Constitute Human Rights Panels For Northeast India

Agartala/Imphal, Dec 10 : Rights groups in northeast India Friday urged the governments in the region to constitute Human Rights Commissions in each state and repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

On the occasions of the World Human Rights Day Friday, several human rights organisations in Tripura, Assam and Manipur organised numerous programmes to highlight the significance of the day.

'Only 14 states in India, including three in the northeast region, have human rights commissions,' Tripura Human Rights Organisation (THRO) general secretary Purusottam Roy Barman told reporters.

Roy Barman, also a senior lawyer, said: 'The army, various central and state security forces and the separatist outfits are mainly responsible for violation of human rights in northeast.'

'We do not believe that formation of the commission would protect the human rights of people, but it would be checked to a reasonable limit,' he added.

The THRO, along with other human rights organisations, recently sent a memoranda to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding revocation of the AFSPA, a controversial anti-terror law enacted 52 years ago which gives sweeping powers to the security forces to curb terrorism.

Roy Barman said that all human rights groups in northeast have been supporting the cause of Manipur rights activist Irom Sharmila, who completed 10 years of her hunger strike last month. The 38-year-old Manipuri poet is struggling for the repeal of the AFSPA in her state.