Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) PRESS STATEMENT 2nd September 2014 The Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) condemns the killing of two innocent civilians and injuring of many others by the Manipur armed forces. The NPMHR also questions the Government of Manipur (GoM) on the continued blanket imposition of S.144 of the CrPC without providing any reasonable grounds for the same and the deployment of Manipur Police Commando (MPC) and Indian Reserved Battalion (IRB) in Ukhrul headquarters since the 13th of July 2014 that has resulted in deaths and injuring of civilians. Despite numerous local, national and international organizations having petitioned both the central and the state government for the removal of the same, the concerned authorities have not done anything to restore normalcy in the district. Instead, the MPC and IRB, assisted by the district police of Ukhrul, indiscriminately fired upon unarmed civilians participating in a peace rally killing two people and injuring many others on 30th August 2014. NPMHR is appalled by the action of the GoM in deploying MPC and IRB which are not Civil Police force but specialised counter-insurgency units. MPC was raised as a special unit of the Police to combat insurgency in the state, comprising initially of surrendered insurgents as part of the state’s rehabilitation programme, while IRB is a centre-state funded counter-insurgency unit. In Manipur, these two units are known for their high handedness, rights abuse and atrocities towards civilians and have been officially indicted in a few instances for their crimes. Both MPC and IRB by virtue of being counter insurgency units have no training whatsoever in maintenance of law and public order. Despite this, the State deployed them to ‘maintain public order’ in Ukhrul when maintenance of public order is not their duty and priority. NPMHR believes that the armed forces intentionally targeted the 30th August rally to inflict maximum harm evidenced by their action to by-pass, ignore and violate the clear rules and procedures laid down in the Police Manual where ‘firing is the last resort’ and that too specifically stated where to aim so that people are not killed’. The use of high calibre live rounds that killed two civilians is a blatant violation of these rules reinforcing that they were not prepared to handle the assembly of people as the situation would have demanded, but proceeded with the criminal conspiracy and intent to kill civilians without any exercise of restraint. NPMHR condemns the brutal act of violence and the GoM for their action and hold them responsible for the two deaths and the violence in Ukhrul. We demand: • An impartial and speedy judicial inquiry into the killing • Immediate revocation of Section 144 CrPC and withdrawal of the Manipur Police Commando (MPC) and Indian Reserved Battalion (IRB) from in and around Ukhrul District, Manipur • Response from the GoM for the blanket imposition of S.144 for nearly two months now without any substantive justification • Resignation of the Chief Minister of Manipur whose undemocratic and arbitrary action led to the killing of two civilians and injuring several others
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 16:33:46 +0000
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