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Soldiers here have a much freer hand because they are shielded from prosecution by a law known as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958. Under the law, military personnel can arrest people without a warrant, shoot to kill on suspicion and use deadly force to break up gatherings of five or more people. They cannot be prosecuted without explicit permission from the central government, which rarely comes.
Unsurprisingly, the law has led to decades of human rights abuses. Thousands have been killed, injured, arrested and tortured with impunity, human rights workers here say.
The episode that prompted Ms. Sharmila to begin her fast took place on the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2000, in a village at the edge of Imphal called Malom. A mysterious explosion along the main road leading to the village sent a company of soldiers of the Assam Rifles flooding into the village. The soldiers killed 10 people, including teenagers and a 62-year-old grandmother. Seven of the dead were shot at close range while lined up at a bus stop; the other three were gunned down elsewhere in the village. Full story...
Don't miss:
Soldiers here have a much freer hand because they are shielded from prosecution by a law known as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act of 1958. Under the law, military personnel can arrest people without a warrant, shoot to kill on suspicion and use deadly force to break up gatherings of five or more people. They cannot be prosecuted without explicit permission from the central government, which rarely comes.
Unsurprisingly, the law has led to decades of human rights abuses. Thousands have been killed, injured, arrested and tortured with impunity, human rights workers here say.
The episode that prompted Ms. Sharmila to begin her fast took place on the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2000, in a village at the edge of Imphal called Malom. A mysterious explosion along the main road leading to the village sent a company of soldiers of the Assam Rifles flooding into the village. The soldiers killed 10 people, including teenagers and a 62-year-old grandmother. Seven of the dead were shot at close range while lined up at a bus stop; the other three were gunned down elsewhere in the village. Full story...
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