PSPD in English Int. Solidarity 2015-01-28   1806

[Open Letter] Arrest of Women Human Rights Defender Irom Sharmila Chanu

28 January 2015

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister’s Office

South Block, Raisina Hill

New Delhi-110011

India

Facsimile: +91-11-23019545, 23016857

 

Re: Arrest of Women Human Rights Defender Irom  Sharmila Chanu

 

Your Excellency,

 

We, the undersigned civil society organizations, write to you to express our grave concern over the latest re-arrest of Ms. Irom Sharmila Chanu on 24 January 2015 by Manipur police in Imphal, Manipur. Ms. Sharmila has been on a hunger strike for over 14 years demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), which has been the cause of egregious human rights violations, including the killing of civilians, in Manipur and other parts of India. Ms. Sharmila’s peaceful protest against the Act has been consistently used as a tool to harass her by framing charges of attempted suicide under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.

 

We welcomed her release[1] on 22 January 2015 after a Manipur court rejected charges of attempted suicide. However, within hours after the release, she has been re-arrested on the very same charges. We deplore this outrageous cycle of arrests and re-arrests, which Ms. Sharmila is facing since she began her hunger strike in November 2000, and demand her immediate and unconditional release.

 

Ms. Sharmila’s continual arrests have been made under an out-dated law that criminalizes “attempt to suicide,” which the Law Commission of India found “anachronistic” and “undesirable” and recommended to repeal the relevant section (Section 309) of the Indian Penal Code. In this regard, we remind your government to fully implement the Commission’s recommendation. In addition, we strongly urge that judicial protection prohibiting Ms. Sharmila’s repeated arrests be granted, given the Court’s consistent decisions rejecting the charges against her[2].

 

Recognizing that the criminalization of Ms. Sharmila’s peaceful protest serves to silence the reason behind it, we reiterate[3] our longstanding call to repeal the AFSPA, which allows wide discretionary powers to officers of armed forces to search and arrest without a warrant, and use force against anyone suspected of having committed certain offences. The officers are granted impunity through the clause that they can only be prosecuted upon the permission of the central government. 

 

Criminalization of Ms. Sharmila’s peaceful protest against the AFSPA violates Article 1 of the UN Declaration on human rights defenders, which guarantees the right of human rights defenders and women human rights defenders to promote and protect the realization of human rights.

 

We particularly remind you of the history of peaceful hunger strikes undertaken during the struggle for independence. The courts of India have also recognized this form of protest as being protected under Article 19 of the Constitution of India. We urge you to respect these legal protections and engage in a meaningful dialogue with those advocating for the repeal of AFSPA as should be the case in any democratic society.

 

We thank you for your attention and action.

 

Signed by:

 

1. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

2. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh

3. Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha Banglar (MASUM), India

4. Bytes for All, Pakistan

5. Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia

6. Globe International Center, Mongolia

7. HAK Association, Timor Leste

8. Human Rights Alert, India

9. Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Indonesia

10. The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor (IMPARSIAL), Indonesia

11. Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), Nepal

12. Just Peace Foundation, India

13. Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), Korea

14. Law and Society Trust (LST), Sri Lanka

15. People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), Korea

16. People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), India

17. People’s Watch, India

18. Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity (PACTI), India

19. Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), Taiwan, Province of China

20. Think Centre, Singapore 

 

Cc: Director General Shri Shahid Ahmad, Manipur police station

    Hon’ble Mr.Justice N. Kotiswar Singh, Executive Chairman, Manipur Court

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