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INDIA: Extra-judicial killings and torture; alleged torture and killing of Ningthoujam Mangoljao and extra-judicial killings of three young boys in Manipur

July 24, 2003

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

24 July 2003
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UA-31-2003: INDIA: Extra-judicial killings and torture; alleged torture and killing of Ningthoujam Mangoljao and extra-judicial killings of three young boys in Manipur
INDIA: Extra-judicial killings and torture
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is concerned with recently repeated extra-judicial killings and torture in Manipur, India. The AHRC has received a report that Mr. Ningthoujam Mangolijao alias Sanjib, a publicity and communication chief of the Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), was allegedly killed by police on 08 July after being arrested on 06 July 2003. Furthermore, three young boys were allegedly executed by Assam Rifles personnel on 13 July 2003 in the area of Sapermeina police station in Senapati District, Manipur. Your urgent action is needed to pressure the Indian and Manipur authorities to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into these cases and to take strong action to stop further extra-judicial killings by the police immediately.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission

SITUATION:

1. Alleged torture and killing case of Mr. Ningthoujam Mangoljao alias Sanjib

On the morning of 08 July 2003, the dead body of Mr. Ningthoujam Mangoljao alias Sanjib, Revolutionary People's Fronts (RPF) publicity chief, was found in Nambul River near Irom Meijrao about 10 km away from where he was picked by the Manipur Police commando team at Lamphelpat on 06 July 2003.

According to testimonies given by two personnel who were arrested along with Mr. Ningthoujam Mangoljao on 06 July, Sanjib was allegedly killed while in custody Manipur police commandos. Mr. Ashem Inaoba Singh and Mr. Oinam Dilip Singh testified that alleged torture and extra-judicial killing took place somewhere in Imphal between 06 July and 08 July 2003. All three named persons belong to the Indigenous Meitei people of Manipur. His family members also believe that Ningthoujam Mangolijao was brutally tortured and killed after he was picked up.

However, Mr. Okram Ibobi, Chief Minister of Manipur, clarified in his statement on 17 July that Sanjib escaped from the security personnel on that very day after he was arrested in the wee hours of 07 July 2003. The minister said that after the arrest, Sanjib, taking advantage of the lack of adequate security escorts, made an escape bid and the police gave chase while firing in the air, but Sanjib managed to escape. The Chief Minister said that the answer to whether he was killed or drowned will be known only by the post mortem report.

However, the opposition party (MLA) member O. Joy said that Sanjib's death could be categorized as custodial death during the morning session of the Assembly on 17 July 2003. He questioned why some persons who had said that Sanjib died in police custody were being hunted. Joining in the discussion, Phayeng Assembly Constituency MLA N Biren inquired how only one driver was inside the vehicle while the police was taking Sanjib away by the police.

2. Extra-judicial killings of three young boys; Kamkholal Haokip(17 years), Sumkhosat Haokip and Satkholun Haokip (15 years)

During the operation of the security personnel in Manipur, three young boys were executed in the wee hours of 13 July 2003 at Gelbung village located about 2 km west of Sapermeina police station in Senapati District, Manipur. Three boys are identified as; Kamkholal Haokip (17 years) and his younger brother Sumkhosat Haokip (age not confirmed) who are sons of Sonthang Haokip of G Solung village, and Salkholun Haokip(15 years) who is son of Letkhai Haokip.

However, Plans Intelligence Branch (PIB) Defense Wing in a statement claimed that the three killed were hard core member of the Kuki National Front (KNF) which is separatist armed group fighting for autonomy within the Indian Union, and they were killed in an encounter during spot investigation. But, villagers said that the three were killed after they were called out from their house by the security personnel following a shoot out with suspected militants in the area.

Based on specific information, while 14 Assam Rifles personnel were carrying out cordon and search operation at Sipijang and Tuljapang village near Sapermeina, an encounter ensued between the troops and militants resulting in death of three militants and injury of one junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Assam Rifles.

After the encounter with the militants, Assam Rifles personnel swooped down on four villages; Gelbung, G-Solung, Mationg Thangbu and L Khumnom. They called out about fifty youths from their homes at about 3.30 AM, and all of them were taken to the playground at Gelbung village. Later at about 6.30 AM, the Assam Rofles personnel picked out Kamkholal Haokip, Sumkhosat Haokip and Salkholun Haokip while the rest were told to go back home. Even as the rest were on their way home, they heard the loud reports of gunfire, said reports. Kamkholal Haokip is a Class X student of Salem Higher Secondary School while Sumkhosat and Satkholun were employed in a hotel at Imphal. All the bodies bore multiple bullet injuries.

Villagers alleged that the Assam Rifles personnel also assaulted around 40-50 villagers including elders after the encounter. The security personnel also set upon the dog they had brought with them on the chief of G Solung village, Ngamkhojang Haokip (30). Assam Rifles personnel also broke the right of hand of Sonthang Haokip, father of the deceased Kamkholal and Sumkhosat. Sonja Haokip (50 years) and Thangjamang Haokip, the pastors of the local church, were also assaulted by the security personnel.

SUGGESTED ACTIION:

Write to the Prime Minister, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission, Chief Minister of the Manipur State Government and UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions expressing your concern on alleged torture and killing of Ningthoujam Mangoljao and extra-judicial killings of three young boys in Manipur.

SUGGESTED LETTER:

Dear

Re: INDIA: Extra-judicial killings and torture; alleged torture and killing of Ningthoujam Mangoljao and extra-judicial killings of three young boys in Manipur

I am greatly concerned by the reports of the severe extra-judicial killing cases of Ningthoujam Mangoljao, and the three young boys, Kamkholal Haokip, Sumkhosat Haokip and Salkholun Haokip in Manipur. I call upon the Indian government to order an immediate and impartial investigation into the cases and bring those responsible persons before an impartial tribunal and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions provided by law. The detailed information of the two cases is below;

1. Case of Ningthoujam Mangoljao alias Sanjib.
Mr. Ningthoujam Mangoljao, Revolutionary People's Front (RPF) publicity chief, was found dead on 08 July after being arrested by police in Manipur on 06 July 2003. According to the testimony of two witnesses, it is alleged that he was killed by the police in Manipur.

2. Case of extra-judicial killings of three young boys
Kamkholal Haokip, Sumkhosat Haokip and Salkholun Haokip were executed on 13 July 2003 by the Assam Rifles personnel at at Gelbung village in Sapermeina police station in Senapati District, Manipur.

I also urge the Indian government to fully guarantee the safety of witnesses in these two cases, especially the two witnesses in the Ningthoujam Mangoljao case. I further kindly encourage the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India to take strong action with the Indian government to stop further extra-judicial killings by the police immediately.

Sincerely yours,
******

Please send a letter to:

1. H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister
South Block, Raisina Hill
New Delhi 110 011
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 3016857/3019545 (O) / +91 11 3019334 (H)
E-mail: vajpayee@sansad.nic.in

2. Shri Justice A S Anand
Chairperson
The National Human Rights Commission of India
Sardar Patel Bhavan,
Sansad Marg, New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 2334 0891 / 2334 7065
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
Emaill: chairnhrc@nic.in

3. Mr. Shir Okram Ibobi Singh
Chief Minister of Manipur
Tel: +91 0385 2220137, 2221833
Fax: +91 0385 2221398
Email: cmmani@hub.nic.in
Website: http://manipur.nic.in/

4. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland
Fax: 41 22 917 9006
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
Tel: 9242 5763 234
Fax: 9242 5763 236
Email: asmalaw@brain.net.pk


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-31-2003
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.