HUMAN RIGHTS SPECIAL REPORT MANIPUR - 2009 [ T v [ j [ T HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE for indigenous advancement and conflict resolution HUMAN RIGHTS SPECIAL REPORT MANIPUR - 2009 MAP OF MANIPUR C H I N A N A TIBET T IS K A N P EP AL I N D I A MYANMAR Human Rights Initiative (HRI), Manipur is a non-governmental organisation, of an independent team of defenders, lawyers and other rights concerned people of Manipur, Eastern Himalayan Region. HRI is registered under the Manipur Societies Registration Act 1989; No. 368/M/SR/09. We are working with a vision of an optimum indigenous and other ethnic peoples’ participation in the process of conflict resolution/peace building collectively, and of a society where indigenous peoples and other ethnic peoples of Manipur (and North East India ) entertain all the human rights standardized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other legal instruments. © All Rights Reserved Human Rights Initiative Publication 2009 Thangapat Mapan Palace Compound Imphal 795001 (India) Email: [email protected] Website: www.hrimanipur.org Special thanks to the Extrajudicial Execution Victims’ Family Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) for extending valuable cooperation and the Media Community of Manipur for useful information and pictures CONTENTS Preface---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Background and Analysis of the Issues---------------------- 2 Some Cases of Extrajudicial Executions and Killed in Indiscriminate Fires-------------------------------------- 11 Data of Extrajudicial Executions 2008 and 2009---------- 156 Data of Illegal Detention and Arrest 2008-------------------- 243 Data of Killed by Unidentified Persons and Non State Actors 2008----------------------------------------- 244 Data of Killed by Unidentified Persons and Non State Actors 2009----------------------------------------- 245 Appendix------------------------------------------------------------------- 247 Short Forms-------------------------------------------------------------- 260 Preface The Human Rights Special Report, Manipur - 2009 prepared by Human Rights Initiative (HRI) and jointly published by HRI and People’s Watch is of case accounts and data especially about the (alleged) extrajudicial executions in Manipur over the last few years. The larger data given in the table format focus on the incidents occurred during the period 2008 and 2009. Human Rights Initiative puts in some other data of rights violations started in the early period of 1970s. An analytical write up is also included covering most of the contents in this report. Without taking any position of abusive and malicious intention on the bias basis, Human Rights Initiative, Manipur would like to make use of our work of fact finding, family visit and documentation for enabling to bring justice for those who are undergoing pain and suffering due to the gross human rights violations especially those who have lost their husbands, sons, fathers, brothers, daughters, sisters and mothers in the so called encounters and other incidents of rights violations. The purpose of this report is to extend an endeavor to draw the attention of authorities and stake holders concerned by alerting with the contents of this report. We intend to make a juxtapose using the indicators that how far the issues of extrajudicial executions veer away right to life of peoples of Manipur from the universal standard namely Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person; and at what extent the incidents of so called encounter deaths contradict the Article 21 of the constitution of India - No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law; and Article 6 of International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights - Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. Also we would like to have the opportunity of taking concern about the resolution to the challenges of the human rights issues of Manipur. Honestly we do not believe in the retributive justice that seeks revenge, assumes that inflicting pain on the perpetrators will restore a sense of reciprocity. For enabling to enjoy our human rights namely life, liberty, equality and dignity guaranteed by the State, we believe in the restorative justice that focuses on the acknowledgement of the harm done to the victim; encourages the perpetrators to take responsibility for harms done; seeks ways to make right the wrong done to victims while helping the perpetrators address the causes of his/her behavior. As we all know, the wise undertaking is the long term approaches by acknowledging the background of the existing human rights issues and by realizing a holistic approach addressing the root causes. Lc. Jinine Meetei Executive Director Human Rights Initiative Human Rights Special Report, Manipur - 2009 1 Background and Analysis of the Issues Manipur Manipur, the land where the game of Polo was born is the ancestral territory of the Manipuri peoples. It is situated in the northeast corner of India and bounded in the east by Myanmar (Burma). The present territorial area is 22,327 sq. km. It lies within 23.83°N to 25.68°E latitude and 93.03°E to 94.78°E longitude. A fertile alluvial valley extends north-south in the middle and it is surrounded in all directions by hill ranges of rich bio resources forming a part of the eastern Himalayas. The peoples of Manipur are more or less known as Manipuris constituting about 36 ethnic groups. The Meeteis being considered as the major ethnic group and they traditionally inhabit the valley along with other ethnic peoples who settled here decades ago. In the surrounding hills, many other ethnic peoples settled. The Manipuris are more akin to the peoples of South East Asia; ethnically and culturally are distinct from the rest of mainland India. The total estimated population of Manipur is above 2.6 million1 including almost 1 million undocumented migrants After the British left the Indian subcontinent in 1947, Manipur regained its sovereign independence. It adopted a written constitution after election of people’s representatives to the State Assembly on universal adult franchise in August 1948. The State Assembly was inaugurated by the King Bodha Chandra in October the same year thereby marking the historic transition from the 2000 year old absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Probably, Manipur was the first to introduce parliamentary democracy in South and Southeast Asia. However, controversially Manipur was annexed into the Dominion of India on 15 October 1949. The King signed under duress2 the ‘Manipur Merger Agreement’ on 21 September 1949. The same day, the Government of India abolished the Manipur Constitution and all its democratic structures, including the State Assembly and the elected government. The Conflict A structural violence emerging out of the creation of social and political structures that deprive the rights of indigenous peoples of Manipur in terms of safety, respect, participation, economy, identity and culture, considered to be the base for the existing conflict which is marked by I. the controversial ‘Manipur Merger’ that abolished the Manipur Constitution and all its democratic structures, including the State Assembly and the elected government II.the subsequent downgrading of the princely State to a Part C State (even not a full fledged state) III.and the imposition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) (Appendix 1). The questionable civil, political, economic, social and cultural situation triggered a new generation fighting for the restoration of political sovereignty on the basis of self determination. A fear of Indian homogenization affecting the indigenous identity due to a perplexity in the culture, religion, and script which began in the early 19th century3, and the nature of regional disparity which mainly characterized by a pattern of being a captive economy along with a pressure of influx population further aggravates the situation. Eventually armed opposition groups (AOG) namely the United National Liberation Front (UNLF-1964), People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK-1977), People’s Liberation Army (PLA-1978), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-1980), and Kanglei Yawon Kanna Lup (KYKL-1994) were formed. They have been resisting the situation and waging war against the government of India. Hijam Irawat who struggled for social justice and equality is considered a pioneer of such generation. The movement of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN - IM and K) also occupies a very important space in a multifold conflict environment. Again, the emergence of armed groups among the Kukis and Meetei-Pangan (Muslim) are seen in the recent years. The structural violence has activated secondary violence of armed conflict and human rights violations, along with various problems of inter ethnic enmity; corruption; paralyzed education; influx population; drug abuse(HIV/AIDS); captive economy; organized crimes, etc. This predicament is rattling along a cycle of violence. Human Rights Special Report, Manipur - 2009 2 The Reality The out of the tatal population of about 2.6 million, the Meetei is considered to be majority having about 0.8 million;