Hold Centre, Manipur govt responsible for all forms of violence, investigate major incidents

PUCL’s demands regarding the Manipur crisis:

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Accountability

1. PUCL strongly condemns the use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, terror and/or ethnic cleansing and gives a call to all groups in the conflict that has engulfed Manipur to immediately stop attacks on women and children.
2. The PUCL demands that there must be an immediate stop to all forms of violence and gives a call to all groups to immediately ceasefire and stop attacks and inflicting violence on the lives, livelihoods and properties of different communities and adopt peaceful measures to reconcile differences.
3. The PUCL demands that both the state and central government must fulfil their constitutional responsibility to ensure that perpetrators involved in the murder, torture, beheadings, sexual violence, violence against women and children must be arrested by following due process of law.
4. The PUCL also points out that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has in the Tehseen Poonawala case (2018) pointed out that it is the fundamental duty and responsibility of the State to immediately stop and curb dissemination of hate speech which contain irresponsible and explosive messages on various (social) media platforms which have the tendency to incite mob violence and killings and demands that FIRs and other appropriate legal proceedings be launched against all those who are indulging in hate speech in Manipur.
5. The State and Central government must both be held accountable for their absolute failure in preventing the breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state of Manipur.
6. State and central govt must apply the law with respect to accountability, relief and rehabilitation in a non-discriminatory manner and take concrete action to counter the impression that till today the state administration is biased and discriminatory towards one community.
7. All false cases filed by the state which seek to challenge the narrative of the state and protect the constitutional right to seek information under article 19 (a) must be withdrawn.

Appeal to the Hon’ble Supreme Court

8. The PUCL appeals to the Supreme Court to appoint a Supreme Court monitored - Special Investigation Team (SIT) drawn with police officials of proven integrity from outside the state, to investigate all the significant criminal cases registered in the wake of the ethnic violence. The names must include those suggested by civil society and fresh FIR’s must be lodged wherever necessary. At least three major alleged incidents need to be investigated. The SIT should necessarily investigate:
A. 3rd May incident in Churachandpur
B. Sexual violence incidents reported across the state
C. Khamen Lok massacre
9. The PUCL also appeals to the Supreme Court to appoint a Women's Committee made up of respected women’s jurists, academics, activists and others, whose names should include suggestions by civil society, to visit Manipur and give an independent report directly to the SC.
10. Considering the difficult nature of the terrain and the large number of victims who still live in their thousands in IDP Camps, the PUCL requests the Supreme Court to appoint a Team of Advocate Commissioners, based on suggestion by civil society, to visit all the camps and record statements of victims.
10. The PUCL also appeals to the Supreme Court to appoint a Committee of Mental Health Experts including Trained Counsellors, Psychiatric doctors, Trauma specialists and others to give a report on the state of mental health and remedial measures to be undertaken on an Emergency basis.

Humanitarian Relief

11. On an urgent basis, the Government of Manipur with the support of the Government of India must provide nutritious food, clothing, safe shelter with proper drinking water and sanitation to all those in need, not limited to the relief camps.
12. The State must prepare a comprehensive policy for relief and rehabilitation urgently. In providing compensations, the policy should look at the loss of homes, loss of livelihood, loss of possessions, trauma caused, loss of lives/limbs and a separate category of survivors of sexual violence.
13. This policy must identify the needs of infants, children, lactating mothers, women who have survived sexual violence/witnessed violence, persons who have witnessed/ survived violence, senior citizens, individuals with chronic health concerns, individuals in need of continuous medical treatment such as dialysis, blood pressure, arthritis.
14. Doctors, medicines and medical supplies are in short supply and the Court should direct the authorities to ensure supply of adequate medical facilities on a war footing.
-- Kavita Srivastava, President, PUCL; Dr. V. Suresh, General Secretary, PUCL