Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Manipuris rally for curbs on Indian army powers

Bush is forging an even stronger alliance with India, a democracy he points to with pride as a fine example.
#msg-7201378

-Am


(Reuters)

20 August 2005



IMPHAL - At least 2,000 people marched through the streets of the capital of the remote Indian state of Manipur on Saturday appealing for curbs on the Indian army’s powers and an end to human rights abuses.


They were asking the Indian government to repeal the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which gives the army sweeping powers to search, arrest and even kill suspected militants.

London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International says those powers have fostered a climate where security forces ”commit human rights abuses with impunity”.

Heavily armed police and soldiers flanked the demonstrators who shouted slogans and held placards saying “Repeal AFSPA” and ”Protect Human Rights”.

Amnesty’s Indian branch organised Saturday’s march to launch an international campaign to persuade India to repeal the law.

AFSPA was introduced to combat armed separatist militancy in northeast India, and protect the army from prosecution. It was later extended to cover the troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Opponents of the law say the abuses committed under it, including torture, rape and murder, have only fuelled insurgencies in the seven states of northeast India, which are connected to the rest of the country by a thin strip of land.

Last year, Manipur’s capital Imphal saw two months of protests against AFSPA, with hundreds of demonstrators beaten and arrested.

The protests were sparked by the death -- and alleged rape -- in army custody of 32-year-old Manorama Devi.

The army says Manorama was shot while trying to escape and says it needs the law to give it legal protection while soldiers risk their lives fighting militants.

The Indian government set up an “expert committee” to examine AFSPA after the Manorama scandal. On his Independence Day address on Aug. 15, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said its report was being studied but gave no hint of repeal.

“We will take all necessary steps so that there are no violations of human rights under this act,” he said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL265595.htm




Protestors demand end to shoot-on-sight law in India’s revolt-hit northeast
(AFP)

20 August 2005


GUWAHATI, India - Demonstrators poured into the streets on Saturday in India’s revolt-hit northeast, demanding the lifting of a law giving soldiers unlimited powers to shoot on sight.


Some 2,000 to 2,500 people marched along the main thoroughfare in Imphal, capital of the troubled tiny state of Manipur, shouting ”Stop human rights violations” and “Withdraw the draconian act”, police and witnesses said.

The demonstrators demand the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that gives security forces powers to shoot on sight and make arrests without warrants.

The protest was organized by the Manipur chapter of the London-based human rights organization Amnesty International as part of a long-running campaign to pressure the New Delhi government to lift the law.

“People are being killed and raped with impunity by security forces,” T. Singh, one of the rally organisers, told AFP by telephone from Imphal.

Army and paramilitary soldiers followed the protestors in vehicles to avert any violence. “The march passed off peacefully without any trouble,” said police official Dhiren Singh.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2005/August/subcontinent_Augu....