This report documents violations by police and security forces under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, in force in Manipur since 1958. By conferring broadly defined powers to shoot to kill, this law has fostered a climate in which law enforcement officials can use excessive force with impunity. The pattern of killings and their legislative context suggests that there is an official policy of sanction for extrajudicial executions in the region. This report focuses on the following incidents in 1995 and 1996 to illustrate Amnesty International’s concerns: the killing of two forest officers, Mayanglambam Ibotombi and Thondam Muhindro; the killing of Ms Kehtrumayum Ongbi Prabhahmi Devi and wounding of her daughter (aged 8); the killing of Ms Oinam Ongbi Amina Devi and wounding of her baby (aged 1); the killing of Netaji (aged 15); and the killing of nine civilians at the Regional Medical College Hospital, Imphal.
