Security agencies, which operate under the protective umbrella of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the Northeast, have been in the dock for rights violations frequently in recent times.
A preliminary probe by CRPF, into an encounter carried out jointly by the Indian Army, Assam Police, CRPF and Sashastra Seema Bal on March 30 in Chirang district in Assam, has said that it was staged.
What is the issue?
In north east Sector two men suspected members of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland were killed in simlaguri village
Weapons were later planted on them.
The family with whom the two men were residing at the time of the security operation reported that they were unarmed when the “soldiers” took them.
Few officials are pressured to encounter the militants by the superior order.
Supreme court appointed committee found that there were over 1500 fake encounters.
It had stated that the security forces routinely transgress the legal bounds for counter-insurgency operations, even as very few of the complaints against the forces are investigated
What is the way forward?
Manipur High court has ordered that “every death caused by the armed forces” should be investigated if there is a complaint or allegation of abuse or misuse of power.
Security forces often operate in difficult conditions. That, however, doesn’t give them the license to work outside the law.
Even the AFSPA lays down clear procedures that security personnel need to follow while conducting operations.
Besides, the judiciary at various points, judicial commissions and institutions like the National Human Rights Commission have outlined guidelines for security operations.
But evidence suggests that these are routinely ignored.
This could be because those found guilty of violations are rarely punished; probes instituted against fake encounters are often found to be compromised.
It indicates a deeper institutional malady in the functioning of the country’s most prestigious security forces.
It represents a dangerous deterioration and degradation of institutional processes.
