AI (Amnesty International India) on Irom Sharmila
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 01 2013: The detention of an activist, Irom Sharmila Chanu for close to thirteen years for her prolonged hunger strike is a continuing reminder of India's intolerance to dissent, Amnesty International India said today.

"Irom Sharmila is a Prisoner of Conscience, who is being held solely for her peaceful expression of her beliefs," said Shashikumar Velath, Programmes Director of Amnesty International India.

"Authorities must drop all charges against her, and release her immediately and unconditionally" .

Irom Sharmila has been on an indefinite fast since November 2, 2000, demanding the lifting of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 .

She was arrested by the Manipur police shortly after she began her hunger strike and charged with attempting to commit suicide � a criminal offence under Indian law.

In March 2013, a Delhi court also charged Sharmila with attempting to commit suicide in October 2006, when she staged a protest in Delhi for two days.

Irom Sharmila has never been convicted of attempting to commit suicide.

However, as the offence is punishable with imprisonment for up to one year only, she has been regularly released after completing a year in judicial custody, only to be re-arrested shortly after as she continues her fast.

Irom Sharmila is being detained in the security ward of a hospital in Imphal, where she is force-fed a diet of liquids through her nose.

Anyone wishing to meet her, including her family and friends, have to go through a lengthy process of obtaining permission from the Manipur government.

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

She has pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempting to commit suicide, and has said she is holding a non-violent protest, a statement issued by the Amnesty International said.

Speaking to Amnesty International India, Irom Sharmila, who says she is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence, said, "My struggle is my message.

I love my life very much and want to have the freedom to meet people and struggle for issues close to my heart" .

"Irom Sharmila's hunger strike is a protest against human rights violations, and is different from self-starvation as a way to commit suicide," said Shashikumar Velath.

"India has a long history of activists undertaking hunger strikes for noble causes.

Authorities must consider the validity of Irom Sharmila's demands, not demean her protest by charging her with attempting to commit suicide," said Shashikumar Velath.

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.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court of India observed in its ruling in the Ram Lila Maidan Incident versus Home Secretary, Union of India and Others case that a hunger strike is "a form of protest which has been accepted, both historically and legally in our constitutional jurisprudence," the statement said.

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