India strongly rejects comments made by UN committee on Manipur
India termed them "unwarranted, presumptive and misleading" and asserting that the situation in the Northeast state is peaceful.
Reacting to the news release by Special Procedure Mandate Holders (SPMH) titled ‘India: UN experts alarmed by continuing abuses in Manipur’, the Permanent Mission of India in United Nations expressed disappointment and strongly rejected the comments made by the UN committee and termed the comments as “unwarranted, presumptive and misleading”, asserting that the situation in Manipur is peaceful.
In a note verbale issued on Monday to the Special Procedures Branch of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Indian Mission said, “The Government is also committed to protecting the human rights of the people of India, including the people of Manipur.”
Steps taken by Government of India on Manipur
“The Permanent Mission of India completely rejects the news release as it is not only unwarranted, presumptive and misleading but also betrays a complete lack of understanding on the situation in Manipur and the steps taken by Government of India to address it,” said the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva.
India’s response came after a group of UN experts raised alarm about reports of “serious human rights violations and abuses” in Manipur, including alleged acts of sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, home destruction, forced displacement, torture and ill-treatment. The Permanent Mission of India also expressed surprise that SPMH issued a press release without waiting for the 60 day period for the Indian government to respond to the joint communication issued on the same topic on 29th August.
The Indian Mission further expressed hope that the SPMH would be more objective in the future in their assignment and would rely on facts. It hoped that the SPMH would “refrain from commenting on the developments, which have no relevance to the mandate given to them by the Council and abide by the established procedure for issuing news releases and wait for inputs sought from the Government of India before doing so.”
The Indian Mission reiterated that India is a democratic country and would always strive to abide by the rule of law and promote and protect the human rights of the people. “Indian law enforcement authorities and security forces are committed to dealing with law-and-order situations strictly in accordance with the principles of legal certainty, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination,” it said.
In their news release, the UN experts had said they were “appalled” by the reports and images of gender-based violence targeting hundreds of women and girls of all ages, and predominantly of the Kuki ethnic minority. “The alleged violence includes gang rape, parading women naked in the street, severe beatings causing death, and burning them alive or dead,” the experts said.
The experts also pointed to an “inadequate humanitarian response” in the wake of the grave humanitarian situation in Manipur following the latest round of community conflict between the Meitei and Kuki tribes.
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