SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2222On July 30, unidentified militants killed four security personnel and injured manyothers in an ambush near Mao, bordering Nagaland. In mid-November suspectedmilitants of the People’s Liberation Army of Manipur shot and killed five army personnelin the Mutukhong area of east Imphal district.Many members of the Hmar Revolutionary Force (HRF) in Mizoram accepted thestate government’s offer of amnesty in return for surrendering their arms. On June6, 16 HRF members relinquished arms before state Home Minister Tawnluia. Theyreceived $215 (10,000 rupees) each for rehabilitation. In Assam more than 2,000 extremistssurrendered their arms during the year. A new Assam government packagefor insurgents attempted to rehabilitate rural and urban ultras separately, throughvarious economic development and training programs. On February 6, ‘‘organizingsecretaries’’ of the ULFA Khairul Hussain and Phukan Ali and ‘‘medical-in-charge’’Tajuddin Ahmed surrendered to the army in lower Assam. On March 21, 22 ULFAmembers surrendered before Sonitpur district administration in Tezpur. On April4, 532 Assam militants (436 ULFA members, 77 Karbi National Volunteers, and 19National Democratic Front of Bodoland) surrendered at Rang Ghar. On April 18, 48ULFA and NDFB militants surrendered before village elders in lower Assam’sDarrang district. On May 2, 75 militants (54 ULFA, 12 Rabha National SecurityForce, 8 Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam, and 1 Koch Rajbangshi) surrenderedin Goalpara before the district administration. On May 30, 25 ULFA militantsrelinquished arms before the army at Bongaigaon.The kidnaping of NGO environmental monitor Sanjay Ghosh in 1997 and hisdeath at the hands of his ULFA captors continued to attract wide public criticism.In August 1997, ULFA confirmed that Ghosh died in captivity after being ‘‘arrestedand tried.’’ ULFA still has not produced Ghosh’s body. In June 1999, the CBI filedmurder charges in connection with the case against ULFA leader Paresh Arua and10 other ULFA members. During the year, surrendered ULFA militant Lohit Deuritold the police that ULFA has kept one of the killers of development worker SanjoyGhosh in ‘‘solitary confinement’’ since 1999. The alleged killer, Khirod Gohain, isserving a ‘‘sentence’’ for indiscipline.Naxalite Maoist revolutionaries of the PWG killed dozens of persons, declaringthem ‘‘class enemies’’ or police informers. On September 3, three PWG membersshot and killed a former Naxalite, Krishnan, in Nizamabad district, AndhraPradesh. Krishnan had surrendered to police earlier. The militants left a note accusinghim of being a police informant. On May 30, PWG Naxalites shot one personand blew up a government guesthouse in a village in Andhra Pradesh. In areasunder their control, Naxalites dispense summary justice in ‘‘People’s Courts,’’ whichin some cases condemn to death suspected police informers, village headmen, andothers deemed to be ‘‘class enemies’’ or ‘‘caste oppressors’’ (landlords); the Naxalitesalso extort money from these groups, as well as businesses. Naxalite violence hasplagued Andhra Pradesh since the early 1980’s, and has claimed more than 500 civilianand police victims since 1996 alone (see Sections 1.g. and 5).In November 1997, an independent commission of inquiry established by Parliamentin 1991 to investigate the May 21, 1991 assassination of former Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi tabled an interim report of its findings in the Lok Sabha (lowerhouse of Parliament). The report blamed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) as clearly responsible for the assassination but was inconclusive on thequestion of whether the LTTE had received assistance in carrying out the murder.It criticized the then-government for its alleged failure to provide comprehensive securityfor the former Prime Minister. On January 28, 1998, a designated lower courtin Chennai sentenced to death all 26 persons accused in the assassination. The CBIoriginally charged 41 persons in the case; 12 since have died, and 3 have evadedcapture (including LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakharan). Many of those sentenced,who include both Indian and Sri Lankan nationals, allegedly were involved only peripherallyin the assassination plot, but the court upheld the CBI contention thatall of them were aware that they were conspiring in a common cause. Having heardan appeal of the convictions, the Supreme Court in May 1999, acquitted 19 of the26 accused persons and upheld the convictions of 7 persons (see Section 1.e.). It sustainedthe death sentence in the case of four of the convicted persons and changedthe sentence of three others to life imprisonment.Nearly 50 persons were killed in election-related violence throughout the countryin September and October (see Sections 1.g. and 4).Religiously and ethnically motivated violence caused numerous deaths (see Section5).Mob lynchings of tribal people occur in many states (see Section 5).b. Disappearance.—According to human rights groups, unacknowledged, incommunicadodetention of suspected militants continued in Jammu and Kashmir; however,the Government has not released any recent figures.VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1