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Rights without
Remedy
It goes without saying that torture is not legal anywhere, from Communist China to the military junta Myanmar to the largest democracy in the world, India. And on top of this all the UN Human Rights instruments forbid torture of any form. Even in times of war and conflict, International Laws forbid torture. However the interesting point to note here is, torture is practiced everywhere. Why this is so is the question that must be asked by each and every individual inhabiting planet earth and this question is all the more relevant to the people of Manipur who have had to live under the shadow of recurring brutal tortures especially perpetrated by the security personnel and Government agencies.
India signed the UN Convention Against Torture a few years back but is yet to ratify it and this does not speak well of the largest democracy in the world where allegations of excesses and gross human rights violations are hurled against its armed forces. When we talk of torture we invariably have to talk about the global human rights movement and even as the UN International Council Day in Support of Victims of Torture is set to observe the day on June 26, we need to realize that the most effective response to terror and violence is to provide renewed support to the global human rights movement and to prevent Governments from silencing the voice of democracy and respect for human rights.
'Not be tortured' is' the inalienable right of all the citizens of the world but the question now is, since torture is practiced everywhere, are there any remedies for victims of torture? This is rather interesting, for in India and in many of the countries which practice democracy there are just no mechanisms to redress the grievances of torture victims. More importantly can a right be called a right if there are no provisions for redressal in the event of that right being violated?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines torture as "the action or practice of deliberately causing somebody severe pain as a punishment or in order to force them to say or do something; to cause somebody great physical or mental suffering." However the real essence of torture cannot be understood in the backdrop of this somewhat perfunctory definition of torture. Torture should be understood not only from the point of the individual victim of torture, physically and mentally, but also from its devastating impact on the family members and yes to the society as a whole.
If the Leplan villagers had to undergo severe physical pains and mental trauma due to the brutal torture inflicted by the rampaging Assam Rifles personnel, the people of Manipur as a whole too suffered the indignity meted out to the villagers and surely the report of the torture methods employed by the security personnel and picture of brutalized buttocks and naked bodies dealt a deep impact on the minds and souls of people.
In Manipur, torture takes place during the first stage of the arrest, that is InCommuniquedo Detention, where the suspect is questioned and yes subjected to varying degrees of physical torture. Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act any suspect arrested by the army has to be handed over to the civil police “with least possible delay.” However that this is not the case is amplified by the number of petitions filed with the court of law and the human-rights commissions.
The Supreme Court in a new interpretation of the provisions of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act empowered the army to keep in detention a suspect during what it terms, "Operative Intelligence Interrogation." Some human rights activists have already pointed out that this is ill-defined and gives room to the security personnel to exploit the situation.
What do we do? We for one think that the time is now ripe to break the silence. Why are no medico-legal cases registered when torture victims of security personnel are admitted to hospitals? Do the doctors face any potential threat from the security personnel if such cases are registered? Has any legal process been taken up or any FIRs filed in connection with the brutalization of the Leplan villagers?
(Courtesy: The Sangai Express)
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