Campaign against AFSPA continues
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, March 02 2014 :
North East Dialogue Forum (NEDF) in collaboration with village women coordinating committee (VWCOC), United NGOs Mission- Manipur, Youth, KWDA, Youth Clubs and Meira Paibi organized a consultation on United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act-1958 at Kachikhul Community Hall in Imphal West district today.
Attended by around 200 people, Pradeepkumar, Convener of Manipur Alliance for Child Right MACR, A.Mobi, Editor of Manipur This Week and Sobita Mangsatabam, Secretary of Women Action for Development were among those who spoke as resource persons on the occasion.
The resource persons noted that India is signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, which provides a global charter for children's Survival, Development, Protection and Participation Rights, but ironically, these basic rights of the children are undermined if not completely suspended in the north east and Manipur in particular due to the imposition of AFSPA, 1958 and prolonged armed conflict.
Under the armed conflict situation, children experience social disruption, inaccessibility to health and education services, impoverishment, violations of civil and political rights, threats to their physical integrity, transformation in their roles and responsibilities, increase vulnerabilities and dysfunctional behavior, etc.
In a shocking revelation, 1528 people including 1399 males, 31 females and 98 children were killed in Manipur from 1979 to May 2012 in fake encounters.
Fundamental rights such as the right to life, the right to a fair trial, the right to remedy and reparation, the right against torture, the right against arbitrary detention, freedom of expression, freedom of movement and freedom of association and to peacefully assemble and protest, as well as a series of economic, social and cultural rights have been systematically violated in the areas where AFSPA is in operation.
This law has, therefore, come under severe criticism both domestically and internationally, with many voices calling for its repeal.
Amnesty International in 1997 defined AFSPA, 1958 as "Undeclared Emergency with undefined reasons for unlimited period of time." Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee (2005) report stated that "the Act, for whatever reason, has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness." And therefore, the committee recommended that "The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, should be repealed," the resource persons reminded.