Manipur clashes find mention in UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk’s statement

Volker Turk’s speech referred to Manipur alongside rights violations in Sudan, Myanmar, China and Afghanistan.

Written by: Esha Roy

3 min readNew DelhiMay 26, 2023 12:51 AM IST First published on: May 25, 2023 at 02:04 PM IST

The violent clashes that gripped Manipur earlier this month, and continue to reverberate in the state, were referred to in a statement issued by the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk as he marked 75 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN initiative ‘Human Rights 75’, which he launched in December last year.

“In a number of situations, we see the consequences when different groups incite and stoke hatred and division between communities. The recent violence in Manipur, Northeast India, revealed the underlying tensions between different ethnic and indigenous groups. I urge the authorities to respond to the situation quickly, including by investigating and addressing root causes of the violence in line with their international human rights obligations,” Turk said in his May 24th statement.

Manipur found mention in Turk’s speech alongside violations of human rights of the Rohingya in Myanmar, Sudan, the killing of George Floyd, violations of LGBTQ rights, racial abuse faced by Real Madrid football player Vinícius Júnior in Spain, sentences against human rights defenders in China and misogyny by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“Hate speech and harmful narratives against migrants and refugees also continue to proliferate; they are accompanied, worryingly, by laws and policies that are anti-migrant, and they risk undermining the basic foundations of international human rights law and refugee law,” Turk has said. “Developments that are unfolding in various countries, including the UK, the US, Italy, Greece, and Lebanon are particularly concerning as some of them appear designed to hinder people’s ability to seek asylum and other forms of protection, to penalise those who seek to help them – or to return them in unlawful, undignified, unsustainable ways. Article 14 of the Universal Declaration is clear on everyone’s right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution. We need solidarity – to ensure that all people in vulnerable situations are treated with humanity and respect for their rights,” he added.

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The United Nations is celebrating 30 years since the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna created the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“And I would like to see this expanded further – there should be a UN Human Rights Office everywhere. For all States can and should do better on human rights. I have been advocating for this in my meetings with all UN Member States and in my missions…We call out violations and set off alarm bells when attacks on, neglect of, or disdain for human rights could set off crises,” Turk said.

Ethnic clashes erupted between the Kuki-Zomi tribes and the dominant Meitei community in Manipur after the tribal community took out a rally protesting the Meitei demand for a Scheduled Tribe Status. The clashes, which left over 70 dead in the coming weeks, started in Churachandpur district and spread to Imphal city. While a tentative calm has been restored in Manipur, minor sporadic incidents of violence have broken out in the state since. Curfew has been imposed in the state and internet services have been suspended.