HRW asks for prosecution in woman's death

NEW DELHI, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Human Rights Watch says the Indian government should prosecute security personnel in the 2004 death of a woman.

Human Rights Watch, referring to the death of Thangjam Manorama Devi in the insurgency-hit northeastern Manipur state, said, "Repeated attempts to identify and punish those responsible for her death have been stalled by the army" under the armed forces' immunity provisions act. Other reports said Indian authorities had linked her arrest to an insurgency group.

The rights group detailed what it called "the failure of justice in the killing and possible rape of alleged militant Thangjam Manorama Devi by the paramilitary Assam Rifles in 2004."

The Human Rights Watch report claimed there has been a failure of justice in Manipur "where for 50 years the army, empowered (by the immunity act) has committed numerous serious human rights violations."

The group urged Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to act on the findings of a committee he had appointed to review the AFSPA in Manipur. It said the committee was created after weeks of protests in Manipur following Devi's death.