Status report on rights violation sent to UN
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 01 2011: A conglomerate of 14 civil society organisations, including human rights harbingers, the Civil society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur has reportedly submitted a detailed report to the United Nations Human Rights Council with regard to records compiled on various instances of human rights violation and related issues.

speaking to newspersons at Manipur Press Club today, Coalition convenor Dr Laiphangbam Debrata Roy said its representation would be taken up for deliberation in the second round of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Government of India in May 2012 .

The convenor explained that the UPR is a new mechanism of the UNHRC established in 2006 to review the implementation of the international human rights obligations of each of the 193 member states of the UN by other member states.

Further informing that the first round of UPR was completed in 2011, Dr Debrata Roy said India was reviewed on April 10, 2008 wherein the Governments of United Kingdom, Germany and Canada raised the issue of Armed Forces (special Powers) Act followed by issuance of 18 recommendations to India by the UN Council.

With the second cycle of UPR slated for next year during which Government of India would be reviewed in May 2012, he maintained that for the said revision Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will place three documents which will comprise of report submitted by the Govt of India, compilation of the records of UN human rights mechanism on India, and the summary of stakeholders' reports from NGOs and National Human Rights institutions.

Conveying that the CSCHR report has been submitted to the OHCHR to prepare the stakeholders' report, he shared that the Coalition's representation focused on the trend of human rights violations by the Government of India in Manipur since the first review of India's human rights in 2008 .

Moreover, the representation highlighted alleged failure by India to implement key recommendations from the UN with regard to Manipur, cases of extra-judicial executions, enforced disappearance and torture, denial of indigenous people's collective rights, increasing intrusion and alienation of indigenous people's land and natural resources, denial of livelihood and survival resources through construction of mega dams and negating the right to free, prior and informed consent are the other issues highlighted in the representation of the Coalition, he added.

The CSCHR is a joint body of Centre for Organisation Research and Education, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Organisation, Civil Liberties People Forum, Committee on Human Rights, Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Extra-judicial Executions Victim Families Association, Families of the Disappeared's Association Manipur, Human Rights Alert, Human Rights Law Network, Just Peace Foundation, Movement for People's Right to Information, North East Dialogue Forum, Threaten Indigenous People's Society and United People's Front.

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