The Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) and the Human Rights Alert (HRA) warned certain political parties and candidates contesting in the ensuing 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly Election to stop weaponizing fake-encounter victims struggling for human rights for petty political gains.
A statement issued by EEVFAM and HRA on Wednesday stated, "It has come to the notice of the two organisations that certain political parties and candidates contesting the 12th Manipur Legislative Election are using the work of our organizations, particularly the PIL, Writ Petition No 129 of 2012 pertaining to the extrajudicial killing of 1,528 civilians, pending in the Supreme Court of India, and the plight of the victim families for their own cheap political propaganda. EEVFAM and HRA strongly condemn the weaponization of our human rights struggle for petty political gains".
Although the BJP prominently highlighted the issue of fake encounters in the charge sheet against the Congress party in the run up to the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly Election of 2017, the promise to investigate and punish the killers remains unfulfilled. In the last five years of its rule, the state government did not initiate a single criminal investigation on these cases, leave alone punishing them.
And even in the few investigations conducted by the CBI/SIT on the direction of the Supreme Court, the Union government denied prosecution sanctions against the personnel of the Armed Forces of the Union who are found to be involved in the killings of the innocent civilians.
Despite the initial enthusiasm of the present government, the call for initiating a Transitional Justice Process by institution of a Truth Commission to address the burning needs of the victim families remains silent till date. In fact all the efforts of the families to get some compensation under section 357 A of CrPC remains frustrated as the State’s Victim Compensation Scheme is not allocated sufficient funds.
Under such circumstances EEVFAM and HRA urged the upcoming government, irrespective of which party or coalitions comes to power, to take the long sufferings of victims seriously and initiate prompt, thorough, impartial and independent investigation of the remaining cases of extrajudicial killings not yet investigated; Promptly grant prosecution sanction under section 197 of CrPC and section 6 of the Armed Forces Special Power, 1958 against the security personnel found to be involved in the killings; Institute a Truth Commission in Manipur to bring out the whole truth behind the mass extra-judicial execution and to identify the needs of the victims who have suffered untold miseries with the aim of restituting their broken lives due to the unlawful act of the security forces.
