UN Experts Concerned Over Human Rights Abuses in Manipur of India
UN Experts Concerned Over Human Rights Abuses in Manipur of India
The UN experts urged the Supreme Court to continue monitoring the response of the Government and other actors, with a focus on justice, accountability, and reparations.
A group of UN experts* raised the alarm about reports of serious human rights violations and abuses in the Northeast State of Manipur in India, including alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment.
In a statement released on September 4, the experts pointed to an “inadequate humanitarian response” in the wake of the grave humanitarian situation in Manipur following the latest round of community conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities that erupted in May 2023.
By mid-August 2023, an estimated 160 persons had reportedly been killed, mostly from the Kuki ethnic community, and over 300 injured.
The conflict also reportedly resulted in tens of thousands of people from the communities being displaced, thousands of homes and hundreds of churches being burnt down, as well the destruction of farmland, loss of crops and loss of livelihood.
The Indian state of Manipur is facing increasing state-sponsored violence aimed to harass, persecute, attack, and drive out people belonging to the minority Christian community. The violence includes arson, murders, loot, and rapes by the criminals who masquerade as Hindu protagonists.
[ Also Read: UN Human Rights, USCIRF Petition to Protect Human Rights in Manipur ]
While PM Narendra Modi-led Hindu government is not taking any action to stop the communal violence that began over three months ago, the connivance of the state and national authorities in the crimes is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
“We are appalled by the reports and images of gender-based violence targeting hundreds of women and girls of all ages, and predominantly of the Kuki ethnic minority. The alleged violence includes gang rape, parading women naked in the street, severe beatings causing death, and burning them alive or dead,” the UN experts said in their statement.
The experts said recent events in Manipur were another tragic milestone in the steadily deteriorating situation for religious and ethnic minorities in India.
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“We have serious concerns about the apparent slow and inadequate response by the Government of India, including law enforcement, to stem physical and sexual violence and hate speech in Manipur,” the experts said.
As usual, the Modi government dismissed the concerns of the UN experts, saying that their comments are misleading while the situation in Manipur is peaceful.
The UN experts urged the Supreme Court to continue monitoring the response of the Government and other actors, with a focus on justice, accountability, and reparations.
“We are also concerned about reported criminalization and harassment of human rights defenders documenting the cases,” they said.
[ Also Read: How Joe Biden Is Responsible for Communal Violence in India ]
They urged the Government to step up relief efforts and to investigate acts of violence and hold perpetrators to account, including public officials who may have aided and abetted the incitement of racial and religious hatred and violence.
UN experts appalled by reports of violence targeting hundreds of women & girls, predominantly of Kuki ethnic minority in Manipur, including gang rape, killings & beatings: ‘A tragic milestone in steadily deteriorating situation for minorities in India’https://t.co/9GfSdyfqt6 pic.twitter.com/NRPBweXk93
— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) September 4, 2023
*The experts: Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of freedom of opinion and expression; and others.
Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms.
