming several thousand lives. It may be seen that the disturbed areas of the country have seen grave crimes against the citizens of the country. It has led to a culture of impunity and grave violation of human rights including violation of article 21 of the Constitution which provides right to life and liberty to its citizen. The AFSPA violates the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ("UDHR''), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"), the Convention Against Torture, the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the United Nations Body of Principles for Protection of All Persons Under any form of Detention and the United Nations Principles on Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra- Legal and Summary Executions. As a matter of fact, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 popularly known as AFSPA is a draconian law, which was originally framed by the British Colonial power in order to suppress its colonial subjects. The irony is that this law is still in vogue in this largest democracy of the world. The Supreme Court, various Commissions, Committees including International Organisations have recommended the repeal of this draconian law. The report of the Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee (2005) recommending, among others, repeal of the Act is already with the Government. The report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007) headed by none other than the former Union Minister, Shri M. Veerappa Moily, who was also the former 2 3 Union Law Minister recommended, among others, repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. Further, the report of the Working Group on Confidence-Building Measures in Jammu and Kashmir (2007) headed by Shri Hamid Ansari, Hon'ble Vice-President of India recommended, among others, repeal of AFSPA. The Justice J.S. Verma Committee (2012) had recommended the repeal of this Act. It is a fact that many citizens had been killed in ‘‘fake encounters’’ and ‘‘several cases of enforced disappearances’’ had been recorded in the country because of this infamous Act. Also, around 169 countries had recommended the repeal of this draconian Act. The Bill, therefore, seeks to repeal the Armed Forces (Special powers) Act, 1958. NEW DELHI; November 20, 2016. THOKCHOM MEINYA LOK SABHA ———— A BILL to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. ———— (Dr. Thokchom Meinya, M.P.) GMGIPMRND—4057LS(S3)—06-02-2017..