Ranjeeta Sadokpam

Human Rights Defender

Manipur

HRDA has issued an urgent appeal to the National Human Rights Commission of India on March 8 regarding the harassment and intimidation of Ms. Ranjeeta Sadokpam and her family in Manipur by Indian army personnel. Ms. Sadokpam is a researcher with Human Rights Alert (HRA), a human rights organization in Manipur. Human Rights Alert has been documenting human rights violations and organizing the victimized communities of Manipur and North-east India to access human rights redressal mechanisms.

On the night of February 27, 2018, at around 1.00 am, Ms. Ranjeeta heard someone calling ‘Somendro’ at her door. She replied back saying that there is no one by that name in her house. However, the person who was outside, insisted that she should open the door. Ms. Ranjeeta went to her balcony in the first floor of her house to see who was outside; she saw a person in a police uniform. The person demanded that she has to open the door as they wanted to search her house. When Ms. Ranjeeta asked the person for a warrant and authorization for the search, the person in uniform said that he is a Major in the army and an authorized officer.

Thereby, Mr. Dhiren A. Sadokpam, elder brother of Ms. Ranjeeta, contacted an army officer on the phone. Ranjeeta took the mobile phone and kept the phone online as she opened the door. She immediately handed over the phone to the Major who led the combined team to speak to the officer who was on phone.

Once Ms. Ranjeeta stepped outside, she could see that around 10 army personnel and others were taking positions. She could notice one person from the Manipur Police accompanied by two masked persons in Indian army uniforms.

The officer asked her to identify Mr. Dhiren. Ms. Ranjeeta took Mr. Dhiren’s identity card and showed it to the officer. The officer showed the identity card to one of the masked men. The officer spoke to Mr. Dhiren and checked the particulars of all the family members. Mr. Dhiren’s younger brother, Mr. Ronen, who stays in an adjacent apartment, was also called by the army personnel along with his wife. The allegations against ‘Somendro’ was that he is a member of UNLF, involved in an ambush, etc.

Ms. Ranjeeta confronted the army officer pointing out that Mr. Ronen is not Mr ‘Somendro’ --  whom they were looking for. The officer and the army personnel cornered Mr. Ronen at a little distance from the house and spoke to him. The officer demanded the identity card of Mr. Ronen. Thereafter, the officer asked the family members to sign a declaration which they could not read. They signed it and the team left after that.

In the area where Ranjeeta resides, there is another family with the surname they were looking for. However, until today, no one has visited that house. There is every reason to believe that this act of the army and the police is nothing but an act of harassment. Today, a complaint has been filed at the DGP’s office, in Imphal.