Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) and Human Rights Alert (HRA) heartily welcome the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee (Committee) to the Government of India (GoI) to abolish the requirement of mandatory prior authorization of the government for the prosecution of members of the security and armed forces. This is significant as the denial of prosecution sanction is blocking all the trials of the armed forces personnel against who CBI has found prosecutable evidence in their investigations under the WP(Cr) 129 of 2012 (EEVFAM v/s UoI).
It may be noted that the Committee conducted the 4th periodic review of India under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 15 and 16 of July 2024 at Geneva. Aftert a six hours long review, wherein the Manipur issue came up atleast 13 times, the Concluding Observation and Recommendation of Committee is finally published as UN document no. CCPR/C/IND/CO/4 dated 25 July 2024. The relevant paragraphs 29 and 30 are reproduced verbatim:
29. The Committee is concerned that the requirement of mandatory prior authorization of the government for the prosecution of the members of the security and armed forces in the context of
counter-terrorism and security and military operations creates a climate of widespread impunity
regarding allegations of human rights violations. In this regard, the Supreme Court of India in 2016 stated that allegations of extrajudicial killings “must be thoroughly enquired into”; however according to reports, out of the 1,528 documented instances of extrajudicial killings in Manipur from 1979 to 2012, only 39 First Information Reports were registered, of which not all have been scheduled for trial, due among other reasons refusal of sanction for prosecution (arts. 2, 6, 7, 9, 14 and 26).
30. The State party should abolish the requirement of mandatory prior authorization of the government for the prosecution of members of the security and armed forces, investigate promptly, thoroughly and impartially all human rights violations in the context of counter-terrorism, security and military operations, ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted and if convicted punished with penalties commensurate with the gravity of the offence, and that victims have access to effective remedies.
In the light of the recommendation from the most respected UN body, EEVFAM and HRA hopes that GoI would comply with the recommendation at the earliest for the end of justice.
Edina Yaikhom Babloo Loitongbam
Secretary
Extrajudicial Execution Victim Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM)
Babloo Loitongbam
Executive Director
Human Rights Alert