UNPO participated in the 24th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) representing the Naga people, who have been members of UNPO since 1993. Under Agenda Item 4, “Discussion on the six mandated areas of the Permanent Forum with reference to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Impact of colonization and armed conflicts on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights: the imperative of peacebuilding”, UNPO delivered an intervention addressing the serious and ongoing human rights violations faced by the Naga people in Northeast India, and Northwest Myanmar. The statement focused on the continued impunity surrounding the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the scrapping of the Freedom of Movement Regime (FMR), and systemic persecution and repression of the Naga people in India.
For over 70 years, the Naga people have asserted their right to self-determination, while enduring systemic violence, militarization, and marginalization. UNPO’s intervention called attention to the continued failure of the Indian government to implement the 2015 Framework Agreement, a peace accord intended to resolve longstanding grievances between Naga groups seeking greater autonomy and the Indian government. The government’s refusal to engage in dialogue with Naga representatives to implement the Agreement has allowed cycles of conflict and repression to persist.
Among the most pressing concerns raised was the continued enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a law granting sweeping powers to the military, widely condemned for enabling extrajudicial killings, persecution, and intimidation. The AFSPA has facilitated systemic violence in areas designated as “disturbed”, forcing local populations to live under constant fear. In 2013, the European Parliament declared AFSPA unlawful, and in 2023, the UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group reiterated the call for its repeal. The dangers of AFSPA were made starkly visible in 2021, when Indian forces killed 14 Naga civilians in a widely publicized case of “mistaken identity” during an alleged “counterinsurgency” operation. Despite international condemnation, the Act remains in force, perpetuating impunity and obstructing the path to a just and lasting peace.
In its statement, UNPO also drew attention to India’s decision to scrap the Freedom of Movement Regime (FMR), following the construction of a 1.643 km border fence between India and Myanmar in 2023, as part of India’s Act East policy. The border between the two countries, a colonial-era demarcation, cuts through entire villages, dividing communities that have historically lived and moved freely across the region. For the Naga people, the FMR was not a special concession but a recognition of the Naga people’s inherent right to access their ancestral land, which spans both sides of the border. Its removal has severed vital generational, cultural, and economic ties between Naga communities, in violation of their rights under Article 36 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which protects indigenous peoples’ ability to maintain connections with their lands and kin across borders. The Naga people have strongly opposed the border fence project, viewing it as a political instrument aimed at cultural erasure and further marginalization.
Furthermore, UNPO highlighted the growing repression of Naga human rights defenders. Increasingly, Naga activists are barred from traveling internationally to advocate for their communities. Many face intimidation, surveillance, and threats. These constraints on civic space erode the rights of individual defenders and the broader community they defend, and undermine the broader goals of peacebuilding. As the intervention emphasized, the silencing of voices is not unique to the Naga people – it is part of a broader pattern around the globe where indigenous voices that seek accountability are often met with repression, and dialogue is replaced by coercion. In the Naga context, this has further diminished the prospects for a durable political resolution. Genuine peacebuilding must address these underlying structures of inequality and entrenched asymmetries of power.
This intervention is part of UNPO’s support for the Naga people, including its recent condemnation of the harassment faced by prominent Naga human rights defender Mr. Neingulo Krome by Indian authorities. In its statement, UNPO reaffirmed the need for full implementation of the UNDRIP, emphasizing the importance of self-determination and the equal and effective participation of indigenous peoples in decision-making processes. Indigenous peoples’ seat at the table is key to achieving global sustainable peace and justice.
UNPO also called on Member States to urge the Indian government to uphold its commitments under UNDRIP and to:
- Implement the 2015 Framework Agreement;
- Repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, in accordance with Article 30 of the UNDRIP, to end the militarization of indigenous territories;
- Reinstate the Freedom of Movement Regime, ensuring the indigenous Naga communities maintain their ancestral cross-border ties, in line with Article 36 of the UNDRIP.
The Naga case illustrates the persistent challenges indigenous communities continue to face in contexts shaped by protracted conflicts and entrenched state violence. The erosion of trust, the failure to uphold peace agreements, the persistence of the AFSPA, the unilateral scrapping of the Freedom of Movement Regime, and the growing threats against human rights defenders all point to a deepening crisis of recognition of the Naga people within national and international frameworks.
The Naga case also highlights the importance of safeguarding indigenous peoples’ cross-border identities and deep-rooted ties to their ancestral land – connections that are foundational to their collective existence, identity, and sovereignty. Measures like the border fence and the repeal of the FMR represent an attempt to consolidate control over indigenous territories and undermine indigenous agency.
UNPO calls on the international community to stand with the Naga people and to uphold the principles of dignity, self-determination, and justice that the UNDRIP represents. A genuine commitment to the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples requires adherence in rhetoric, and full implementation in law, policy, and practice.
