The following is based on a communication sent by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN experts to the Government of India on 20 November 2024. The communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, giving the Government time to reply. Regrettably, the Government did not reply within this timeframe. If a reply is received, it will be posted on the UN Special Procedures communications database.
Since the sending of this communication, Mr. Loitongbam has continued to face public and online attacks, recently being labelled as a ‘traitor’ by a leader of the Meitei Leepun militant group due to him taking part in a seminar and appealing to the Indian authorities to treat asylum seekers from Myanmar more humanely. As a result, he had to clarify his stance by issuing a public letter to a Fact Check Group. Following these threats, his family were granted security from the Central Reserved Police Force at their home from December until mid-January. As soon as security forces were withdrawn, Mr. Loitongbam and his family once again started receiving online threats, specifically claiming that he was responsible for ‘sending’ Rohingya migrants to Imphal. Furthermore, the Arambai Tenggol militant group are reportedly seeking information regarding Mr. Loitongbam’s current whereabouts
This is a shorter version of the original communication.
BACKGROUND
Topic: the attacks and harassment faced by human rights defender Babloo Loitongbam and his family.
Babloo Loitongbam is a lawyer and the director of Human Rights Alert (HRA), a non-governmental organisation which tracks and reports on human right violations in India. Mr. Loitongbam has advocated for the relocation of individuals and their right to seek asylum in instances where they have reported facing danger in their country of residence. He has particularly focused on assisting asylum seekers in India from neighbouring countries, often communicating and cooperating with Regional Foreigner Registration Offices and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees services. In his work, Mr. Loitongham has often criticized State policies which impede upon the rights of local communities in Manipur. In July 2023, Mr. Loitongbam represented HRA at the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva, where he raised concerns about ongoing violence in Manipur since May 2023.
HRA has notably monitored violence against human rights defenders and has fostered communications between the people of Manipur and the local government. This has been done in part by petitioning statutory bodies of the Indian state, ranging from District courts to the Supreme Court. They have advocated for women’s organisations, demanded a full investigation on high profile cases such as the rape and murder of Thangjam Manorama Devi, and called for an end of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Concerns regarding attacks and harassment of human rights defenders in the Manipur region were raised in several previous communications sent to the Indian Government by special procedures mandate holders, including IND 9/2023, IND 3/2020, and IND 18/2019.
ALLEGATIONS
On 10 May 2023, Mr. Loitongbam released an interview to media organization ‘News Click’, in which he provided a statement regarding the role of the Arambai Tenggol and the Meitei Leepun, two militant groups, in inflaming the Meitei – Kuki conflict. During the interview, he stated that these groups expanded militancy into the Meitei community. He was also critical of the role of Chief Minister Biren Singh, calling for his resignation.
On 12 May 2023, Mr. Loitongbam was informed the group Arambai Tenggol were conspiring to burn down his house, due to what he had said during this interview. The next morning, while Mr. Loitongbam was not at home, members of the Meitei Leepun people reportedly came to his house and threatened his family members. However, when he returned to Manipur, he continued to join public meetings and speak on the ongoing conflict.
On 5 October 2023, the Meitei Leepun held a press conference and issued a ban order against Mr. Loitongbam, directing him to not appear on public platforms or make any public appearances on TV or otherwise, until the ongoing tension and conflict was resolved. The Meitei group warned that they would not take responsibility for any unwanted incidents if Mr. Loitongbam violated his boycott.
Later the same day, at approximately 6.30 p.m., Mr. Loitongbam’s residence in Kwakeithel Thiyam Leikai, Imphal West district was vandalised by a group of approximately thirty men, allegedly members of the organisation Arambai Tenggol. Members of the group were reportedly holding firearms. They threw chairs and tables at the house, smashing windows and the front door. The group assaulted one of Mr. Loitongbam’s neighbours and heavily damaged his father’s car. With him absent, the group demanded that Mr. Loitongbam’s brother and daughter disclose who else was inside the house. They also ordered Mr. Loitongbam’s family to provide access to their CCTV hard disk, which they kept when they left.
The group threatened to burn down his house if he did not issue an apology for the statements he made in the interview in May 2023. Via Mr. Loitongbam’s brother, they gave him a deadline to issue a public apology on video. They asserted that if they did not receive a recorded apology to Arambai Tenggol by 8 p.m. on 5 October 2023, they would return to burn down his house. The group reportedly harassed Mr. Loitongbam’s brother via phone calls for the entirety of the day, demanding that he post a video apologising on his Facebook page. In order to alleviate these threats, Mr. Loitongbam apologized on video and sent the recording to the group.
Following this incident, Mr. Loitongbam informed the Manipur Security Advisor, who reportedly requested for the Director General of Police (DGP) of Manipur to investigate the matter. The Imphal police were informed of the incident and visited the house in order to assess the damage. Despite the police providing a First Information Report (FIR) number, the content of the FIR was never disclosed and no investigation was carried out or concluded on the basis of this report. No protection measures were provided to Mr. Loitongbam or his family. Since the incident, Mr. Loitongbam has not been able to stay at his residence, due to safety concerns for himself and his family.
On 22 September 2024, Meitei Leepun held another press conference, during which they levelled accusations against Mr. Loitongbam and warned people against working with him. The organisation accused Mr. Loitongbam of collaborating with the Kuki community against Meitei interests, alleging he sheltered a commander of the Women’s Wing of the People’s Defence Force (PDF) from Myanmar in Imphal before the Manipur conflict, which they claim escalated tensions. They also accused Mr. Loitongbam of financial ties with the Kuki community and criticised him for filing a Supreme Court case against the community. Additionally, Meitei Leepun claimed he sought foreign funds in Europe, which in turn was being used in order to purchase weapons.
On the morning of 23 September 2024, approximately fifty young men once again came to Mr. Loitongbam’s house and threatened his family, stating that if he presents himself in any public domain or media, his family will face consequences. The video clips of the aforementioned press conference, as well as videos of the visit to his home, gained notable traction on social media.
Mr. Loitongbam’s wife has since visited the Officer-in-Charge of the Lamphel Police Station as well as the Superintendent of Police of the Lamphel Police Station. Despite the police reportedly looking into taking up a Suo Moto case for this incident, the family have again not been provided with a copy of the FIR.
CONCERNS
In the communication, we express our deep concern about the serious smear campaign and ensuing threats of violence faced by Mr. Babloo Loitongbam and his family, as well as the attacks on his place of residence and the resulting damages to his home. Our concern is heightened by the allegations being brought against him in the media, which appear to have been fabricated with the intention of hindering his peaceful and legitimate human rights activities. We are concerned about the most serious impact that such events will have on his ability to exercise his right to freedom of expression in the future, as well as about the chilling effect this case is prone to trigger among human rights defenders and civil society.
We are further concerned that the authorities appear to have taken little to no action in addressing the threats which he and his family face, thereby preventing him from making any public statements for over a year due to a legitimate fear of violence.
We wish to recall that according to international standards, States must guarantee that those who practice law can do so free from intimidation, obstacles, harassment, or interference. The free exercise of the legal profession contributes to ensuring access to justice, oversight of state power, protection of due process and judicial guarantees.
We also recall States’ duty under international law to guarantee the right to freedom of expression as well as to put in place effective measures to protect against attacks aimed at silencing those exercising their right to freedom of expression and investigate all such attacks vigorously and in a timely fashion, prosecute the perpetrators and ensure appropriate forms of redress for the victims (CCPR/C/GC/34, paras. 11 and 23).
According to the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, governments have the duty to ensure that legal professionals are able to perform all of their functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference, including threats of prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with their recognized professional duties, standards and ethics (principles 16 and 17).