Yambem Laba
Yambem Laba is a senior journalist and a special correspondent with the Statesman, an English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. He is the former acting chairperson of the Manipur Human Rights Commission. The human rights defender has been critical of the government of Manipur’s Chief Minister, due to their failure to cease the ethnic violence which has impacted the state for over a year and a half.
Human rights defenders in India face a diverse range of attacks and harassment from state and non-state actors alike, including killing, physical assault, arbitrary detention, threats and judicial harassment. Police officials are often the perpetrators of violence against HRDs, which is usually carried out with impunity. Armed groups and private companies also target HRDs for work related to economic development projects and their impact on the local communities or the environment. HRDs are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by radical nationalists.
