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PERPETRATOR
A column of 17 Rajputana
Rifles of the Army stationed at Yairipok, Manipur.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF
DISAPPEARANCE
On 12 February 1998 at
around 11 pm, as Yumlembam Sanamacha was preparing for the forthcoming
Matric examination, a group of 17 Rajputana Rifles personnel broke into
his house at Angtha village. Despite pleadings from his family members,
that Sanamacha is an innocent boy preparing for his exams, the Army
personnel took him away. The women Meira Paibis of the locality
tried to resist the illegal arrest, but the Army personnel took him away
alongwith two other boys of the locality, namely, Yumlembam Inao and
Yumlembam Bimol. No arrest memo were issued as required by the law.
The next day, Inao and
Bimol were handed over to the Yairipok Police Station. But Sanamacha was
never released.
SEARCH EFFORTS
Public protests broke out
all over Manipur demanding the release of Sanamacha. To ascertain the
truth of the incident, a series of inquiries were conducted. Beside the
police investigation, the army authorities instituted at least two Court
of Inquiries. The Government of Manipur also instituted an Inquiry under
the Commission of Inquiry Act. The most effective inquiry was the one
conducted by the District and Session Judge under orders from the Gauhati
High Court following two Habeas Corpus Petitions (Civil Rule No. 4
and 5 of 1998).
The findings of the
District and Sessions Judge came out in the open, whereas the findings of
other inquiries were shelved. The District and Sessions Judge, in his
report, established that Sanamacha was arrested by the Army and was never
released from their custody.
Amnesty International
brought out a report dedicated to Sanamacha, entitled Silencing of the
Youth. As a result of Amnesty's campaign, thousands of solidarity
greeting cards from all over the world flooded the parents of Sanamacha.
The WITNESS program of the
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, New York brought out a short video
film entitled Sanamacha's Story.
The UN Working Group on
Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances took up his case and commented in
detail, in its report to the UN Commission on Human Rights.
PRESENT STATUS
The Habeas Corpus
case is still pending in the Gauhati High Court. The government has not
taken up any step toward adequate reparation or indictment and prosecution
of the perpetrators. Advocate A. Nilamani Singh and Advocate S. Lakhikanta
Singh are representing the petitioners in the High Court. |
