A female protester holds a placard expressing her opinion during an anti-Manipur demonstration … [+]
In November 2023, British media reported on the use of sexual violence in the recent wave of violence in Manipur, India. This follows a conflict that erupted in May 2023, described by the UN as “communal conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei and the predominantly Christian Kuki ethnic communities”. They added, “by mid-August 2023, an estimated 160 people, mostly from the ethnic Kuki community, had been killed and over 300 injured. The conflict has also reportedly resulted in tens of thousands of people from the communities being displaced, thousands of houses and hundreds of churches burnt down, as well as destroyed farmland, loss of crops and loss of livelihoods.” However, it didn’t stop there. According to BBC report, two women were allegedly stripped, paraded naked and gang-raped by a mob in northeast India. Their ordeal was then made public in a viral video.
One of the women is quoted as saying: “I was treated like an animal. It was hard enough to live with that trauma, but two months later, when the video of the attack went viral, I almost lost all hope of continuing to live.” The second woman added: “I find it hard to deal with other people, even in my own community. My pride is gone. I’ll never be the same again.” After the attack, both women were forced to flee their towns and are now living in hiding.
More similar stories are likely to come to light.
Indeed, in August 2023, UN experts wrote in India regarding the situation in Manipur and demanded urgent responses. In some of the cases identified, “a group of drunken Meitei men and boys, some as young as 15, allegedly dragged a woman and a teenage girl and raped them. (…) women were allegedly attacked at their workplace by a mob targeting Kuki women. These women were allegedly locked in a room and physically assaulted for two hours and later found dead.” They also added, “Women and girls have reportedly been attacked in their homes, dragged into the street, tortured or severely beaten before being raped and killed. One victim was allegedly hacked to death. In some of these cases, the bodies of the victims have not yet been found or recovered. Bodies of dead women were also reportedly burnt by their assailants as part of the attack (as they had not followed the proper burial rites associated with each of the two communities).”
At present, the situation has not received enough international attention and governments are reluctant to address the issue. In response to the concerns expressed by the UN experts, the Government of India, in a letter dated 25 October 2023, he responded that “recognizing the need for a highly specialized and well-equipped investigative agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to effectively apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators, the State Government has recommended the transfer of 27 cases, including those involving heinous crimes against women and guys, to CBI, which was accepted. (…) The Government of India also appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by the retired Chief Justice to investigate, inter alia, the causes and spread of the violence. Through this investigation, the sequence of events leading up to and all events related to the large-scale violence will be revealed in addition to identifying those responsible for the violence.”
Another important issue raised by UN experts concerns disinformation and incitement to violence, which have accompanied the worsening situation in Manipur. As they pointed out, “The violence has been fueled by disinformation campaigns, which have been used by the perpetrators to justify atrocities against Kuki women. (…) In addition, some Manipur government officials have allegedly engaged in disinformation campaigns against the Kuki ethnic minority community and particularly against women. Hate speech allegedly aimed at inciting violence and genocide against the Kuki ethnic minority community has reportedly spread online and offline. According to reports, one of the slogans raised against the attacked Kukis was ‘Haomacha Hatlo’ which translates to ‘kill the smelly tribal children’. They reportedly warned of a possible civil war where the Kuki community would not be able to defend itself and would disappear.” These cases of misinformation, hate speech and incitement to violence are particularly troubling, especially as some of them border on inciting genocide. All these reports must be urgently investigated and investigated for risk factors and early warning signs of genocide and other atrocity crimes. In the coming months it will be seen whether the research carried out by the Government of India can deliver on this task. If not, international responses, including through the UN, such as e.g International Commission of Inquiry.
