Government Of Manipur Must Halt Further Excavations And Immediately Institute High Level Expert And Independent Forensic Enquiry Of "Mass Grave" Discovery
28 December 2014
Government of Manipur Must Halt Further Excavations At Former Maharaj Kumari Tombisana High School Campus And Immediately Institute High Level Expert And Independent Forensic Enquiry Of “mass Grave” discovery
The Centre for Organisation Research & Education, Manipur, expresses deep surprise that the Government of Manipur, and especially the Hon’ble Deputy Chief
Minister, Mr. Gaikhangam who is also in charge of the Home portfolio does not seem to have fully understood the implications of the widely reported discovery of what
seems to be a “mass grave” in the heart of Imphal City just opposite the former Manipur Legislative Assembly.
The campus of the formerly Maharaj Kumari
Tombisana High School, dedicated by the second daughter of the late Maharaja of Manipur, Sir Churachand Singh, KCSI, CBE and late Maharani Ngangbam Ningol Dhanamanjuri Devi, has been occupied by various state security forces including the Central Reserve Police Force, India Reserve battalion and Manipur Police Commandos since before the school was abolished in the face of public protests a decade ago in 2004.
Close on the heels of the exposure of hundreds of “fake encounters” in Manipur by the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN, the unfortunate
State has also witnessed many cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances for several decades. Grave human rights violations perpetrated by state and central law
enforcement agencies constitute the signature of a government that has lost moral and political legitimacy.
The failure to respond immediately and appropriately to such an apparently gruesome “discovery” reflects a deep callousness of our government and its leadership in particular towards human lives and humanity, and an utter disdain for the rule of law and human rights.
CORE strongly supports the call made by the Families of the Involuntarily Disappeared’s Association, Manipur (FIDAM) for an immediate halt to any further
excavation and construction related activities at the site of the reported discovery of at least eight (8) human skulls, human skeletal remains and other artifacts, and the
institution of a high-level expert and independent forensic enquiry into the recent finding, and the report of such an enquiry be made public as soon as possible so that
follow up legal steps may be taken up.
The National Human Rights Commission of India, as well as the High Court of Manipur, must take suo moto action to further
investigate this finding.
Dr. D Roy Laifungbam
President, Elder’s Council, CORE
Dr. Immanuel Z. Varte
Executive Director
CORE
* This PR was sent to e-pao.net by CORE who can be contacted at laifungbam(at)coremanipur(dot)org
This Press Release was posted on December 28 2014
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