SIPHRO

Press Release
March 23, 2006

The Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) is an independent human rights organisation that puts human rights first in the face of immense human rights violations against the marginalized and suppressed indigenous peoples of Northeast India in general and the Zo ethnic groups comprising of Chin, Kuki, Mizo and their kindred tribes living in and around Northeast India and different parts of the globe.

The present issue SIPHRO took up concerns disturbing reports of gross human rights violations by armed militants in Tipaimukh and Thanlon sub-divisions in Churachandpur district, Manipur. These atrocities were reportedly committed by some cadres of the valley-based militants namely the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) who fled from their hideouts following “Operation All Clear” launched by the Indian Army to flush them out. The reports also mentioned the total absence of government machineries in the area, that fear reigned supreme, that women are raped, that villagers are tortured, that many villagers fled for safety to Mizoram and that there was nobody to report to, who could take up their cause.

On the request of the Hmar Students’ Association (HSA) and the Hmar Women’s Association (HWA), concerned groups in Mizoram and the affected peoples, SIPHRO immediately made arrangements to send its representative to visit the affected villages and verify the reports on the spot. The representative visited the two most affected villages namely Parbung, the sub-divisional headquarters and the nearby Lungthulien village, where armed militants allegedly raped more than 21 Hmar women. SIPHRO representative interviewed and photographed the victims of rape and torture as well as the village authorities and recorded their statements which not only confirmed the reports received earlier by SIPHRO but also contained gruesome stories too shameful and inhuman to mention.

These acts of human rights abuses are in direct defiance of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as adopted by the United Nations. These abuses are a direct denial and violations of their rights as human beings.

SIPHRO immediately took up the matter with the concerned authorities in India and its sister organisations in different parts of the globe. SIPHRO expects that justice for the rape victims, tortured villagers, landmine victims, displaced persons and the affected peoples would be fully met as per the letter and spirit of the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution of India.

SIPHRO notes with deep regret some of the vested orchestrations of the UNLF and the KCP that tends to blame SIPHRO for exposing the misdeeds of some of its cadres in Tipaimukh and Thanlon areas. SIPHRO reiterates that the truth of the sufferings of the villagers of Tipaimukh and Thanlon areas are not concocted or cooked up. SIPHRO believes in upholding truth, fairness, and justice while preserving the traditional atmosphere of peaceful co-existence in Manipur.

SIPHRO is also concerned for the rights of victims. It demands that concerned authorities conforms in full, the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. SIPHRO believes in peaceful and humane settlement of the prevailing issues.