INDIA: A person allegedly killed and two seriously injured by the Border Security Force in Manipur

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its local partner, the Human Rights Alert (HRA) based in Manipur, India, regarding an alleged incident of shooting of a person by the Border Security Force (BSF) stationed in Manipur, while he was walking past a security post with his hands up in a line along with his six other friends. It is alleged that the seriously injured victim was taken to the military camp instead of a hospital, which resulted in his death. It is also reported that in yet another incident of indiscriminate firing by the BSF two other persons were also seriously injured.   
 
CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, young girls of Nongpok Sekamai village under Lila Kambong, Yairipok police station, Thoubal district organised a Thabal Chongba (community dance) at the Lila Kambong public ground on the night of 1 February 2007. It is alleged that a bullet proof BSF vehicle drove in and parked about 30 feet from the ground. Two heavily armed BSF officers came out of the vehicle and sat on the roof of the vehicle.

At about 9.30 pm the villagers heard several rounds of gun shots being fired in the direction of the BSF vehicle. In retaliation, the BSF officers fired indiscriminately in all directions and started driving their vehicle towards their camp, firing in all directions.

In the incident Mr. Yambem Kala aged about 22 years was hit by one of the shots behind his head. Kala fell down and was later taken to the Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal where is currently undergoing treatment. Another person Mr. Wangkhem Bikram Singh was also hit by a bullet in his right ear and is under going treatment.

The same day, at about 9.50 pm Mr. Ningthoujam Thokchao alias Ranbir aged about 28 years and his friends Mr. Sharat, Mr. Robin and Mr. Hemanta were returning home from the local market. On the way they were informed that there had been a shoot out during the Thabal Chongba at Nongpok Sekmai Lila Kambong ground.

When they passed the first BSF check post, the guard on duty stopped them and interrogated as to where they were going? They explained that they were returning home. They were asked to walk with their hands up which they complied. But as they reached the main gate of the BSF check post, they were fired at from inside the BSF check post. Immediately they all lied down on the ground to escape from the firing. But they discovered that Mr. Thokchao was already hit by several bullets (7 projectiles were recovered from his body during the autopsy). When Mr. Thokchao’s friends tried to pick him up to take to the hospital, one soldier came out and asked them to go back by keeping their hands up leaving the injured person behind. But it was difficult for them to leave their injured friend alone in that condition, so they continued to attend to him.

Then, the BSF personnel again started firing on them abd they fled. On reaching the Nongpok Sekmai Bazar, they informed the local Meira Paibis about the incident. The Meira Paibis rushed to the spot and saw that BSF personnel had dragged Mr. Thokchao inside their camp and told them that he would be taken to the hospital. The soldiers then asked two local youths Mr. Geetchandra and Mr. Pratipkumar to accompany them as witness.

According to the witnesses, after about one hour the injured was taken to the hospital by the BSF personnel in their vehicle. When they reached Thoubal Kshetri Leikai, they stopped by at another BSF camp delaying another precious 20 minutes or so. Later they drove down towards the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) hospital. Mr. Thokchao died soon after he reached the RIMS hospital.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

After the forced integration of Manipur to India, Manipur witnessed some of its most violent days in recent history. Manipur, mostly populated by indigenous communities, is under a violent socio-political war perpetuated by vested interests of migrant traders and insensitive politicians. The lack of understanding of the central government of India on the issue has not only failed to improve the situation, but further worsened it by dividing the society on ethnic grounds. This has not only partially destroyed the indigenous culture and the local community, but has also brought in rivalry within the society on ethnic grounds.

To gain short-term control, the Indian government and its defense agencies found it useful to exploit the differences between the ethnic groups, which include Meiteis and Kukis and a few dozen other equally strong communities. To complicate matters further worse the government finding it easy grouped all the indigenous communities together under a single banner of scheduled tribes. In the caste ridden Hindu upper caste society that dominates policies and politics in Delhi, a scheduled tribe is equal to that of an untouchable and their problems were of no much of a concern for them in Delhi. This is reflected in various government policies and also by the number of electoral constituencies allotted to represent these communities in the central government.

Over the course of time Manipur also was subjected to high militarisation. As of toady a huge military contingent is present in Manipur. A staff member of the AHRC who visited Manipur in August 2006 found dozens of military and paramilitary vehicles bringing in hundreds of armed military officers into the state. As of today the proportion of military personnel to that of the locals is similar to that of a wartime arrangement. One excuse the government of India posses for such a high amount of military presence is the fact that Manipur is a border state. However, this argument does not hold good since the deployment and engagement of these military and paramilitary units are well within the state and the situation is such that it is the army majours and generals who dictate things in Manipur and not the civilian government. The high militarisation in Manipur has resulted in blatant violation of human rights in Manipur. A legislation, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 gives near to complete impunity to the atrocities committed by the military and paramilitary units in Manipur.

As of today, Manipur is reeling under military rule and democracy and local government serves no better purpose than a scare crow in the state. Human rights violations and abuses happen every hour, but much less is reported in the national or in regional media. It is only few daring organisations like the Human Rights Alert in Manipur report abuses and atrocities committed by the military and paramilitary in Manipur, that too under the shadow of personal threat for its activists. The Asian Legal Resource Center has reported many of such cases from Manipur through its publication article 2 which is now available online. For further details please see http://www.article2.org/pdf/v05n06.pdf

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the relevant authorities mentioned below urging for an immediate and thorough investigation into this case so that actions are taken against the alleged perpetrators. Please also request the authorities in India to repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 of India. The AHRC is also writing to the Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions Mr. Philip Alston calling for an immediate intervention in this case.

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