Human Rights Violations by the Armed Forces

Human Rights Violations by the Armed Forces CHAPTER IV: ALLEGED HR VIOLATIONS BY THE ARMED FORCES IN NE INDIA Fundamental violations of human rights always lead to people feeling less and less human. San Suu Kyi India’s CI ops in the NE have allegedly resulted in widespread HR violations including, torture, forced disappearances, extra-judicial killing, rape, detention without trial, and harsh restrictions on freedom of assembly, movement and expression. Human rights abuses have been invariably now linked with the AFSPA, 1958, which was enacted in response to the Naga insurgency movement in then Assam State and union territory of Manipur. Between 2005 and 2008, the number of security troops killed in the northeast declined from 71 to 46 per year. In that same period, the ACHR notes an increase in the number of reported civilian deaths (1666) in the region.[1] As per media reports, out of those killed very few died in combat with armed forces. Instead most were killed in ‘fake encounters’ where in an individual is usually picked-up by police or armed forces and later his dead body is found at a secluded location, in rebel uniform and planted with a forbidden weapon and some unregistered (illegal) SIM cards. In February 2012, two judges of the Supreme Court, intervening in a case where the Central Bureau of Investigation was seeking to prosecute army officers accused of murdering five villagers in Jammu Kashmir, in what is known as the Pathribal incident, declared clearly that AFSPA’s protection was limited to acts conducted in the line of duty. â€Å"You go to a place in exercise of AFSPA, you commit rape, you commit murder, then where is the question of sanction? It is a normal crime which needs to be prosecuted, and that is our stand,† declared the bench of Justices Swatanter Kumar and B.S. Chauhan.[2] Thangjam Manamora Devi On 10 Jul 04, a 29 yr old Manipuri woman named Thangjam Manorama Devi was allegedly picked up from her residence by the troops of 17th Assam Rifles. The next morning her bullet ridden body was found in the field at a short distance from her residence. The autopsy of her corpse suggested rape and murder. Assam Rifles claimed that she was shot for her attempt to escape. Post the incident an inquiry commission was set up by the Manipur Govt. The commission submitted its report in Nov 2004, but the Guwahati High Court ruled that the State Govt has no jurisdiction over the Assam Rifles because of its deployment under AFSPA.[3] The Assam Rifles, for its part, has refused to cooperate with the Judicial Commission instituted by the Ibobi Singh Govt to probe the circumstances that led to Manoramas death. It moved the Guwahati High Court and obtained an interim stay on the summoning of its personnel by the commission. Col. Jag Mohan, Commandant of 17 Assam Rifles, requested the commission to set aside the proceedings against Assam Rifles personnel since a petition had been filed in the Guwahati High Court. The Assam Rifles petition in the High Court said that the commission has been summoning persons who do not come under its jurisdiction. In the past, some judicial inquiry commissions had to be wound up on technical grounds. Under the AFSPA, no prosecution process can be initiated against personnel of the Central forces without first obtaining the Centres approval. The Assam Rifles moved the High Court certainly not without the prior sanction of both the Home and Defence Ministries. Quoting the first post-mortem report of Manorama, Assam Rifles denied the charge of rape of her by its personnel.[4] Mr Colin Gonsalves, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court has stated that â€Å" Not only man on the street, but even judges have been arbitrarily picked up, detained and tortured by the men in uniform deriving unlimited and unaccounted powers from the Armed forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. If the judiciary cannot protect itself, how can it do justice to the people of Manipur†.[5] Guwahati High Court ruled for the submission of report of Inquiry commission constituted by State Govt to the Home ministry and since then this report has not been made public. This shocking incident resulted in wide scale unprecedented protests throughout the state. Anger and anguish among the locals reached such a level where a group of middle aged women stripped naked outside the headquarters of Assam Rifles and shouted slogans ‘ Indian Army Rape Us’. In order to reach out to the feelings of Manipuri people then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh promised the people of Manipur to review the AFSPA.[6] Irom Chanu Sharmila Irom Sharmila is a 42 years old woman from Manipur who is also referred to as ‘The Iron Lady of Manipur’ for her hunger strike which she started on 2 Nov 2000. She has been called â€Å"the world’s longest hunger striker† for having refused food and water for more than 14 years. On 2 Nov 2000, ten civilians were allegedly killed by the armed forces operating in the state under AFSPA at Malom town in the Imphal valley. Protesting the ‘Malom Massacre’ Sharmila started her unending hunger strike which is continued till date. Her main demand to the central Govt is complete repeal of AFSPA which has been perceived by the local Manipuri people as the root cause of the HR violations by the armed forces.[7] Justice Jeevan Reddy Committee. As mentioned above, during the visit of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Manipur in 2004, he promised the people to consider the review of AFSPA. Thereafter a committee was constituted by the Central Govt, under the chairmanship of Justice (Retired) BP Jeevan Reddy, on 19 Nov 04 to recommend either changes in the present act or to replace the AFSPA in present form with a more humane act. The committee also included four other members. During the course of its work, the committee members met several individuals, organisations, parties, institutions and NGOs, which resulted in the report stating that the Act, for whatever reason, has become a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness. The report clearly stated that It is highly desirable and advisable to repeal the Act altogether, without of course, losing sight of the overwhelming desire of an overwhelming majority of the [North East] region that the Army should remain (though the Act should go).[8] The committee submitted its report to the Central Govt in August 2005. The Govt has not yet decided on the recommendations proposed by the committee. Some of the important recommendations of the committee are as follows[9]:- (a) AFSPA should be repealed. The Act is too sketchy, too bald and quite inadequate in several particulars. (b) Insertion of appropriate provisions in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (as amended in the year 2004) would be more appropriate, instead of suggesting a new piece of legislation. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 as amended in 2004 by the Parliament should be the only law to deal with all kinds of internal security problems including the threats of insurgency and terrorism. (c) A chapter needs to be added to facilitate employment of armed forces in the present Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 as amended in 2004. The draft chapter has also been included in report of the Reddy committee as compatible to the constitutional principles. Justice Santosh Hegde Committee The Supreme Court of India by its order dated 4th Jan 2013 appointed Justice Santosh Hegde commission with directions to make thorough inquiry in the first six cases detailed in ‘Compilation –I’ filed by the writ petitioners in WP (Crl) No.129 of 2012, with further directions to the commission to record a finding regarding the past antecedents of the victims and the circumstances in which they were killed.[10] The Apex Court further directed the commission to report regarding the functioning of State Police and Security Forces and if necessary the commission was mandated to make recommendations for keeping the police and the security forces within the legal bounds without compromising the fight against insurgency.[11] The specific cases which were enquired by the commission are as per the details given below[12]:- After carrying out the detailed inquiry in respect of all six case the Justice Santosh Hegde Commission submitted its report on 30 Mar 13. Following are the highlights of the recommendations proposed by the commission[13]:- (a) The six cases which were inquired by the commission were egregious examples of AFSPA’s gross abuse. (b) With a burgeoning, restive and youthful population only proactive inclusive governance can hope for some stability. (c) Commission was in respectful agreement with the finding of Justice Jeevan Reddy committee that AFSPA has become â€Å"a symbol of oppression, an object of hate and instrument of discrimination and high headedness†. (d) It is time to progressively de-notify more areas of the Manipur State under section 3 of AFSPA. If at any stage of the de-notification there is a serious and continued regression in the law and order situation, it should be open to the appropriate Govt to reconsider the options available to it. (e) The Do’s and Don’ts, laid down by the Supreme Court during its 1997 verdict, may be given statutory status. (f) A sensitive, proactive and responsive administration will go long way in normalizing the situation and winning the confidence of the people. (g) All cases of encounters resulting in death are reviewed once in three months by a committee chaired by the Head of the State Human Rights Commission with Principal Secretary Home and DG of the state as members. (h) Central Govt be given a reasonable time to pass order under Section 6 of AFSPA, preferably within three months from the date of its receipt of the request of the prosecution, failing which its sanction will be presumed. Conclusion Apart from the cases of HR violations discussed above, there are many other cases some of which are not even reported. These HR violations clearly show the undesired consequences of employing the Armed Forces for the task which under the normal circumstances should have been undertaken by the state law enforcing agencies. When the Armed Forces are deployed for prolonged duration for maintenance of public order, there is ample possibility of certain member from the forces seeking advantage of the power and position to harass or trample upon the rights of the local people. Hence the act needs to be analysed in detail to ascertain the availability of suitable checks and balances to prevent the appalling HR violations by the Armed Forces. Footnotes [1] Lierde Van Frank, We, Widows of the Gun, A joint publication from Manipuri NGO’s Women in Governance (WinG), the Gun Victims Survivors Association (GVSA), Human Rights Alert (HRA), the Extrajudicial Execution Victims Families Manipur (EEVFAM) and the Dutch international development organization Cordaid, 2011, p-13. [2] An abomination called AFSPA, The Hindu 12 Feb 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/an-abomination-called-afspa/article4405641.ece accessed on 15 Nov 14. [3] Thangjam Manorama, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thangjam_Manorama accessed on 15 Nov 14. [4] Talukdar Sushanta, Manipur on fire, Frontline Aug28-Sep10,2004, http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2118/stories/20040910007400400.htm accessed on 16 Nov 14. [5] The Murder of Manorama, http://www.unipune.ac.in/snc/cssh/HumanRights/02 STATE AND ARMY POLICE REPRESSION/B Assam and the north east/11.pdf accessed on 15 Nov 14. [6] Dr. Manmohan Singh was amiable with Manipur leaders, assured to amend armed forces special powers law with a new humane law, Asian Tribune, 01 Nov 04, http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2004/11/01/dr-manmohan-singh-was-amiable-manipur-leaders-assured-amend-armed-forces-special-pow accessed on 15 Nov 14. [7] Irom Chanu Sharmila, Wikipedia, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irom_Chanu_Sharmila accessed on 15 Nov 14. [8] Justice(Retd) BP Jeevan Reddy Committee’s Report, 6 Jun 05. [9] Ibid. [10] Report of Supreme Court Appointed Justice Santosh Hegde Commission, P-1. [11] Ibid [12] Ibid, P- 4,5. [13] Ibid, P- 95-104.

Dorothy Day, Saint-Worthy? Essay -- essays research papers

Dorothy Day, Saint-Worthy? Almost immediately after her death in 1980 controversy arose about whether Dorothy Day should be canonized a Saint by the Church. Now that the Vatican has approved the late Cardinal John O'Connor's request to consider Dorothy Day's "cause," the controversy is being rekindled. After converting, she dedicated her life to New York's poor and immigrants, building hospitality homes that operated much like homeless shelters. Her endeavor grew into the national Catholic Worker movement, a social justice crusade conducted in revolutionary tones new to the church. When she died, a multitude came down to the old dwelling off the Bowery to pay their respects, the way people had come to Catholic Worker houses for soup. There were Catholic Workers, social workers, migrant workers, the unemployed; addicts, alcoholics, anarchists; Protestants, Jews and agnostics; the devout and the strident and the curious, there to see what a saint looked like. Dorothy Day died in 1980, at the age of 83. She was one of the greatest religious figures of the century, and one of the most paradoxical. She was a Catholic and she was an anarchist. She condemned poverty and she advocated it. She founded the Catholic Worker, a loose aggregation of 'houses of hospitality,' communal farms, newspapers and round-table discussions for 'further clarification of thought' - and called her memoirs 'The Long Loneliness.' The movement was wary of authority, yet revered her as its leader (Rosin). If Dorothy Day is ever canonized, the record of who she was, what she was like and what she did is too complete and accessible for her to be hidden. She will be the patron saint not only of the homeless and those who try to care for them but also of people who lose their temper. One of the miracles of Dorothy's life is that she remained part of a conflict-torn community for nearly a half a century. Still more remarkable, she remained a person of hope and gratitude to the end. Many voices are in support of the canonization process as well, citing Dorothy Day's life as an example that has inspired them to prayer and action for social justice. Her faithfulness to the Gospel, living the "preferential option for the poor" and showing that a lay person can achieve heroic virtue are oft... ...in your entire life." To a college student who asked a sarcastic question about her recipe for soup, she responded, "You cut the vegetables until your fingers bleed." To a journalist who told her it was the first time he had interviewed a saint, she replied, "Don't call me a saint -- I don't want to be dismissed that easily (Forest)." Even though she may not have wanted it, I do think that her cause should go all the way. She is a wonderful example of living the gospel message and an inspiration to regular men and women. She knew what it was to suffer for her beliefs. She was converted and reconciled. She saw Jesus in the faces of all whom she met and served. What better example of sainthood could there possibly be. Forest, Jim. Dorothy Day, Saint and Troublemaker. Guadalupe, Casa Maria October 10, 1997 Anonymous. Dorothy Day, Servant of God http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/canonization.cfm Rosin, Hannah. Honoring Dorothy Day: The Dead Don’t Ever Own the Dead. The Washington Post. March 17, 2000

Albert Bandura Theory Essay

Albert Bandura’s theory (The Bobo Doll Experiment) states that children learn aggressive behavior through the media, and by observing others and the environment. He stated that many individuals believed that aggression will produce reinforcements. â€Å"These reinforcements can formulate into reduction of tension, gaining financial rewards, or gaining the praise of others, or building self-esteem† (Siegel, 1992, p. 171). Bandura believes that this aggressive like behavior is stemmed from a process called aggressive modeling. I disagree with this theory because there are too many people in the world to base his theory on something that is not even factual. There are many factors when considering a child’s behavior. Does that child have a violent nature? Is that child a natural introvert? These variables play a huge part when considering if a child will respond to violence. An introvert child is a child who is better off being alone (Dictionary.com). They shelter within themselves. They draw energy and confidence from being alone and staying to themselves. A child like this tends to shy away from groups and group activities. Often times, violent crimes and aggressive behavior are spawned by a group or gang of likeminded people. Introverted children will more than likely not be involved with such gathering of behavior. According to an article, Children and TV Violence, Sarah Davis (2010) indicated that â€Å"While some children emulate the violence they see on the TV, more introverted children get scared instead† (www.livestrong.com). Sometimes, children just take a natural attraction to violent behavior. It does not necessarily have anything to do with the upbringing or environmental state. In some cases, the best parents have the worst children. No one is responsible for the outcome of that child’s behavior but the child itself. The child is the only beholder of what they decide to become in the future. For example, I know a set of twin boys who were both brought up in the same household. They attended the same school and were exposed to the same environment. Yet, the younger twin led a life of aggressive behavior and made a career of being out of being a criminal. However, the older twin chose a path of positivity. He graduated from high school and went to college. He also recently got engaged and is now working on a career in Business. However, his brother is currently serving a sentence for burglary and aggravated assault with the intent to do bodily harm. This simple comparison with these twin boys is called the Classical Choice Theory. The Classical Choice Theory has evolved into modern rational choice theory, which argues that criminals are rational decision makers: before choosing to commit crimes, criminals evaluate the benefits and costs of the contemplate criminal act; their choice is structured by the fear of punishment (Siegel, 2011, p. 13). This theory states that criminals or children who commit crimes have the rational choice to commit crimes without any influence of their environment, other people or the media. Others might not agree with me on the Albert Bandura Theory, stating that the media, other people and the environment are some reasons for negative behavior of a child. Parenting a child is not a science; it cannot be put into a scientific method and used to rear and develop a child. However, each child is different; therefore, each technique has to be executed accordingly to a child’s behavior. Unfortunately, some children live in low income societies and are exposed to violence. Nevertheless, if you rear a child with the proper guidance, that child still withholds his future in his hands. Each child has the ultimate say-so of what they will or will not do when it is time for them to make that dangerous choice. References (N/A) (N/D) Introvert Retrieved on July 31, 2012 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/introvert?s=t Davis, S.(2010). Children and tv violence. Retrieved August 6,2012, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/75671-children-tv-violence/#ixzz22mr0G2ui Rathus A. Spencer (2012). Psych. 51. Mason, Ohio: Wadsworth. Cengage Learning. Siegal, L. J. (2011). Criminology: The core (4th ed.). Florence, KY: Wadsworth Publishing.

About Mercury The Geology of Quicksilver

The heavy metal element mercury (Hg) has fascinated humans since ancient times when it was referred to as quicksilver. It is one of only two elements, the other being bromine, that is liquid at standard room temperature. Once the embodiment of magic, mercury is regarded with much more caution today. The Mercury Cycle Mercury is classified as a volatile element, one that lives mostly in the Earths crust. Its geochemical cycle starts with volcanic activity as magma invades sedimentary rocks. Mercury vapors and compounds rise toward the surface, condensing in porous rocks mostly as the sulfide HgS, known as cinnabar.   Hot springs can also concentrate mercury if they have a source of it down below. It was once thought that the Yellowstone geysers were possibly the largest producers of mercury emissions on the planet. Detailed research, however, found that nearby wildfires were emitting far larger amounts of mercury into the atmosphere.   Deposits of mercury, whether in cinnabar or at hot springs, are usually small and rare. The delicate element doesnt last long in any one place; for the most part, it vaporizes into the air and enters the biosphere.   Only a portion of environmental mercury becomes biologically active; the rest just sits there or becomes bound to mineral particles. Various microorganisms deal with mercuric ions by adding or removing methyl ions for their own reasons.  (The methylated mercury is highly poisonous.) The net result is that mercury tends to end up slightly enriched in organic sediments and clay-based rocks like shale. Heat and fracturing release the mercury and start the cycle again. Of course, humans are consuming large amounts of organic sediments in the form of coal. Mercury levels in coal are not high, but we burn so much that energy production is by far the biggest source of mercury pollution. More mercury comes from burning petroleum and natural gas.   As fossil fuel production increased during the Industrial Revolution, so did mercury emissions and subsequent problems. Today, the USGS spends a large amount of time and resources studying its prevalence in and effects on our environment.   Mercury in History and Today Mercury used to be highly regarded, for reasons both mystical and practical. Among the substances we deal with in our lives, mercury is pretty odd and amazing. The Latin name hydrargyrum, from which its chemical symbol Hg comes, means water-silver. English speakers used to call it quicksilver, or living silver. The medieval alchemists felt that mercury must have a mighty mojo, some excess of spirit that could be tamed for their great work of turning base metal into gold. They used to make little toy mazes with a glob of the liquid metal in it. Perhaps Alexander Calder had one as a child and remembered his fascination when he created his wonderful Mercury Fountain in 1937. It honors the Almadà ©n miners for their suffering during the Spanish Civil War and occupies a place of honor at the Fundacià ³n Joan Mirà ³ in Barcelona today. When the fountain was first created, people appreciated the beauty of the free-flowing metal liquid but did not understand its toxicity. Today, it sits behind a protective pane of glass.   As a practical matter, mercury does some very useful things. It dissolves other metals in it to make instant alloys or amalgams. A gold or silver amalgam made with mercury is an excellent material for filling tooth cavities, hardening rapidly and wearing well. (Dental authorities do not consider this a hazard to patients.) It dissolves precious metals found in ores—and then can be distilled almost as easily as alcohol, boiling at only a few hundred degrees, to leave the gold or silver behind. Being extremely dense, mercury is used for making small lab apparatus like blood-pressure gauges or the standard barometer, which would be 10 meters tall, not 0.8 meters, if it used water instead. If only mercury were safer. Considering how potentially hazardous it can be when used in everyday items, though, it just makes sense to use safer alternatives.