FIDAM & HRA moves High Court on Skulls & Skeletons in Imphal
29 December 2014
Ref: HRA/PR/G-14/14
Today the Families of the Involuntarily Disappeared Association, Manipur (FIDAM) and Human Rights Alert (HRA), filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Manipur High Court seeking a direction to immediately stop further digging for construction and start scientific exhumation of any other human remains in the area where 8 skulls and various skeletons were found.
The petitioners call for constitution of a “Special Investigation Team” to be headed by a senior Investigating Officer of impeccable integrity and of a fine legal mind; sought the High Court to monitor the progress of the investigation and FIDAM to be part of the investigation team.
That on 27th December 2014, on getting the information about discovery of human skulls from Tombisana School premises through the media, HRA and FIDAM functionaries visited the excavation site and submitted a petition to the Chief Minister of Manipur to immediately halt the digging of the excavation site and to seal off the premises from any unauthorized persons to conduct scientific exhumation of the site with the help of competent experts in the field.
The premise had been used as a base camp by various security forces namely the Border Security Forces, Central Reserved Police Forces, Manipur police etc. for many decades.
Initial expert opinion has also suggested that the skulls and skeletons would have been buried for around 17 to 40 years. This time period roughly coincide with the period when the phenomena of ‘enforced disappeared’ was endemic in Manipur as a part of counter insurgency operation. Moreover the site is only about 200 meters from Kangla, where the Joint Interrogation Cell in which interrogation of suspected insurgents/criminals are carried out by a various security and intelligence agencies operating in the State of Manipur.
There is strong possibility that the skulls and skeleton remains may belong to those who ‘disappearances’ in the hands of the security forces. Therefore the bones could also be the most crucial and critical evidence to establish the heinous criminal acts.
Government of India has signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance on 6th February 2007, thereby accepting the principles of the convention so that it could be incorporated into municipal laws after ratification and by enacting appropriate laws.
According to Article 24 (3) of the said convention stated that each State Party shall take all appropriate measures to search for, locate and release disappeared persons and, in the event of death, to locate, respect and return their remains. Further the State is under an obligation, as per Article 23 (4) of the said Convention, that it shall ensure a legal system that the victims of enforced disappearances have the right to obtain reparation and prompt, fair and adequate compensation.
(Babloo Loitongbam)
Executive Director,
Human Rights Alert (HRA)
Kwakeithel Thiyam Leikai
Imphal – 795001, Manipur, India
Phone : +91 385 2448159
Email : hramanipur(at)gmail(dot)com
* This PR was sent to e-pao.net by Human Rights Alert (HRA) who can be contacted at hramanipur(at)gmail(dot)com
This Press Release was posted on December 30 2014
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