Alleged extra-judicial killing

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in India.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Centre for Organisation Research & Education (CORE), a member the OMCT SOS-Torture network, of the alleged extra-judicial killing of Mr. Angom Brajamani (32-year-old) by Manipur police commando[1] (Imphal West) in Khoyathong Pukhri Acouba Mapal, Imphal West Dristict, Manipur, on 18 November 2007.

According to the information received, on 18 November 2007 at about 7:00 p.m., Mr. Angom Brajamani was reportedly chatting along with acquaintances around the culvert (known as Turel Thong) near the bus parking Phayeng Makha Leikai when two alleged unidentified armed plainclothes police commandos got out of a car which had stopped near the bus parking. They were reportedly wearing caps, big jackets and AK 47 what the police commando usually wears. The two police commandos reportedly approached the group and then identified Mr. Angom Brajamani. They would have told Mr. Angom Brajamani that he was the one they were looking for. They then allegedly held him at gunpoint and pushed him in the car which then whisked away towards Phayeng Konshang Lambi (towards the main road).

According to the same information, when Mr. Angom Brajamani’s brother, Mr. Angom Ingobi, heard about the event, he reportedly tried to call his brother on his mobile phone but it was switched off. On 19 November 2007, his family reportedly read in the local newspaper that one youth had been killed by Imphal West police commando in an encounter at Khoyathong Pukhri Achouba Mapal, Imphal West, during the previous night, and that the body was at the morgue of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal (RIMS). The family reportedly confirmed that the body was the one of Mr. Angom Brajamani.

Reports indicate that no investigation has been launched into this event, although wide public protest, and that the police claimed Mr. Angom Brajamani was a cadre of the proscribed People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) who had returned from Nepal 15 days before, allegation which is refuted by his family.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its deep concern over this alleged extra-judicidal killing and calls on the authorities to order a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law. Further, India should guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in India urging them to:

1. i. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in particular into the alleged extra-judicial killing of Mr. Angom Brajamani, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
2. ii. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to the victim’s family;
3. iii. Ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standard.

Addresses

• Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi 110004, India, Fax 91 11 233 82365/ 91 11 237 11 772
• Shri Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister’s Office, Room number 152, South Block, New Delhi, Fax: + 91 11 2301 6857
• Shri Shivraj Patil, Union Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, 104-107 North Block, New Delhi 110 001 India, Fax: +91 11 2309 2979.
• Justice K. G. Balkrishnan, Chief Justice of India, Supreme Court, Tilak Marg, New Delhi -1, Fax: +91 11 233 83792, Email: supremecourt@nic.in
• Justice Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@nic.in
• Mr. Okram Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur, Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Babupara, Imphal, Manipur, India, Fax: 91 385 222 1817, Email: cmmani@hub.nic.in
• Permanent Mission to the United Nations (Geneva), Rue du Valais 9, 1202 Geneva, Tel: +41 22 906 86 86, Fax: +41 22 906 86 96, Email: mission.india@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of India in Brussels, 217 Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 (0)2 6489638 or +32 (0)2 6451869

Please also write to the embassies of India in your respective country.

Geneva, 10 December 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply

[1] The Manipur police commando is a special unit among the regular police Manipur rifles (MR) and Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB), in particular for counter insurgency operation.