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INDIA: Need support the demand of a young social activist's hunger strike for 22 months

September 23, 2002

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

24 September 2002

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UA-43-2002: Need support the demand of a young social activist's hunger strike for 22 months

INDIA: Risk of human security; Hunger strike to remove the Armed Forces Powers
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"Support the demand of 29 year old, Sharmila of Manipur, 22 months on hunger strike"

"Remove the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958; rescind the 'disturbed area' status from Manipur"

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) recommends to you to support the campaign launched by Ms. Irom Sharmila on 2 November 2000 when she spontaneously went on a hunger strike after the random killing of 22 innocent by-standers by the armed forces of India in Manipur. She had reached the end of her tolerance of the endemic violence, disappearances, killings of innocent people, which was made possible by the imposition of the draconian AFSPA, and the designation of Manipur as a 'disturbed area', where the armed forces have free play.

On 5 November 2000, Sharmila was arrested and charged with attempt to commit suicide. In prison up till today she is being forced fed.

In Manipur, her struggle is supported by many people; human rights', women's, workers' and students' organizations, have all added their voices to Sharmila's silent protest.

We are calling on you to step up the campaign now, since the newly appointed the President of India will be visiting Manipur in early October, and it would be good if he heard more voices supporting Sharmila's demand before and during his visit.

AHRC has launched a web-site and an on-line petition, using the petition formulated by the Human Rights Alert in Manipur (see below).

Please visit our website at http://ahrchk.net/sharmila/index.php


SUGGESTED ACTION

Please join petition on-line at: http://www.ahrchk.net/sharmila/mainfile.php/petition/3/, upon which a copy of the petition will be sent automatically to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President and Prime Minister of India.

This web-site specially dedicated to Sharmila contains much background material about Sharmila herself and the highly militarized situation in Manipur.

Or

Sign the Human Rights' Alert petition (following) and send it by fax or ordinary post, to the addresses below.

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Petition Campaign launched by Human Rights' Alert, Manipur

To:

The President of India, Shri Abdul Kalam
The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
The Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani

Date:

Subject: Request for your Intervention in the Case of Hunger Strike of Ms. Irom Sharmila

Your Excellencies,

This is to bring to your kind notice that Ms. Irom Sharmila, a 29 year old social activist from Porompat, Imphal East District, has been on an indefinite fasting protest demanding the revocation of the Disturbed Areas status under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, from Manipur.

The fast commenced on 2 November 2000, following the massacre by the Assam Rifles of 10 innocent civilian by-standers including women in Malom Village, Manipur. Following Shamila's protest a Magisterial Inquiry was instituted to ascertain the facts of this heinous attack. However, the armed forces moved the Gauhati High Court and successfully obtained a stay on the proceeding of the Inquiry.

On 5 November 2000, the third day of her hunger strike, Sharmila was arrested by the police on the charge of attempted suicide. She is being forcefully nasal fed in judicial custody for more than 20 months. Currently she is being held at the Sajiwa Jail, Manipur. Three ministeries and president's rule over the last two years have failed to bring any honourable solution to the legitimate demands raised by Sharmila on behalf of the people of Manipur who have been dealing with the harsh consequences of the prolonged imposition of the 'disturbed areas' status under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Under these circumstances, we the human rights/civil liberties community of the country appeal to your Excellency to lift the 'disturbed areas' status from areas of Manipur where the civil authority can take charge.

We especially appeal that urgent steps be taken in ensuring that Ms. Irom Sharmila is unconditionally released by the police and the false charges withdrawn, so that after almost two years of illegal detention she may resume a normal life.

We hope you meet your promise made to the youth of this country.

Thanking you in anticipation,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR APPEALS TO;

1. The President of India
H.E. Shri Abdul Kalam
Office of the President,
Rashtrapati Bhawan,
New Delhi, 110004
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 3017290/3014570
Tel: +91 11 3016767 (Joint Secretary of President), 3014507 (Personal Secretary of President)
Email: presssecy@alpha.nic.in or Pressecy@Sansad.nic.in

2. The Prime Minister of India,
H.E. Atal Bihari Vajpayee
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi 110 011
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 3016996 (Joint Secretary of PM), 3018939 (Personal Secretary of PM)
Fax: +91 11 3016857/3019545 (Office), +91 11 3019334 (Residence)
E-mail:vajpayee@sansad.nic.in or http://pmindia.nic.in/writetous.htm

3. The Home Minister of India
Mr. L.K. Advani
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Dehli 110 001,
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 3015750
Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-43-2002
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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.