New Delhi, December 3 (IANS): Renewing calls for scrapping the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that gives immunity to the military from prosecution for actions in disturbed areas, human rights activists have said that upholding the rights and interests of victims is difficult in places where such "archaic" laws are in force. "In an environment of impunity and intimidation fostered by archaic laws such as AFSPA, truth-seeking and truth-telling is very difficult as is upholding the rights and the interests of the victims," said Sanjoy Hazarika, Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), a non-governmental organisation headquartered in New Delhi. "These laws defy logic and need to go," said Hazarika, author of "Strangers Of The Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India's Northeast". Hazarika was speaking at a consultation on "Potential Transitional Justice Framework for Manipur" organised by the Centre for Human Rights Studies (CHRS) and the Centre for the Study of Knowledge Systems of Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) on December 1 here. The consultation analysed the applicability of a suitable transitional justice model with a strong focus on effective transition from conflict to peace and reconciliation in the state of Manipur. Transitional justice consists of both judicial and non-judicial processes and mechanisms, including prosecution initiatives, truth-seeking, reparations programmes, institutional reform or an appropriate combination thereof, according to the United Nations. At the centre of the discussion was an investigation into as many as 1,528 alleged cases of extra-judicial killings in Manipur. The SC last year set up an SIT comprising CBI officers and ordered registration of FIRs and investigation into the alleged extra-judicial killings in the northeastern state. The court had ordered the registration of FIRs in 81 cases, including 32 probed by a Commission of Inquiry, 32 investigated by judicial authorities, 11 in which compensation was awarded and six probed by a Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde. Babloo Loitongbam, Director, Human Rights Alert, Manipur said: "We have organised the victims together and have filed 1,528 cases in the SC which is a class in itself. We started this journey six years back in 2012 by filing a PIL in Supreme Court and till now we have not seen any clear indication that justice will be done for sure," Loitongbam said. WA Shishak, former Chief Justice, High Court of Chhattisgarh and former Chairperson, Manipur State Human Rights Commission, stressed on the need for appointment of people with honesty, integrity and impeccable character to strengthen the Manipur State Human Rights Commission in order to address human rights violations.
