Asia Indigenous Peoples’ Pact
INFORMATION SHARING
For further information, please see the contact details/reference given below
Category: Letter of Concern
Date: May 25, 2010
May 21, 2010
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
New Delhi, India
Dear Sir,
Greetings from the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.
We express our deep concern and condemnation of the recent violence and suppression of human rights in Manipur during the past weeks. These incidents were brought about by the proposed visit of Mr. Th. Muivah, Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) of the Government of the People’s Republic of Nagaland, to his village in the state of Manipur, which is being denied by the Government of Manipur.
To further suppress the rights of the people to peaceful assembly, prohibitory orders to ban public assemblies, rallies, meetings and any other act deemed as “nuisance and threat to public tranquility” were imposed.
The peaceful procession conducted by the Naga residents on National Highway 39 to condemn the brutal assault of Mr. Ashihrii Puni, a Mao Naga of Song Song village, on May 5 by some unidentified MIRB personnel, was met with indiscriminate firing with live bullets, tear gas and stick bombs from the Manipur state security forces. This resulted to the death of 2 young Naga students and physical injuries ranging from slight to serious injuries to an approximate 100 protesters, most of which were women. Houses were allegedly indiscriminately fired at and some men were forcibly taken out of their homes and physically assaulted. This wrought fear among the residents of the area and many of them have fled to a nearby village in Nagaland.
These violations bring about deep concern for the safety and security of the lives of the people in the Manipur area. With this, we call on the governments of India and Manipur to:
Immediately withdraw the police and military elements deployed in and around Manipur specially those encamped within residential areas in order this civilians to go about their daily activities without fear; Conduct a judicial inquiry and prosecute without impunity those involved in the killing of the 2 students and the assault on a number of innocent civilians last May 5 at the Mao gate; Provide due compensation to those who were affected by the excesses of the police and the military; and Recall the order imposing a ban on public assemblies, rallies, meetings and other gatherings as this is a violation of the right of the people to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression
Thank you for your kind attention and we hope that the matters raised above will be acted upon.
Sincerely yours,
Ms. Joan Carling
Secretary General
CC: Dr. P. Chidambaram, Honorable Minister of Home Affairs
Mr. Okram Ibobi, Honorable Chief Minister & Home Minister of Manipur
Mr. Sunil Krishna, Director General, National Human Rights Commission
Chairperson, Manipur State Human Rights Commission