An ordinance entitled the Armed forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Ordinance,1958 was promulgated by the President of India on May 22,1958.The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Bill was passed by both the Houses ofParliament and it received the assent of the President of India on Sep 11,1958
Section 3 of the Ordinance powers the Governor of Assam and the ChiefCommissioner of Manipur to declare the whole or any part of Assam or theUnion territory of Manipur, as the case may be, to be a disturbed area. Onsuch a declaration being made in the Official Gazette, any Commissioned Officer,Warrant Officer,Non -Commisioned officer or any other person of equivalent rank in the Armed Forces mayexercise, in the disturbed area, the powers conferred by section 4 and 5 of the Ordinance.
The Act grants special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as "disturbed areas" in the states of Arunachal Pradesh,Assam,Manipur,Meghalaya,Mizoram,Nagaland and Tripura . It was later extended to Jammu & Kashmir as The Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 in July 1990
The Act gives sweeping powers to the security forces who can arrest without a warrant and kill someone on suspicion without the fear of prosecution.
The Act also specifies that “Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law
In practice, the AFSPA allows soldiers to terrorize the citizens of the states where it is being applied. The soldiers' imminity from prosecution encourages them to act brutally.
In 2004, Manorama, a 32-year-old was picked up from her home, brutally raped and murdered allegedly by Assam Rifles personel. In July that year, Manipur erupted in protest and some women stood naked in front of the Indian paramilitary headquarters in Imphal. Outside Kangla Fort, 12 women disrobed themselves protesting the rape and murder of Manorama Devi
In the wake of intense agitation that was launched by several civil society groups following the death of Thangjam Manorama, while in the custody of the Assam Rifles and the indefinite fast undertaken by Irom Sharmila(DOB March 14,1972)has been on Hunger Strike from Nov 02,2000 demanding the repeal of AFSPA,Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil visited Manipur and reviewed the situation with the concerned state authorities
The Central Government set up a 5-member committee under the Chairmanship of Justice B P Jeevan Reddy(former SC judge)to review the provisions of AFSPA and advise the CG whether to amend the provisions of the Act to bring them in consonance with the obligations of the government towards protection of human rights; or (b) to replace the Act by a more humane Act."
Justice B P Jeevan Reddy committee submitted its recommendations on June 6, 2005.The recommendations contained in the committee’s report were never carried out or even publicly commented upon by the CG.
On 23 March, 2009, the United Nations asked India to repeal AFSPA, an act that they considered to be contrary tp Article 4 of the Internationl Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. The UN Commissioner on Human Rights, Navanethem Pillay termed the law a “dated and colonial-era law that breaches contemporary international human rights standards.” The United Nations also questioned the constitutionality of the AFSPA under Indian law.
On March 31, 2012, Christof Heyns, the UN's Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, again called on India to repeal the AFSPA. “During my visit to Kashmir”, he said, “AFSPA was described to me as 'hated' and 'draconian'. It clearly violates international law”.
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