IMPHAL, May 31: Neena Ningombam, representing the Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) and the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) spoke at the 23rd Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, according to a joint press release issued by Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM), India and the Asian Legal Resource Centre.
According to the statement, Neena’s speech revolved around the extrajudicial executions in India and South Asia in the context of the report filed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to the Council.
Further according to the statement, she said, “The Constitution of India guarantees the right to life and fair trial of all citizens. Yet, today I am a widow, having lost my husband to the state agencies. After the murder of my husband, the government branded him a terrorist, and denied us of all state welfare schemes for widows. Refusing to admit this baseless charge, I fought an uphill legal battle, for four years, for my husband`s name to be cleared. Yet, today I stand along with thousands of widows, whose loved ones were extra-judicially executed, particularly in the North East and Kashmir of India, where, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 (AFSPA) is in operation”.
“Following a petition filed at the Supreme Court of India, requesting the Court to probe into the 1528 cases of extrajudicial executions documented from Manipur, the Court appointed a high power commission that has revealed the systemic failure of the government to protect the Right to Life. Unfortunately, the Commission`s report is not made available to the petitioners and the public”.
“We sincerely hope that the Court will release the report, the contents that we are entitled to know as the petitioners in the case, in furtherance to the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions”, she said according to the statement.