Human Rights Watch: End Govt. support for Salwa Judum

  • 15/07/2008

  • Hindu (New Delhi)

NEW DELHI: The Centre and the Chhattisgarh government should hold the security forces and state-backed vigilantes responsible for having attacked, displaced and killed people in armed operations against Maoist rebels since mid-2005, Human Rights Watch has said. In a report released on Tuesday, it called for an end to all government support for unlawful activities by Salwa Judum vigilantes, and urged the State government to take immediate measures to protect the tens of thousands of persons displaced. It also called upon the Maoist rebels to end attacks on civilians and other abuses. The 182-page report "Being Neutral is Our Biggest Crime: Government, Vigilante and Naxalite Abuses in India's Chhattisgarh State' documents human rights abuses, particularly against indigenous tribal communities, caught in a tug-of-war among the government security forces, Salwa Judum and naxalites. Human Rights Watch has found that since mid-2005, the security forces and members of the Salwa Judum