Free Irom Sharmila, says Amnesty International
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, March 20 2013: The Government of India must immediately release Irom Sharmila Chanu and drop all charges against her, Amnesty International has said today.

Irom Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast since November 2000, protesting against the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) in the State.

She was arrested shortly after she began her hunger strike and charged with attempting to commit suicide � a criminal offence under Indian law, recalled Amnesty International.

Irom Sharmila, was released on 12 March 2013 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Imphal East only to be re-arrested on 14 March and remanded again to judicial custody till 26 March, said a press release.

On 4 March, a Delhi Court had also charged Irom Sharmila with attempting to commit suicide in October 2006, when she staged a protest in Delhi for two days, it added.

Irom Sharmila has never been brought to trial, but as her alleged offence is punishable by a term of one year only, she has been regularly released upon the completion of such period in judicial custody, only to be re-arrested shortly thereafter as she continues her fast, the press release said.

It added that Sharmila has remained in judicial custody in Manipur over the past twelve years.

She is currently held at the security ward of Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, where she is force-fed a diet of liquids through her nose.

Sharmila has pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempting to commit suicide, and has said she is holding a non-violent protest.

Quoting Sharmila she reportedly told in a Delhi Court, the press release said, "I do not want to commit suicide.

Mine is only a non-violent protest.

It is my demand to live as a human being." "I love life.

I do not want to take my life but I want justice and peace" .

Although attempting to commit suicide is a bailable offence in India, Sharmila has refused to sign the bail-bonds, maintaining that she had not committed any offence, and has instead called for the criminal charges against her to be dropped.

Irom Sharmila has undertaken her hunger strike as a form of protest against the AFSPA.

The British Medical Association, in a briefing to the World Medical Association, has clarified that "A hunger strike is not equivalent to suicide.

Individuals who embark on hunger strikes aim to achieve goals important to them but generally hope and intend to survive" .

This position is embodied by the World Medical Association in its Malta Declaration on Hunger Strikers.

Amnesty International has also previously called upon the Govt to repeal the AFSPA, which provides impunity for perpetrators of serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, rape and torture.

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