As many as seven Manipur-based civil society organisations on Sunday submitted a memorandum to the UN Secretary-General, interrelated agencies, the Government of India, and international human rights bodies, seeking immediate justice for the premeditated murder of six individuals including an eight-month-old infant at Jiribam district by Kuki militants on November 15.
The seven organisations are Yelhoumee Phurup, Taragi Cheishu, Solidarity Offered Unitedly for a Lustrated Society, Youth Collective Manipur, Nupi Union for Peace and Integrity, Manipur Students’ Association Delhi and Manipur International Youth Centre.
The organisations, in its memorandum, termed the murder as a heinous act disgracefully known as the Jakuradhor Massacre. It also underlined the well-organised and premeditated attack on the police station, which was providing protection and shelter to the IDPs from Jakuradhor village, Jiribam.
It condemned that the Jakuradhor incident allegedly constitutes a premeditated sexual crime against women and children in Manipur, perpetrated by the Kuki-Zo militants under the guise of ‘ethnic conflict.’
The incident cannot be viewed as an isolated act of cruelty inflicted by the Kuki militia in pursuit of a sectarian ethnic agenda, but it must be recognised as part of a broader reign of terror unleashed by the Kuki-Zo armed militia, operating with impunity under the guise of the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with the Government of India since 2005, it asserted.
It lamented that the evident regrouping and unchecked impunity have severely undermined the rights of civilians, manifesting in illegal taxation, attacks on truckers, kidnappings, looting, and murders along national highways passing through Manipur.
It also expressed discontentment over the alleged silence of the Centre on the Jakuradhor Massacre, adding that it raises critical questions about its commitment and sincerity in holding the attackers accountable under the rule of law and international humanitarian norms.
It pointed out that the Jakuradhor Massacre, committed by the Kuki militia, constitutes a flagrant violation of established international humanitarian laws, specifically, Common Article 3 of the Four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949.
It maintained that Jakuradhor was already under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), yet the massacre of women and children could not be prevented. It condemned that re-invocation of the draconian AFSPA instead of arresting the armed culprits involved in the Jakuradhor Massacre.
It also decried the alleged failure of the extensive deployment of Central Armed Forces to prevent attacks on farmers, truckers, civilians, and valleys facing the foothills so far.
The forum listed seven points demanding the immediate arrest and punishment of Kuki militia involved in the Jakuradhor Massacre of women and children; to constitute an independent Judicial Inquiry Commission on Jakuradhor Massacre headed by not less than a retired Supreme Court Judge.
It urged to depute a UN Special Rapporteur to investigate the Jakuradhor Massacre. It further said the Women and Child Commission of India must visit the Jakuradhor Massacre and produce a White Paper on Jakuradhor Massacre as implicated under the provisions of POCSO Act, 2012.
It further demanded the National Human Rights Commission of India to visit the Jakuradhor massacre site and ensure justice to the victims: to repeal the globally condemned AFSPA and take immediate measures to establish a tribunal under the supervision of the UN Security Council to try and prosecute persons responsible for commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide or ethnic cleansing given that India is unwilling and unable to do it by its own.
