GUWAHATE: The — Manab Adkihar Sangram Samity (MASS), which has been most vocal against violation of human rights in Assam, is all set to launch & movement, besides lodging a formal complaint with the United Nations to this effect, Addressing the Press here Dec.10 MASS convener Parag Kumar Das and his colleagues alleged that the State machinery was indulging in gross violation of human nights by misusing the black laws. They demanded withdrawal of the existing black laws in the State. They also urged upon the government immediately stand dialogues with the region’s secessionist forcing. Executive director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center Ravi Nair, who was also present at the press meet, said the human rights commission proposed to be set up by the government would have a limited role to play since its ambit dos not include the armed forces and the paramilitary forces. He said that such a commission could only refer the human rights violations by security forces to the Ministry of Defence or Home which ultimately would be a futile exercise. The composition of the commission would make it handicapped on grounds of political considerations, Nair said.
The human rights commission has no investigating agency of its own and it would depend on the government agencies for investigation on any violation, Nari asked.
Nair alleged said that the government had tried to stop the program Friday.
D.S.Gill chairman of the International Human Rights Congress and M.S.Grewal, general secretary of the Punjab Sikh Lawyers Associated also addressed the meet and said that the activists would try to move international bodies, including UN to highlight the human rights violation in the Northeast, Ajit Bhuyan, editor of Sadin also participated. The human rights activists felt the threat to human rights and civil liberties in the region, including Assam, was no less than that in Punjab or Jammu and Kashmir. The rampant misuse of state authority was nothing less, than state sponsored terrorism and women had become easy targets.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 24, 1993
