IMPHAL, April 28 MNS/NNN: Rashida Manjoo, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (UNSRVAW), held a consultative meeting with civil society organizations, women leaders, human rights defenders, victims and other advocates working on violence against women in Imphal on Sunday.
The meeting which was held at Hotel Classic was attended by over 200 delegates and family members of women victims of violence from all over the North East region and West Bengal. International organizations, national NGOs such as International Committee on the Red Cross (ICRC) and Child Rights and You (CRY) also attended the meeting, said a statement released by Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights in Manipur and the UN (CSCHR).
Manjoo accepted an invitation sent on March 13 from the CSCHR to visit Manipur and the North East region during her mission.
Forty separate depositions were made in the meeting, the largest one convened by the UNSRVAW during her current mission to India. The meeting was moderated by Jarjum Ete, secretary, National Alliance of Women (NAWO) and former chairperson of the Arunachal Pradesh State Women’s Commission, the statement said.
It said the first ever formal visit of a distinguished official of the UN with a human rights mandate to the state of Manipur is an ‘historic occasion.’’ The UNSRVAW was formally welcomed by the convenor of CSCHR, Dr Laifungbam Debabrata Roy. In his welcome address, Roy said, “We place our highest confidence and trust in you today, as you convene this historic meeting in Imphal.”
“Yesterday, our people remembered the day, 123 years ago when the independent state of Manipur lost her sovereignty and the Union Jack was unfurled in the holy citadel and fortress of Kangla Pungmayol in Imphal on April 27, 1891. The sovereignty has never been regained till today. In this context, your historic visit is most significant for us in Manipur,” the UNSRVAW statement quoted Roy as saying.
Introducing her mandate and purpose of her visit to India, Manjoo said, “The death of a woman is not a new act, but the ultimate act in the continuum of violence in the life of the woman.”
Among the deponents was the mother of the late Thangjam Monorama. Breaking into tears during her testimony, she appealed for justice for her daughter, who was brutally tortured and raped by personnel of the Indian paramilitary force, Assam Rifles before she was killed and her dead body abandoned in a field.
“The UN Special Rapporteur openly wept with Thangjam Monorama’s mother,” the statement added.
Babaloo L, exe Director, HRA emphasized the significance of Manjoo’s visit and reiterated the lonely 13 years fast by Irom Chanu Sharmila demanding repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 from Manipur.
The draconian law which confers wide impunity has no place in a democracy and it has been widely condemned, the statement cited Babaloo as saying.
Babaloo also said that many UN treaty body mechanisms and other Special Rapporteurs have called for its repeal and added Justice Verma Commission had also recently called for its repeal and accountability of the Indian armed forces personnel involved in rape and other forms of sexual assault, but these recommendations were ignored by the Government of India when it introduced the Criminal law (Amendment) Bill 2012 in Parliament.
Manjoo in her closing remarks said that it was not her mandate to comment on the depositions made before her, and that her report will be based on facts.
She also said that her opinions and conclusions as an independent expert were hers alone that these would not be changed or shaped by any influence whether from government or any others, the statement further added.
The UNSRVAW will be holding a national press conference in New Delhi on May 1 before she wraps up her mission.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/un-special-rapporteur-to-present-report-of-womens-problems/
