15 Manipur activists at human rights workshop

IMPHAL, August 7: Hundreds of human rights activists from the entire northeastern region have come out unitedly to fight the draconian laws imposed in the region. The human rights defenders from West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have also agreed to observe November 27 as Anti-Armed Forces Special Powers Act Day until and unless the Act is repealed. This was announced by a team of human rights activists of Manipur who participated in the recently-concluded Amnesty International workshop at Bhubaneswar. The executive director of Human Rights Alert, Babloo Loitongbam, said the recent gathering also urged the armed forces and the armed opposition groups involved in the armed conflict to conform to the relevant international laws enshrined in the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its subsequent optional protocols. It also requested the Union government to invite the International Committee of Red Cross to offer its services in the Northeast. Altogether 15 activists of nine groups from Manipur participated in the meet. They also urged the Indian government to seek political solutions to the problems of the Northeast by respecting Articles 1,19 and 25 of the ICCPR as recommended by the UN Human Rights Commission. Regarding the restrictions imposed on access of international human rights monitors, they also urged them to allow Amnesty International Researcher and the UN Special Rapporteur on Execution and Torture to visit the region.