Security forces in Manipur harassed kin of encounter victims: Human Rights Watch

NEW DELHI: Security forces in Manipur have threatened and harassed activists, lawyers and families of those killed in alleged fake encounters by security forces, international watchdog Human Rights Watch said on Friday.

The organisation said that police forces should comply with the Supreme Court’s order and cooperate with the CBI in the probe into 98 alleged extra-judicial killings.

The apex court, in July 2017, had ordered the CBI to examine 98 killings by security forces.

“The Supreme Court’s intervention to investigate alleged wrongful killings by security forces sparked hope for justice for families of hundreds of men, women, and children in Manipur and an end to the culture of impunity,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at HRW, and added that the security forces had attempted to intimidate activists and victims’ families.

The court, in its ruling, had observed that no FIRs were filed against security personnel and the police filed FIRs only against the dead men saying that they were militants.

“The government and the security forces were against investigation into the killings. Now they are resorting to harassing and threaten people,” Ganguly said.

According to the HRW, most security personnel named in FIRs by the CBI have been let off. “The serious abuses have become deeply rooted in the state because of the Armed Forces Spe-