Numerous cases of extrajudicial executions, arrests, torture and land grabbing of Indigenous Peoples are happening with full impunity. This must end now!
The Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI) condemns the militarization and the resulting gross human rights violations against Indigenous Peoples in the Northeast region of India. We call on authorities to immediately undertake impartial investigation; sanction the persons responsible, protect the victims -including their communities- and ensure their access to remedy. These crimes must not remain in impunity.
In the context of the conflict between the Government of India and armed groups, various indigenous territories throughout the country, especially in the Northeast and Maoist-affected states, have been militarized. The militarization has led to land grabbing, extrajudicial killings, torture and arrests. In addition, armed forces are vested with absolute impunity and unbridled power to “fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death” and arrest any person without warrant under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 effective in the Northeast.
On December 4, 2021, in Nagaland’s Mon district, the Indian Army killed thirteen innocent indigenous labourers. The alleged cause of the mass murder was “mistaken identity”. One more tribal member was killed the next day by the army when firing upon the protestors.
Tribal members who have opposed the militarization and land grabbing have been murdered, arrested and framed with trumped-up charges. The authorities have red-tagged the victims of these crimes as “Maoists”, as means of justifying their actions.
These are not isolated cases, rather systematic actions by the State and its military forces. Throughout 2021, several cases following this pattern have been documented. These include, among other, the following cases:
On February 18, 2021, two tribal women identified as Pandey Kawasi (20 years) and Kumari Jogi Kawasi (35 years) were allegedly picked up by the police from their village Gudse in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh and the next day they were photographed along with four others as “surrendered Maoists” under the Lon Varratu On February 23, Pandey died under police custody.
- On May 30, 2021, Payke Veko (24 years) was allegedly abducted from her house and killed in police custody in Dantewada district. The police claimed that she was killed in an encounter with the Maoists on May 31 and arms and ammunition were recovered from her.
- On June 12, 2021, Bramhadev Singh (24 years) was allegedly shot dead by the security forces at Piri village in Latehar district of Jharkhand. He had gone with other tribals to the forest to hunt on the occasion of the Sarhul festival.
- On June 27, 2021, Santosh Markam (35 years) was allegedly tortured and shot dead by the police in front of fellow villagers and levelled as a “dreaded Naxalite” at Neelavaya village in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh.
The State has not presented convincing evidence on accusations as these are trumped-up or false charges. Previous context strongly challenges the authorities’ version. Precedents such as the inquiry commission report of Justice V.K. Agrawal found that the alleged encounter between the security forces and alleged Maoists in which 17 tribal villagers (seven of them minors) were killed in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region in June 2012, was fake and those killed were not Maoists. Security forces had claimed to have killed Maoists in a fierce gunfight in the jungles of Bastar on the intervening night of June 28 and 29, 2012.
Furthermore, Indigenous Peoples are caught in the middle of the conflict between the State and the Maoists, while the Government is not ensuring the protection of the Indigenous Peoples’ life and rights. The Maoists have killed several indigenous persons during 2021 including Korra Pilku (35 years) at Kothapalem village in Visakhapatanam district of Andhra Pradesh on 5 March; a minor boy Madkam Arjun (15 years) and Taati Hadma (21 years) in Jagargunda area in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on 19 April 2021; Sitaram Ketan at Amjhar village in Dhamtari district of Chhattisgarh on 16 June; and Madvi Raj Kumar at Cheruvugumpu village in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh on 17 November.
The Indigenous Peoples Rights International ( IPRI) condemns the violence, criminalization, land grabbing and killings committed against Indigenous Peoples . Impunity must end and those responsible must be held to account and justice is provide to victims, their families and communities.
IPRI urges the State of India to abide by its obligations to respect, recognize and protect the rights is indigenous peoples as affirmed in national and international law and human rights instruments and immediately repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Likewise, we urge the government of India to take prompt and urgent actions to objectively investigate these cases, to take actions to prevent repetition, and to ensure the victims, their families and communities have effective access to justice and are compensated for these crimes. These acts of violence and impunity must end now!
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