Amnesty International is alarmed at the continued and unabated violence that is taking place between ethnic groups in the Northeastern state of Manipur, India, which depicts the inability of the Indian authorities to protect human rights in the region.  

Manipur, situated in the North-eastern region, sharing an international border with Myanmar (Burma), is inhabited by over 36 distinct indigenous communities with as many languages. Since the early 20^th century, the native communities asserted their identities as "indigenous peoples" with ongoing peoples' struggles and the imposition of an unremitting de facto martial law and state of emergency since the 1950s.
After her defeat in the Anglo-Manipur War in 1891, the British did not annex Manipur. Manipur regained its sovereign status on August 14, 1947, only to be annexed by India on October 15, 1949. The first democratic election of Manipur was held in August 1948 under the Manipur Constitution Act 1947, thereby creating the popular Manipur Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers. India’s Merger Agreement with Manipur was forcibly extracted on September 21, 1949, and relegated Manipur to the status of ‘Part C’ State. No referendum or plebiscite of the people of Manipur on the merger issue has ever been held. With the forced annexation, the people of Manipur’s right to self-determination is yet to be exercised.

Manipur remains one of the states with a continuous people's movement for the right to self-determination, which the Government of India has subjugated.

The second submission by the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN concerning the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India was prepared through a collective consultative process consisting of informal and formal meetings conducted from August to September 2016. The report focuses on severe concerns regarding the human rights situation prevailing in Manipur. Manipur remains one of the states with a continuous people's movement for the right to self-determination, which the Government of India has subjugated.
The UN Human Rights Committee, after consideration of India's 3^rd Periodic Report under ICCPR (1997), had pointed out that the problem is political and that the approach to resolving it must also, essentially, be political in nature. The Human Rights Committee informed the Government of India to consider the right to self-determination of peoples, the right to freedom of expression and participation in governance. The Government of India continues to adopt a military response to the political struggle in Manipur by enacting emergency legislation and introducing security apparatuses armed with overwhelming force. Massive deployment of armed forces and military actions are undertaken under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) of 1958. The recommendation to ratify the Convention against Torture (CAT) and end torture remains unheeded (UPR 1 and 2). The ratification of the Convention on the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearances, accepted in UPR 1, was rejected in UPR 2.

The Government of India continues to adopt a military response to the political struggle in Manipur by enacting emergency legislation and introducing security apparatuses armed with overwhelming force.

There is deliberate or inordinate delay in executing speedy trials of all human rights cases pending in various country courts. By instituting special courts, there is a need for speedy trial of all human rights-related patients. The law enforcement agencies in Manipur are also responsible for a wide range of human rights violations, often committed in close coordination with the Indian armed forces. The Manipur police commandos are also primarily responsible for committing a series of extrajudicial executions under the pretext of encounter killings in Manipur. It is worth mentioning that from a Census population estimate of some 500,000 in the 1950s, the population of Manipur jumped to around 2,800,000 in 2011. This is a massive 4.6 times increase in 60 years.

The ongoing development onslaught in Manipur, with heavy militarization despite the recommendation of UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples to the Government of India, is a clear sign of discrimination against indigenous peoples of Manipur and disregard of hints of the UN human rights bodies such as the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to repeal the infamous AFSPA 1958, and the recommendations of several Special Rapporteurs of UN on violence against women, UN SR on extrajudicial execution and the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, etc., remain unimplemented.

Further, the decadal growth rate of Manipur's population was persistently above that of the Indian population. In a study conducted by the United Committee Manipur, "Influx of Migrants in Manipur," it was ascertained that the migrant population in Manipur as of December 1948 was only 2,719. But it shot up to more than 400 times by 2011, reaching the figure of more than ten lacs. The government should fully implement the provisions of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007. The ongoing development onslaught in Manipur, with heavy militarization despite the recommendation of UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples to the Government of India, is a clear sign of discrimination against indigenous peoples of Manipur and disregard of hints of the UN human rights bodies such as the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to repeal the infamous AFSPA 1958, and the recommendations of several Special Rapporteurs of UN on violence against women, UN SR on extrajudicial execution and the UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, etc., remain unimplemented.
The memorandum also pledged with the UN to mandate the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to extend its humanitarian relief and services to all the victims of the present violence while urging it to apprise the Indian state to uphold Manipur's territorial and administrative integrity. It urged the UN to investigate the proliferation of narco-cartel organized violent networks, small arms trade, and its long-term ramifications on youths and ethnic harmony in Manipur. It further urged the UN and ICRC to extend its support in rehabilitation and reparation for the damages and losses inflicted by the conflict.

Email:[email protected]