New Delhi: The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative has called for the Nagaland government and the National Human Rights Commission to set up a state human rights body – something that has not happened 28 years since the relevant law was brought.

The CHRI is a nonprofit international non-governmental organisation that works for the rights of those living primarily in Commonwealth countries.

The CHRI's urging is in the direct aftermath of 14 civilians dying in the hands of security forces in Nagaland. While the organisation has welcomed the apex human rights body's notice to authorities, seeking a detailed report on the chain of events, it has shed light on the fact that the state of Nagaland does not have its own human rights commission yet.

"In the 28 years of the existence of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 (PoHRA), the Nagaland Government has not established a State Human Rights Commission," CHRI notes in a press release.

This, it observes, is in contrast with the fact that the hugely debated Armed Forces (Special Powers Act), 1958 "was imposed in the Naga Hills district of Assam five years before the state of Nagaland was formed."

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Since the killings in Nagaland, there have been multiple calls for the removal of AFSPA, from politicians, government heads, thinkers and activists alike, many of whom have pointed out that the Act offers unbridled impunity to the armed forces and is directly responsible for incidents like the firing at Mon village.

Given such a background, the CHRI also pointed out the irony of the NHRC's limitations when it comes to complaints involving the defence forces – "Section 19 of PoHRA restricts NHRC’s actions except to seek a report from the Central government." The NHRC can only make recommendations based on the reports and publish them.

On December 6, the NHRC issued notices to the Union and Nagaland governments over the killing of civilians, taking suo motu cognisance of media reports.

The commission has issued notices to the defence secretary, Union home secretary, chief secretary and the Nagaland director general of police, seeking a detailed report in the matter within six weeks, the NHRC's statement said.

The commission has also observed that it is "incumbent upon the security forces ensuring proper precaution with a humane approach even if it involved the militants".

Although a court of inquiry and a high-level Special Investigation Team has been set up to look into the killings, the CHRI points out that in case of conflict between the jurisdictions of the two, the Union government acts as the final arbiter.

"Where civilian courts are involved, the Central Government has invoked Section 6 of AFSPA to withhold sanction to prosecute security personnel accused of various crimes," it adds, pointing out the extent to which AFSPA and the Union government shield security forces.

The CHRI release also notes a judgment by the Supreme Court (in Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association (EEVFAM) & Anr. vs Union of India & Anr) that the "use of excessive force or retaliatory force by the … Police or the armed forces of the Union is not permissible”.

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