People's declaration on R2P Principle sent to UN bodies
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, November 04 2023: Manipur people's declaration on 'Manipur Needs Protection under R2P Principle' that was adopted during the United Nations Day-2023 observance held on October 24 has been sent to several institutions of the United Nations (UN) .

Copies of the R2P declaration signed by civil society organisations of Manipur have been sent to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect and the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect.

The declaration was adopted during the 79th United Nations (UN) Day observance jointly organised here on October 24 by Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC) and the United People's Front (UPF) in coordination with several CSOs of Manipur and RK Sanayaima in the chair.

The UN Day was marked with adoption of people's declaration on 'Manipur Needs Protection under R2P Principle' and it was signed jointly by All Manipur Nupi Marup (AMNM), All Manipur Tammi-Chingmi Nupi Marup (AMTCNM), All Manipur Women's Social Reformation & Development Samaj (AMWSRDS), All Manipur Women's Voluntary Association (AMAWOVA), Chanura Lamjinglen Kangleipak (CLK), Human Rights Alert (HRA), International Peace & Social Advancement (IPSA), Kangleipak Students' Association (KSA), Leimarol Lamjingkon (LEIMAKON), Manipur Chanura Leishem Marup (MACHA LEIMA), Manipur International Youth Centre (MIYC), Manipuri Students' Federation (MSF), Nupi Union for Peace and Integrity (NUPI), Poirei Leimarol Meira Paibi Apunba Manipur (PLMPAM), United People's Front (UPF) and Women's United Development Organisation Manipur (WUDOMAN).

Copies of the declaration have been sent to the UN and other international bodies.

The Responsibility to Protect - known as R2P - is an international norm that seeks to ensure that the international community never again fails to halt the mass atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

MIYC coordinator MC Meetei, in his introductory speech during the UN Day observance, highlighted the establishment of the United Nations on October 24,1945 with a hope of global unity and ending colonialism in the world.

According to MC Meetei, Manipur itself has been a civilization that could withstand the test of time and human B.Stone tools found in Manipur ick to 30,000 years ago.

At the time of the birth of Polo in Manipur, the more than 5000 years old Manipur Civilization was contemporaneous with the Egyptian Civilization and that of Mesopotamia.

The Harappan and Mohenjadaro civilizations were much younger to Manipur civilization.

However, these great civilizations of the world vanished with the passage of time while that of Manipur civilization continues till today facing the test of history.

Manipur is the only nation that has a two millennia old documented history with lineages of 76 kings that ruled uninterruptedly in this golden land with a territory ten times bigger than the present day geographical area of Manipur, he claimed.

While pointing out that Manipur could not sign the Instrument of Accession and the Standstill Agreement as both Manipur and India were British colonies and didn't have the sovereign power to do so, MC Meetei said the Manipur Merger Agreement of September 21, 1949 stands as a clear testimony that Manipur was never a part of India before the alleged annexation of Manipur by India on October 15,1949 in clear violation of the Article 2(4) of the UN Charter of which India was a signatory member among the 51 original member states.

He stressed that the present Manipur-India conflict could only be resolved through a peaceful dialogue with the Government of India or through the mandate of the people of Manipur to join the United Nations family.

Later, referring to various norms under the International Humanitarian Law, MC Meetei deplored the failure of India, the 4th largest military power in the world, in containing the present crisis in Manipur and doubted the Kuki armed groups are being used as mercenaries and auxiliary forces to wage a proxy war in Manipur as the ethnic cleansing of Meiteis have been completed in Churachandpur, Moreh and Kangpokpi.

RK Sanayaima, in his presidential speech, deplored the rise of new sovereign countries and nations with rapid decolonization process in the 60s after the establishment of the United Nations soon after the Second World War.

However, remnants of colonialism are still in Africa and Asia including in WESEA region even though the world has moved into the 21st Century with many struggling peoples and nations fighting for national self-determination under the UN Charter obligations.

About the violence that erupted on May 3, RK Sanayaima said the ethnic cleansing of the Meiteis by Kuki aggression on Manipur has been completed with the Government of India taking no responsibility to protect the innocent civilians, public properties and religious sites.

The Indian security forces remained a mere spectator to all these varied crimes and atrocities perpetrated by the Kuki aggressors.

There must have been somebody or some forces behind this Kuki aggression of Manipur threatening the very existence of Manipur and her indigenous people.

Quoting the visit of some KNO/KNA and other Kuki leaders in January, 2020 shortly after his release from Gauhati Jail, RK Sanayaima said those leaders abandoned the idea of separate administration for the Kukis but hinted the idea of formation of a territorial council.

But, now, the formation of a greater Kukiland by merging Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, Mizoram, parts of Manipur and Nagaland of India, the whole Kabaw valley and other parts of Burma has become imminent with this unceasing military campaign by the Kukis including the illegal immigrants except for those old Kukis whose forefathers were loyal to the land of Manipur.

Later, RK Sanayaima expressed his discontentment on Manipur becoming a failed state wherein the chief minister has been completely removed off the home affairs.

He said that the people of Manipur are left to defend their villages, land and the territorial integrity as if the Government of India has no responsibility to protect her people's lives and properties.

This stands the facts where the people of Manipur are compelled to explore the ways to protect themselves under the international doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect - also known as - R2P Principle.

He then urged the CSOs and Meira Paibis to stand unitedly to thwart any evil designs to disturb the territorial integrity of Manipur.

On the occasion of the United Nations Day-2023, several civil society organisations (CSOs) representing the people of Manipur thanked the United Nations for the attention given to the present crisis of Manipur.

The CSOs particularly thanked United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for highlighting the Manipur crisis in his media briefing on May 23, 2023 and again in his inaugural address at the 54th Session of Human Rights Council on September 11, 2023.Turk's interventions on the Manipur crisis may be in line with the United Nations tenet of Responsibility to Protect better known as R2P.The concept emerged in response to the failure of the international community to adequately respond to mass atrocities committed in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s.The International Committee on Intervention and State Sovereignty developed the concept of R2P during 2001.The Responsibility to Protect was unanimously adopted in 2005 at the UN World Summit, the largest gathering of heads of state and government in history.

R2P stipulates three pillars of responsibility.

Pillar One says that every state has the Responsibility to Protect its population from four mass atrocity crimes namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Pillar Two says that the wider international community has the responsibility to encourage and assist individual states in meeting that responsibility.

Pillar Three relates that if a state is manifestly failing to protect its population, the international community must be prepared to take appropriate collective action, in a timely and decisive manner and in accordance with the UN Charter.

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