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IDHAE INFORMATION
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On
24 August 2006, at about 4am a police team led by the same SDPO surrounded
the house of Leitangthem Umakanta
Meitei, a practising lawyer. After his house was thoroughly searched he was also arrested. No
arrest memo was given to the family at the time of arrest. Soon after arrest,
Umakanta's wife and younger brother visited him at Imphal City Police Station
and an arrest memo was handed over to them at the police station. It is
alleged that the time of arrest was shown as 9:30am in the arrest memo. It is
also alleged that a First Information Report (FIR) is registered against
Umakanta as FIR number 140 (8) 2006 of Porompat Imphal Station under Sections
38 and 39 of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 [as amended in
2004]. The
previous day, officers from the Assam Rifles [a para-military unit stationed
in Manipur] accompanied by officers from the Manipur police came to the house
of Mr. Yengkokpam Langamba Meitei alias Thabi, and wanted to conduct a search.
The search team was led by Mr. Jhalajit Singh from the Manipur police. Mr.
Singh is also the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Imphal West. The
search revealed nothing. However, Thabi was arrested and taken into custody.
It is alleged that the officers have introduced some compact disks as
materials recovered from Thabi's house. An arrest memo was issued under
Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The
next day Human rights defenders Leitangthem Umakanta Meitei, himself a practising
lawyer, and Yengkokpam Langamba Meitei have both been accused of links with
an illegal armed group. A Judicial Magistrate in Manipur has ordered that
they be released on bail. However, both men have refused to pay their bail
monies as they claim the charges against them are false. Leitangthem Umakanta Meitei appeared before the Judicial Magistrate on 29
August, charged with being a member of an illegal armed group called Kanglei
Yawol Kana Lup (KYKL). However given that the police investigations are not
yet complete, the Judicial Magistrate ordered that Leitangthem Umakanta
Meitei be released on bail. Leitangthem Umakanta Meitei, has asked his legal counsel to call for the
charges to be completely dropped, as he claims that they are false. The
Judicial Magistrate has refused to allow this as the investigation into the
allegations is still in its initial stages. Leitangthem Umakanta Meitei has
also submitted before the court that he was arrested at 4am on 24 August from
his house but the arrest warrant subsequently produced by police stated that
he was detained at 9.30am. Leitangthem Umakanta Meitei is currently in Sajiwa Central Jail. He is
due to appear before the Judicial Magistrate again on 13 September. He is
reported to be suffering from health problems after being tortured while in
police custody. The police’s Investigating Officer in the case has been
ordered to submit a statement to the Judicial Magistrate before the next
hearing, regarding the allegations of torture and Leitangthem Umakanta
Meitei’s claim that the doctor who examined him in police custody was a
specialist in ear, nose and throat ailments, and not in the sort of injuries
he had sustained. Yengkokpam Langamba Meitei appeared before the Judicial Magistrate on 1
September. He was charged under sections 38 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities
Prevention Act, 1967, relating to charges of being a member of and providing
support to the KYKL. The Judicial Magistrate ordered his release on bail as
he found that the charges were not corroborated by the evidence presented.
However, Yengkokpam Langamba Meitei refused to provide bail monies on the
grounds that a false case had been lodged against him. He has since been
remanded into judicial custody. The Judicial Magistrate found that Yengkokpam
Langamba Meitei had been tortured by police in custody and has ordered that
the authorities at Sajiwa Central Jail have him examined by a medical doctor
approved by the Manipuri government’s Health Department. RECOMMENDED
ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your
own language : ·
calling on the authorities to ensure that Leitangthem
Umakanta Meitei and Yengkokpam Langamba Meitei receive all necessary medical
treatment, including for injuries allegedly sustained during torture in
police custody ; ·
ensure that both men are given a medical examination by
independent experts to ascertain whether they were tortured, with the
findings made public and anyone found responsible for torture brought to
justice ; ·
calling for guarantees that the men are being treated
humanely in detention ; ·
urging the authorities to ensure that all legal
proceedings against the men conform to international standards for fair
trial, including by providing assurances that no evidence extracted under
duress or torture will be used against them. APPEALS TO :
COPIES TO : Shivraj Patil
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