INDIA: Human Rights Defender and family in Manipur intimidated by the Army and the Manipur Police

Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from Human Rights Alert, Manipur regarding the harassment meted out to their employee, activist Ms. Ranjeeta Sadokpam and her family by both the Manipuri Police and Indian Army Personnel. Ms. Ranjeeta works as a researcher for the Human Rights Alert in Manipur.

CASE NARRATIVE:

At around 1 am in the intervening night of 26th and 27th February 2018, Ms.Ranjeeta Sadokpam was disturbed by a voice outside of her house calling for a ‘Somendro.’ She replied to the voice saying that there was no such person staying in her house, however, there was repeated calls for her to open the door. Stepping out onto her balcony on the first floor, she saw a Manipuri police officer outside her door. He then demanded that she open the door as they wanted to conduct a search. Upon her asking if there was an authorised officer to conduct such a search, an army personnel stepped out into the dim light. He identified himself as an Army Major.

Ms. Ranjeeta stepped back into her house to discuss what was to be done with her siblings. The knocks grew louder and more insistent. Mr. Dhiren A. Sadokpam, the elder brother of Ranjeeta is an independent researcher and journalist who previously worked for India Today Group in Delhi. He contacted an Army Officer on the phone. Ms. Ranjeeta opened the door and stepped outside with the phone in her and the Army Officer on call, she handed over the phone to the Army Major.

When she looked around, she discovered that there were many more Army Personnel and Manipuri Policemen surrounding her house and neighbourhood. There was also a masked man present.

The Army Officer then asked his team to identify Mr. Dhiren, whose identity card was presented to the Officer. This ID card was shown to the masked man who nodded in negative. Then the officer interrogated Mr. Dhiren about his family. That was when Mr. Dhiren’s younger brother, Ronen, was called out from the adjacent building where he lived. When Ronen and his wife came to the scene, the masked man nodded positively upon seeing Ronen. That was when Ms. Ranjeeta intervened and clarified that Ronen was not the Somendro that they were looking for. Ronen was cornered at a short distance from the house and was spoken to by the army officer and other personnel. ID documents of Ronen were shown to them.

Later, the whole family was required to sign a declaration which was not read out to them and then the personnel left the area. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

In July 2017, India’s apex court passed a historic judgment in the case Extrajudicial Execution Victims’ Families Association, Manipur and Another Vs. Union of India and Ors.[Writ Petition (Crim.) 129 of 2012]. reiterating the primacy of rule of law and that there can be no justification to bypass it. The SC ordered that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) set up an independent Special Investigating Team to enquire into the allegations of ‘fake encounters’ in Manipur. The order comes after the Court had earlier passed a judgment in July 2016 holding that any allegation of the use of excessive or retaliatory force by ‘uniformed personnel’ must be enquired into, along with a direction to the petitioners to provide adequate documentation.

The Human Rights Alert Manipur is Petitioner No. 2 of the case Extrajudicial Execution Victims’ Families Association, Manipur and Another Vs. Union of India and Another [Writ Petition (Cril) 129 of 2012]. Therefore, they could be targets of such intimidation due to the nature of their work, taking on the state authorities and demanding that rule of law is followed. This incident has taken place at a time when the CBI and NHRC investigations are ongoing into the role of the Manipur Police and the Army in these killings.

An F.I.R should be lodged against the army and police personnel who intimidated Ms. Ranjeeta and her family that night. A quick and impartial investigation must be undertaken for the act. At a time when there are investigations into the many extrajudicial killings in the state of Manipur, the safety of the persons who fight for the rights of victims must be ensured by the Government of India.

Further, as a human rights defender, Ranjeeta must be protected against threats. The Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted in 1998 by the UN General Assembly, stated that governments have the duty to “take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of [human rights defenders] against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary actions” as a consequence of their efforts to promote human rights. Therefore, the government is bound by its international legal obligations to ensure that all activists and human rights defenders are provided with protection against arbitrary arrests under false charges, security against violence from law enforcement, so that they may enjoy their constitutional right to due process, life and liberty under Article 21, and the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).

SUGGESTED ACTION:

The AHRC asks for prompt action to be taken on the matter. The Government of Manipur must ensure that the safety of Ranjeeta and her family is ensured and the culture of intimidation and threats must be stopped. Due process must be followed in every single case and FIRs must be registered against the security force members who harassed Ranjeeta and her family. The AHRC is writing separate letters to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, and, the Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances calling for their intervention in this matter.

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