18 : CIVIL LIBERTIES 3.24 The Commission also continued to hold hearings in respect of the problems faced by members of the Kashmiri Pandit community, some 3,00,000 of whom have had to leave the valley since the insurgency began, together with over a 1,000 Muslim families and a number of Sikh families. In order to bring greater coherence to the manner in which the varied complaints of the Pandits were beinghandled by the State Government, the Commission proposed the constitution of a Committee at the Statelevel, with the Special Rapporteur of the Commission as a Member. While the Committee has helped in some measure in providing assistance to those with grievances, the Commission regrets to observe that the Committee has not always functioned with the regularity expected of it or received the cooperation that it requires. The Commission therefore ui^es the State Government to give greater attention to this matter. 3.25 In addition, the Commission has continued to receive communications from political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including those belonging to Hurriyat, compiaining on occasion of the detention of leaders, or cadres, or violence directed against them. The Commission has intervened, as appropriate, including in instances when passports were needed to travel abroad for weddings, or medical treatment, or to go on Haj or accompany a family member on pilgrimage. 3.26 As regards the North-Eastern States, it is important to record, in addition, that 52 complaints were received by the Commission in the course of the year 2000-2001 alleging the violation of human rights by personnel of the armed forces. TWenty-four of these cases related to the conduct of the army, while 28 cases concerned the para military forces. As with other complaints received by the Commission, steps were immediately taken to issue notice to the authorities concerned, reports were called for and examined. Where these were found to be tmsatisfactory, the authorities were directed to clarify the facts. In the course of considering these complaints, the Commission considered it essential to direct that compensation be paid to the next- of-kin of a hotel manager in Kohima, Nagaland, who was taken away by the security forces to participate in a corabing-operation but who died in subsequent cross-fire. TWo other important cases have reached a critical stage before the Commission: one relates to custodial tortiue and a possible extra-judicial killing in Manipur; the other to a 'disappearance' and possible custodial ^eath in the same State. In respect of the latter case, the Commission has issued notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and to the Government of Manipur to show cause as to why immediate interim relief should not be accorded, under section 18(3) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, to the next-of-kin of the victim. The Commission intends to see these and other cases from the North-Eastem States through to their logical conclusion. NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION