Panel wants AFSPA defanged

Irom Sharmila

Nishit Dholabhai.

A high-level panel has recommended dilution of a law that gives special powers to the armed forces at a time Manipur crusader Irom Sharmila has drawn worldwide attention and the decree has failed to resolve militancy, sources said.

The Naresh Chandra committee on security reforms has advised against “continuous promulgation” of the act in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast, the sources said. The report was filed last year but the recommendations have not been made public yet.

If harm befalls Sharmila, who has been fasting for 12 years for the abolition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, India’s reputation will suffer internationally, the sources quoted the committee as telling the government. “The committee has said that if anything happens to her, it will be a blot on Indian democracy,” a source said.

On Tuesday, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah cited Sharmila’s crusade, struggling to beat back tears while discussing death of a postgraduate student in Kashmir in alleged army firing.

The dilution of the act has been recommended in separate chapters on Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast in the report that was submitted to the government in July 2012 after a year of work. The report may be made public this year “after editing,” the source added.

The sources said the committee has contended that a democracy like India cannot grant its security forces the right to kill.

Section 4 (a) of the AFSPA grants security forces liberty to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even causing of death,” at anyone they feel is violating the law. Section 6 of the act then grants immunity to the army personnel who may have caused the death of a citizen. It was under cover of such immunity that Th. Manorama was raped and killed allegedly by Assam Rifles personnel in 2004. The case is pending in court.

To remove arbitrariness in army action, the Naresh Chandra committee has suggested that the words “causing of death” should be removed from the act. Section 6 may also be amended if the committee’s recommendations are accepted.

“How can the state that is responsible for protection of citizens be allowed to kill?” asked an official.

The “entire government has come around to this point of view”, it is believed, but the army is not yielding.

The committee was mandated in 2011 to recommend reforms on all security aspects, including nuclear. Besides former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra, the committee included retired air chief marshal S. Krishnaswamy, retired general V.R. Raghavan and former Department of Atomic Energy chief Anil Kakodkar.

The recommendations have assumed significance also because of India pushing for a bigger role at the UN. Another committee headed by Justice Jeevan Reddy had also recommended in 2005 that the act be repealed.

In the Northeast, the law has been imposed for years in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and in parts of Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Yet, militancy continues.

The committee has, therefore, recommended that the act should not be “continuously promulgated”.

The panel felt that after decades of unresolved militancy, the act’s continuous promulgation could not be justified either in Jammu and Kashmir or in the Northeast.

If the committee’s suggestions are accepted, the act may not be extended beyond two years if the situation is said to have improved. “If there is no improvement, then the law is ineffective,” said an official.

via Panel wants army law defanged.

I am not committing suicide; but opposing AFSPA: Irom

Maitreyee.

She is Manipur’s Iron Lady. The 40-year-old peace-activist Irom Sharmila Chanu is on a hunger strike for last 12 years.

She is protesting to repeal the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA).

On Sunday, she was brought to New Delhi to appear before a court on Monday in connection with the hunger strike she staged at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on October 5, 2006.

“I am not committing suicide. This is my way of protest. I am protesting by non-violent means,” she said, while arriving at New Delhi.

“In Manipur, due to AFSPA, violence has become the means of administration. The Indian government must repeal it,” added the frail looking woman, who is adamant to continue with her fast till AFSPA is not repealed.

“If we keep fighting, the law will be repealed. Our voices will be heard.”

“…Why is the government afraid of Army? Why is it appeasing the Army? Why can’t it take a decision for the good of the people,” she said.

Sharmila started her hunger strike in Nov 2000 after the “Malom Massacre” – an incident in which 10 innocent persons were killed by personnel of the Assam Rifles.

She was arrested by the police and when her condition began to deteriorate, she was transferred to the Jawaharlal Institute of Medical Sciences where she is force fed.

The law under which Sharmila is detained allows the police to detain her for a year, after which she is released. As she refuses to break her world-record fast, she is again arrested and then produced in court every 15 days for the extension of her custody.

She has been the recipient of several awards including the Gwangju Prize for Human Rights in 2007 and the Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize in 2010.

via Oneindia News.

‘Army’s rigidness making it difficult to amend AFSPA’

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday raised concern over Army’s strong stand against any dilution or amendment to the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), saying that the rigidness by the armed forces were making it difficult for the government to move forward with the proposal.

Chidambaram added that amending the Act will make it “more humanitarian” but Army’s riggidness was not leaving much for the government.

“The armed forces, and especially the Chief of Army Staff, the present one and the previous one, have taken a very strong position that AFSPA should not be amended,” said Chidambaram, who was the home minister till last July, during a speech at the K Subrahmanyam Memorial Lecture.

“Now, how does the government move forward in the face of such widely divergent views on the sensitive subject”? Chidambaram asked.

Chidambaram’s comments were in response to a proposal to Army’s strong objection to amend the AFSPA in Jammu & Kashmir.

via Daily Bhaskar

‘Ruthless’ action against armed forces personnel in crime against women: Antony

Against the backdrop of opposition to keep armed forces personnel under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) out of ambit of the ordinance for protection of women, Defence Minister AK Antony on Wednesday said the government will take “ruthless” actions against such people, including armed forces personnel. “Our government is serious and concerned about the security of women. We will take strongest action against people who create problems for women. The ordinance is coming to Parliament. After it, we will be able to take strong against such people ruthlessly. That applies to armed forces also,” he said at a press conference in Bangalore.

The Minister was asked to comment on the opposition by women activists over armed forces personnel covered by AFSPA to be kept out of the ordinance’s purview. He said the armed forces have been issued directives that there would be “zero tolerance” policy by the Defence Ministry towards crimes against women.

“I assure you that we have given directives to armed forces that regarding crime against women, our policy would be of zero tolerance. We will take strong, speedy and convincing actions”, Antony said. The ordinance has been brought by the government against the backdrop of the December 16 gangrape incident in the national capital.

On the controversial AFSPA, he sought to link the importance of the Act with the regional and global security situation and said no hasty decision could be taken on that. “Earlier, your colleagues had asked about the situation in neighborhood. Considering that, we have to be very serious. We cannot take a hasty decision on that”, the Defence Minister said.

via IBNLive.

Video – Why should army men be tried in civilian courts?

Lawyer Vrinda Grover cites three reasons on why she feels court martial is just a hoodwink to escape the wrath of civilian law.

Flak for anti-rape order in Manipur

Opposition parties in Manipur have reacted sharply to the UPA government’s anti-rape ordinance for not including all of Justice J.S. Verma committee’s recommendations.

The ordinance, which has provisions for capital punishment for rape and gang rape leading to death or vegetative state of the victim, was sent to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent on Friday.

The committee had recommended the removal of sanction required for prosecuting army personnel accused of crimes against women under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, and they be tried under ordinary criminal law.

“The UPA government’s rejection of the recommendations on rape by army personnel shows the Centre is not fully prepared to deal with sexual offences,” CPI state committee secretary M. Nara Singh said.

The party is currently on a month-long campaign, which started on Friday, demanding repeal of the act. A series of street corner meetings will be organised as part of the campaign.

Trinamul Congress also slammed the UPA government for ignoring the Verma panel’s recommendations. “A rapist is a rapist. There should not be any differentiation between a civilian and army personnel who commit crimes against women. The accused personnel should be tried and convicted under normal criminal law,” Trinamul spokesperson Rk. Shivachandra Singh said.

Manipur BJP spokesperson S. Tikendra said rape was a serious crime and therefore the ordinance was not adequate to deal with the crime, as it did not cover the crimes committed by armymen. “An act should be impartial.”

The Verma committee’s proposal to take immunity away from the armed forces under the act echoes a long-standing demand in the Northeast and Kashmir, where the act is enforced.

Personnel of armed forces operating in Manipur have reportedly committed many crimes against women, including rape and managed to escape punishment under the protection of the act. The prosecution of army personnel requires the sanction of the Union home ministry.

The Thangjam Manorama case is still pending in the Supreme Court as the ministry is unwilling to give sanction to prosecute the accused. She was picked up from her home and shot dead after being allegedly raped by Assam Rifles jawans in 2004.

Manipuris have been demanding repeal of the act, with Irom Sharmila on a fast-unto-death for more than 12 years.

via The Telegraph

AFSPA is against democracy, Constitution: Habibullah

National Commission on Minorities chairman Wajahat Habibullah on Sunday said the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was “against democracy and Constitution” and its “loopholes” should be removed after discussions with the Army if the law cannot be withdrawn from troubled areas.

He said such a law should not exist in any democratic setup.

Habibullah was commenting on The Justice Verma Committee recommendations about amendments to AFSPA so that armed forces and police personnel are not be given protection under the law if they commit sexual offences against women.

When asked about the demands for removing AFSPA from Kashmir Valley and northeast region, he said, “Any decision to remove this law should be taken after discussion with Army.”

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was passed by the Parliament in 1958. It gives special powers to armed forces in troubled areas. It was first implemented in the north east, but following increased terrorism in J&K, it was implemented in the northern state in 1990. Human Rights organizations are against the Act, as they claim that officers committing human rights violations get away with their crime due to the Act. Habibullah rpt Habibullah also agreed with the Verma Committee’s recommendation to not give death penalty to rapists. He said in his recommendations to the Committee on January 5, he had opposed the death penalty for rapists.

“I am against the death penalty. There is opposition to it in several democratic countries across the world. When I had placed my suggestion (about no death penalty for rapists) in front of the committee, several people had questioned it,” he said.

via AFSPA is against democracy, Constitution: Habibullah – The Times of India.

Military personnel who rape in India’s conflict zones should be prosecuted: committee

David Lalmalsawma.

The Justice Verma Committee, set up to review India’s legislation following the brutal gang rape of a student in Delhi last month, released its recommendations on how to make the country safer for women last week. Among the issues which the panel addressed was a “neglected area” concerning sexual violence against women in areas of conflict. The committee recommends stripping security forces of special immunity that they enjoy in conflict areas in cases of sexual assault on women, and bringing them under the purview of ordinary criminal law.

Special laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which is enforced in Jammu & Kashmir and the northeastern states, give security forces immunity from prosecution unless sanctioned by the central government.

Human rights groups say the military arbitrarily uses it to violate human rights, which sometimes include sexual assault on women.

Unlike other parts of the country, victims in most cases do not have any avenue for redress because security forces cannot be prosecuted by state law enforcement. What happens in most cases is that the army conducts an internal probe, and punishment for the accused is hardly reported.

A prime example is that of Manorama Devi, who was reportedly raped and killed by security forces a few hours after being arrested from her home in Manipur. The incident sparked a mass protest in the state, and a group of women famously stripped naked in front of a paramilitary base.

A retired judge who conducted a government-ordered probe said he found the security forces guilty. But the report remains sealed, and no action has been taken after nine years.

There are similar reports from other conflict areas like Kashmir, as well as in Chhattisgarh where armed Maoists are active.

Allegations of abuse by security forces are also not a recent trend. A noted social worker in Mizoram last year refused a national award, citing the brutal suppression of the Mizo insurgency in the 1960s.

“I was only six years-old at that time. I had personally witnessed how three Indian Army personnel dragged a woman into a house. She was covered with blood stains and her clothes were ripped apart,” she said.

The army says special laws to protect soldiers are necessary in conflict zones because they work in an environment where it is difficult to differentiate between friend and foe.

The Verma committee recommended changing this. “It must be recognized that women in conflict areas are entitled to all the security and dignity that is afforded to citizens in any other part of our country,” it wrote.

That is not to say other forms of rights abuse are justified. The Verma panel also stresses the need to review the continuance of the special powers act and other similar legal protocol “as soon as possible.” The question now is what the government will do.

-via Reuters

Manorama Devi rape: No action against armed forces yet

Arijit Sen.

The 2004 rape and murder of Manorama in Manipur had shocked the nation and put the spotlight on the abuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. In July 2004, a group of 12 women disrobed in front of the Kangla Fort in Imphal held up banners that said – ‘Indian Army rape us’.

They were protesting the rape and murder of Thangjam Manorama, allegedly by security forces. Manorama was picked up from her house on July 11 by Assam Rifles soldiers. Her dead body was later found with several bullet wounds including on her genitalia. Forensic tests detected semen and blood stains confirming rape. But no one has yet been convicted, even though Justice Upendra who conducted the government inquiry blamed the security forces.

Even today, the Upendra Report on Manorama’s killing remains sealed. Colin Gonsalves, Counsel for Manorama’s family, said, “Neither the PM nor the Home Minister, nor the Defence Minister has made the report public and told the women of Manipur what are the findings of the commission that was appointed by the government itself.”

The 12 brave women whose shocking protest shook the country say such brazen rapes and assault on citizens in Manipur are due to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Section 4 of which allows the Army to shoot to kill while maintaining public order.

In the past 10 years, 20 instances of rape and sexual assault by security forces have been reported, but there has not been a single conviction. “The AFSPA is directly responsible. Security forces feel they are gods in Manipur, they have absolute immunity,” Colin Gonsalves said.

Unfortunately, people in Manipur have almost learnt to live with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, so be it the rape of Manorama Devi in 2004 or that of Miss Rose in 1974 or Mrs Ahanjobi in 1996, all protests in this heavily militarised state fade out in the end and things continue to remain just the same, unchanged.

-via IBNLive.

Rape accused Armymen be tried in civil courts, deman women’s bodies

Naresh Mitra.

In insurgency-hit northeast, protectors have been aggressors for a long time now, and women are the worst sufferers. There have been many instances, documented as well as undocumented, of women being raped and molested by men in uniform. Armymen deployed to contain militancy take cover under laws such as AFSPA, which give them sweeping powers and make them unpunishable in the civil court of law, to exploit the vulnerability of women in such areas.

Standing up against such crimes which armymen commit with impunity, women’s organisations have asked for necessary amendments to laws so that army jawans accused of rape can be tried in civil courts. One such group is Women in Governance-India (WinG-India), a network of civil society groups working for women’s security and raising issues related to the fair sex in national and international forums. WinG-India pointed out that one such case – of a jawan accused of attempting to rape a woman at Dolopa village in Sivsagar district in July last year – is still under the army court.

A lance naik of the 287 Field Regiment of the army camping at Nawjan area of Sivsagar attempted to rape a 19-year-old girl who was part of a group of women from nearby Dolopa village collecting firewood in the area. When the other women shouted for help, villagers promptly gathered at the spot and prevented the jawan from committing the crime. A court of inquiry was instituted by the army to deal with the case.

WinG-India, which is pursuing the Dolopa case, argued that if a civilian is raped by an armyman the case should be tried in a civil court.

Human rights activist Anjuman Ara Begum of WinG-India was part of an independent fact-finding team in the Dolopa incident. She says, “As the jawan accused committed the crime against a civilian, the trial should be held in a civil court. There has to be necessary amendment in laws so that trials for such crimes is held in civil courts. Also, the accused should not be transferred to any other place till the case is resolved.”

The report submitted in the Dolopa incident by WinG-India and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression categorically asked for addressing the “culture of impunity” created by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and other legislations in the context of sexual violence against women. It has also asked for giving civil authorities primary responsibility of law enforcement, including the conduct of military and para-military personnel.

“The most substantive issue that emerges from the way the Dolopa case unfolded immediately after the jawan molested a young woman but was prevented from raping her by women and men who gathered at the spot is that of a conflict of interest between the civil administration and the army over jurisdiction, the procedure to be followed when the accused is a personnel of the army,” the report stated.

AFSPA provides protection to armymen deployed in parts of the country that are notified by the government as disturbed. Human rights oganizations have been demanding repeal of the act as it has been blamed for violation of human rights by army personnel in the name of counter insurgency.

-via The Times of India.