According to the Draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has the following powers:
· After giving such due warning, fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is „acting against law or order‟ in the „disturbed‟ area, for the maintenance of public order,
· Destroy any arms dump, hide-outs, prepared or fortified position or shelter or
training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or
armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence.
· To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or
is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.
· To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any
person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.
· Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.
· Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made present over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.
· Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.
· Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.
Committees and Commissions on AFSPA View of the United Nations on
AFSPA
When India presented its second periodic report to the United
Nations Human Rights Committee in 1991, members of the UNHRC had asked numerous
questions about the validity of the AFSPA. They questioned the
constitutionality of the AFSPA under Indian law and asked how it could be
justified in light of Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR. On 23 March 2009,
UN Commissioner for Human
Rights Navanethem Pillay asked
India to repeal the AFSPA. She termed the law as "dated and colonial-era
law that breach contemporary international human rights standards.”
On 31 March 2012, the UN
asked India to revoke AFSPA saying it had no place in
Indian democracy.
Christof Heyns, UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions said, “…. AFSPA was described to me as 'hated'
and 'draconian'. It
clearly violates International Law. A number of UN treaty bodies have
pronounced it to be in violation of International Law as well."
Justice (Retd.) B.P. Jeevan Reddy Commission on AFSPA
In 2004, in the wake of
intense agitation that was launched by several civil society groups following
the death of Thangjam Manorama, while in the custody of the Assam Rifles and
the indefinite fast undertaken by Irom Sharmila, Union Home Minister Shivraj
Patil visited Manipur and reviewed the situation with the concerned state
authorities. In the same year, Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh assured activists
that the central government would consider their demand sympathetically.
The Central Government,
accordingly set up a five-member Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice B
P Jeevan Reddy, former Judge of the Supreme Court. The panel was given the
mandate of reviewing the provisions of AFSPA and advising the Government of
India.
The Reddy committee
submitted its recommendations on June 6, 2005. However, the government failed
to take any concrete action on the recommendations. The then Defense Minister
Pranab Mukherjee had rejected the withdrawal or significant dilution of the Act
on the grounds that “it is not possible for the armed forces to function” in
“disturbed areas” without such powers.
The 147-page report
recommended, “the Act, for whatever reason, has become a symbol of oppression,
an object of hate and an instrument of discrimination and high handedness. 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).”
Santosh Hegde Commission on encounter
deaths in Manipur
A high-power commission
headed by retired Supreme Court Judge, Santosh Hegde was constituted in January
2013 to probe six encounter deaths in Manipur. The Committee, which comprised
of former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde, exCEC J M Lyngdoh and a senior
police officer, has said in its report that the probe showed that none of the
victims had any criminal records. The Report which was submitted on 30 March,
2013, was made public only in July.
Justice J.S. Verma Committee Report
On January 24, 2013, Justice J S Verma
Committee report had not only recommended amendments to the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA) but even questioned its continuance in conflict
areas.
The report had
recommended that the Act's provision of seeking sanction from the central
government before initiating any legal action against an armed forces personnel
should be done away with in case of sexual crimes like outraging the modesty of
a woman and rape. Justice Verma observed that "There is an imminent
need to review the
continuance of AFSPA and AFSPA-like legal protocols in internal
conflict areas as soon as
possible. This is necessary for determining the propriety of
resorting to this
legislation in the area(s) concerned."
Women’s Committee wants AFSPA Repealed
The High-Level Committee on
Status of Women was set up by the UPA government in 2013 to do a comprehensive
study on the status of women since 1989, and to evolve appropriate policy
interventions based on a contemporary assessment of economic, legal, political,
education, health and socio-cultural needs of women. It
submitted its report in
2015.One of its recommendations was to repeal AFSPA.
Conclusion
Today, Irom Sharmila says she does not want to be idolized. She
wants that the peace-loving people of the world should raise their voice
against violence in the name of AFSPA. She says she doesn’t want to die; she
wants to fly like a bird with a message of peace and humanity across the seven
seas.
○○ ONE LINER GK ○○
○ पथ्वी का एक मात्र प्राकृतिक उपग्रह
है।
➖चन्द्रमा
○ 'गाँधी' फ़िल्म
में गाँधी की भूमिका किसने निभाई ?
➖बन किंग्सले
○ शिक्षक दिवस कब मनाया जाता है?
➖5 सितंबर
○ जापान पर परमाणु बम कब गिराया गया था?
➖1945 में
○ भांखड़ा नांगल बाँध किस नदी पर है?
➖सतलज
○ भारत का राष्ट्रीय पुष्प की है?
➖कमल
○ धनराज पिल्लै किस खेल से सम्बंधित है?
➖हॉकी
○ सयुंक्त राष्ट्र संघ U.N.O. की
सुरक्षा परिषद् में कितने स्थाई सदस्य है ?
➖5
○ कौन सा सिंधु सभ्यता का स्थान अब पाकिस्तान
में है ?
➖हड़प्पा
○ 'भूदान आंदोलन'
किसने
शुरू किया किया था?
➖विनोभा भावे
○ भारत में अंग्रेजी शिक्षा का किसने
शुरू की थी?
➖लार्ड मैकाले
○ 'फ़्लाइंग सिख'
के
नाम से किसे जाना जाता है?
➖मिल्खा सिंह
○ नींबू और सन्तरे में कौन सा विटामिन
पाया जाता है?
➖विटामिन 'C'
○ सविधान के प्रारूप समिति के चेयरमैन
कौन थे?
➖डॉ. भीम रॉव अम्बेडकर
○ तरि-स्तरीय पंचायती राज व्यवस्था में
सर्वोच्च स्थान पर क्या होता है?
➖जिला परिषद
○ शरी लंका की मुद्रा का नाम है।
➖रपया
○ 'डिस्कवरी ऑफ
इंडिया' नामक पुस्तक किसने लिखी थी?
➖जवाहर लाल नेहरू
○ 'गुरुत्वाकर्षण'
की
खोज किसने की थी?
➖नयूटन
○ नोबेल पुरस्कार प्राप्त करने वाला
प्रथम भारतीय कौन है।
➖रविन्द्र नाथ टैगोर
○ दरोणाचार्य पुरस्कार किससे सम्बंधित है?
➖शरेष्ठ गुरु / प्रशिक्षक
○ खजुराहो स्थित है-
➖मध्य प्रदेश
