इरोम शर्मीला के समर्थन में २४ फ़रवरी से २६ फ़रवरी तक इम्फाल, मणिपुर ३ दिन का उपवास

इरोम शर्मीला के समर्थन में २४ फ़रवरी से २६ फ़रवरी तक इम्फाल, मणिपुर में ३ दिन का उपवास

आशा परिवार और अन्य जन संगठन के साथियों ने मिलकर इरोम शर्मिला के संघर्ष के समर्थन में और आर्म फ़ोर्स (स्पेशल पावर) एक्ट १९५८ के विरोध में एक तीन दिवसीय उपवास का आयोजन इम्फाल में करने का निर्णय लिया है। आप सभी इस संघर्ष में भागीदार होकर इस संघर्ष को मज़बूत करते हुए मानव अधिकार के उलंघन को रोक सकते है......

3 DAY FAST IN SOLIDARITY WITH IROM SHARMILA: IMPHAL, 24TH-26TH FEBRUARY, 2010

VENUE-APDA -COMPLEX(POROMPAT) IMPHAL

Date 24th februry to 26th feb 2010

Dear All,we are aware that In November 2009, poet and activist Irom Sharmila from Manipur entered the 10th year of her hunger strike demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958(AFSPA). She started the hunger strike after the Indian Army massacred ten innocent civilians in Malom, Manipur. This was already the twentieth year of the application of the AFSPA in Manipur. On 6 November 2000, she was arrested by the police and charged with attempt to commit suicide under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code. Her health deteriorated gradually and she did not accept even a single drop of water except being forcefully fed by nasogastric intubation.

We feel that AFSPA grants the Indian Army special powers throughout North-East India and Kashmir to:

· Arrest citizens and enter their property without warrant;

· Shoot and kill anyone on mere 'suspicion';

· Enjoy immunity against legal action.

According to the government appointed Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission 'the Act has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high-handedness. ' The United Nations Committee on Racial Discrimination has urged the Indian government to repeal the law. AFSPA is one of the most draconian legislations that the Indian Parliament has passed in its 60 years of history. Under this Act, all security forces are given unrestricted and unaccounted power to carry out their operations, once an area is declared disturbed. It is the army, rather than any civilian authority, which decides that in order to 'maintain the public order', one must shoot to kill.

This Act empowers the armed forces wide powers to shoot, arrest and search, all in the name of 'aiding civil power.' The whole of Manipur has been under AFSPA since 1980. The enforcement of the AFSPA has resulted in innumerable incidents of arbitrary detention, torture, rape, and looting by security personnel. In Manipur alone, security forces kill on average one to two persons per day, according to non-governmental sources.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act contravenes the Indian constitution and law standards.

· Violation of Article 21 - Right to life

· Protection against arrest and detention - Article 22

· The Indian Criminal Procedure Code

· Military's Immunity / Lack of Remedies

· The Army Act

· States of Emergency

It also contravenes the following International law standards of which the Government of India is a signatory. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

· International Customary Law comprising of The UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, the UN Body of Principles for Protection of All Persons Under any form of Detention, and the UN Principles on Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal and summary executions

· International Humanitarian Law comprising four Geneva Conventions of 1949 along with the two optional protocols.

We strongly feel that a country which prides in calling itself a democracy cannot condemn a section of the population living under legalized martial law for almost six decades. We also feel that the recurrent sexual violence on women by the armed forces (highlighted after the murder of Thangjam Manorama) must not go unpunished, though, given the refusal of the government to prosecute the army for acts committed under the AFSPA, no case has ever been brought to court.
It is in this context that the heroic struggle of Irom Sharmila has been taking place.

In expressing our solidarity with her, we demand:

· The immediate repeal of the AFSPA without its reintroduction under any other name.

· The removal of the military from playing a governing role in the area.

· The prosecution of army personnel for all cases of murder, rape, sexual violence and torture, and the punishment of all the guilty.

With this end, 3 days solidarity fast at Imphal outside J.N. hospital from the 24^th to the 26^th of February, 2010 is being organized by Asha Parivar, NAPM, INSAF and others. It is the responsibility of civil society, especially the section that constitutes the so-called “mainland/mainstream Indians” to express their solidarity with Sharmila’s decision, so that a more humane society becomes a visible reality.

Organisation- NAPM, Asha Parivar,Inasaf, Women,Shrmeela Kanba-lup, Female right Alert

Name those are fasting all three days-

1-Arvind murty -UP -NAPM

2- Faisal - NAPM .Asha parivar

3- sajjad -Social activist -Kargil (J&K)

4- Akhlesh --UP and others

we are requesting that please join us in imphal or organise a fast at ur place .

For more information on the 3day solidarity fast, and to travel to Imphal for the same, please contact:---

Faisal Khan, Asha Parivar and NAPM: faisalkj2002@ yahoo.co. in,09968-828-230

Sandeep Panday, Asha Parivar and NAPM:ashaashram@ yahoo.com ashaashram@yahoo. com,

Arvind murty ------------ --------- --09839835032

Ninglun Hangal, INSAF: 9868592768insafdelhi@gmail. com

Singhjeet -Imphal --09862696184