annual report print final.qxd - Asian Centre for Human Rights

INDIA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2005 Preface
deaths in police custody were reported from
Chattisgarh and Punjab.
Extrajudicial executions are
systematic in most of the armed conflict
situations. Highest number of extrajudicial
executions were reported from Jammu and
Kashmir and Manipur. Since the Peoples
Democratic Party – Congress came to
power in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002, the
State government ordered inquiries into 54
cases of human rights violations and by
December 2004, only one case was
resolved. In 2004, Manipur State
government ordered eight judicial
inquiries including the killing of
Thangjang Manorama Devi but not a
single report has been made public.
Disproportionate use of force
especially fire-arms by the police while
controlling crowds also causes violation of
the right to life of a large number of
persons. The non-implementation of the
principles of “absolutely necessary”, a
stricter and more compelling test of
necessity, and “proportionality for the use
of force” as provided in India’s Criminal
Procedure Code and United Nations Basic
Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials is
responsible for such blatant deprivation of
the right to life. On 27 October 2004, four
farmers were reportedly killed and at least
30 others injured in police firing in
Gharsana tehsil in Sriganganagar district
of Rajasthan. The State government of
Andhra Pradesh has failed to take action
on as many as 47 lock-up deaths and 732
incidents of police firing in which
VI
inquiries have been ordered since 1993.
Women and girls do not only suffer
from domestic violence and other societal
violence including honour killings and
female foeticide, they are also specific
target of both the armed opposition groups
and security forces in internal armed
conflict situations because of their gender.
While the killing of Thangjang Manorama
Devi of Manipur in July 2004 highlighted
the abuses by the State security forces, the
cutting of noses and ears of Mariam
Begum by the alleged cadres of the
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in Jammu and
Kashmir brought into focus the medieval
and barbaric forms of torture perpetrated
by the armed opposition groups.
Internal armed conflicts have led to
displacement of over half a million
persons in India respectively 150,000 in
Assam; 262,000 in Jammu and Kashmir,
35,000 from Mizoram and about 50,000 in
Tripura. While the Kashmiri Pandits were
able to draw attention of both the Central
and State governments, the other IDPs are
openly discriminated despite being
citizens of the country. The Kashmiri
Pandit migrants have been living in
accommodation provided by the
government. They are also provided with
monthly relief and free ration. In
November 2004, the central government
has also reportedly agreed in principle to
release Rs 150 crore to set up two room
sets for the Kashmiri migrant pandits
living in different camps in Jammu. In
comparison to Kashmiri pandits, the
conditions of the 60,000 border migrants,