The Independent People’s Tribunal on Manipur, constituted by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) held a meeting in Delhi on July 6 and 7 respectively to hear personal testimonies of survivors and victims of the ethnic violence that has engulfed Manipur for the last 15 months since May 3.
Prior to the Delhi hearings, a set of Jury Members of the Tribunal along with members of the secretariat, assisting the Tribunal, visited Manipur at the end of May and June, stated PUCL in a release on Monday. The tribunal consists of 14 members, it stated.
During the visit, the team visited various districts affected by the violence, including Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Imphal, Kangpokpi, Kakching, Senapati and other places, to record personal testimonies of survivors/victims of the different communities, the various service organizations which are organising and providing relief to affected people, it stated.
They visited many relief camps set up in the districts and also met with various government functionaries and officials of security forces, it added. Apart from the testimonies collected from and discussions held with diverse stakeholders, documents related to various dimensions of the ongoing violence were also placed before the Tribunal, it maintained.
The tribunal also heard testimonies of internally displaced persons and representatives of the different ethnic communities - Kukis, Meiteis, Nagas, Pangals and others, it said. They further met advocates, journalists, health professionals, scholars, academics, and activists from the different communities in Manipur, it stated.
As announced by PUCL on March 15, the Independent People’s Tribunal on Manipur was constituted in the context of prolonged statewide violence and serious issues of constitutional governance in the state of Manipur, it mentioned.
It further listed the objectives of the Tribunal which includes to document the violations suffered by the people of Manipur with a specific attention to loss of life, sexual violence and violence suffered by children, women including pregnant women and the elderly; to examine and analyse the performance and responsibilities of the constitutional authorities by documenting the action taken to prevent the violence, provide access to remedy and justice, investigate and prosecute crimes, and in all other ways to provide redressal of violations and make efforts to establish the rule of law.
It also seeks to examine the role of all security agencies as well as government functionaries at all levels of the state and central governments in ensuring law and order and also examine the role of independent national and state based institutions in protecting human rights; to examine existing documentation on the Manipur situation and analyse the reasons for the continuing violence and propose recommendations to repair the torn social, cultural and political fabric of the state.
The tribunal will place their findings in the form of a ‘Report to the Nation’ within the next few months, it stated and added that the report will also contain the recommendations with a view to ensure accountability, justice and redressal for the people of the state.
