Showing posts with label Killing of Kashmiri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Killing of Kashmiri. Show all posts

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

The impunity of the armed forces in Kashmir


Activists argue that the AFSPA protects Indian forces from being prosecuted for
crimes in Indian-administered Kashmir [Showkat Shafi]
The reported 8,000 to 10,000 enforced disappearances in Indian-administered Kashmir are just one part of a series of human rights violations attributed to the Indian government, including extra-judicial killings, torture and illegal detentions. But the Indian state has been able to side-step international human rights conventions through a series of laws that grant special rights to the armed forces in Kashmir.

Al Jazeera's Azad Essa speaks to Aaliya Anjum, lecturer in law at Vitasta Law School, University of Kashmir, about the legal framework that enables the armed forces to act with impunity in the valley.

What allows the Indian government to legally get away with using enforced disappearances as a tactic?

I suppose it is primarily because of its overwhelming military presence in Kashmir. The Indian government empowers its military through special security legislations like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and the Public Safety Act (PSA), granting them sweeping impunity for acts carried out under these laws, which in turn facilitate the bringing about of enforced disappearances and other human rights abuse.

AFSPA for instance grants the 'powers' to members of the armed forces in 'disturbed areas' like Kashmir to shoot to kill or arrest persons on the ground of ‘mere’ suspicion. That is not only in contravention to core human rights standards, which guarantee a fair trial, but also goes against the basic principle of Indian criminal law itself : ’One is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise’. Likewise, the PSA provides for holding the arrested person in custody without trial for up to two years, dumping fair and speedy trial guarantees.

Also, for an act done under the AFSPA, the army is immune from prosecution, in other words, trial before a court (as provided under the provisions of the AFSPA itself).Otherwise than that also, for initiating an action against a member of the armed forces, permission is needed from the central government, under Sec 45 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which is of course never granted.
In Kashmir, many of those arrested under AFSPA or PSA never make it out of detention centers .They are held under ‘incommunicado’ detention( unacknowledged and secret detention) leading to enforced disappearance, tortured or subject to extra-judicial killings. Besides, slapping of PSA on even juveniles (children below the age of 18) continues to take place. There are reportedly 8,000 to 10,000 cases of disappearances so far.

What legal avenues can victims' families take to fight this scourge?

The remedy available to an aggrieved relative in such a case would be to file a Writ of habeas corpus (you have the body/ produce the body) in the state high court. But the judicial process is long-drawn, expensive and unproductive largely, with hundreds of these writs lying pending in the court.

In addition, there are many more contempt petitions waiting to be heard by the court, which seek to challenge disregard of favorable orders in such cases i-e even if the state high court quashes detentions in some cases, it is often followed by slapping of fresh PSA charges on the detainee.

What sort of opposition has there been to the AFSPA and the PSA from civil society and human rights advocacy groups?

Civil society in India as well as in Kashmir has been vehemently demanding the repeal of the AFSPA, mainly through out of court advocacy.

The opposition to AFSPA first began in context of the north-east of India, where the law was first introduced in 1958.

It was extended to Kashmir in 1990, where the opposition towards the legislation became louder in street protest, media, and civil society campaigns(domestically and internationally), particularly after the discovery of the mass-graves, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reports on disappearances and impunity, and the killing and arrest of protestors in 2008 and 2010.

But Kashmir is a 'disturbed area', so surely India has a right to defend its borders against threats to its security?

For arguments sake, even if such a contention is to be considered, from a human rights perspective it lacks any substance. For so called maintenance of ‘law and order’ in a ‘disturbed’ area, common minimum human rights standards, as prescribed by core human rights treaties like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and also under the UN Convention Against Enforced Disappearances (UNAED) cannot be contravened.

Not under any circumstances. India is a party to all core human rights treaties, together with UNAED and the four Geneva Conventions prescribing code of conduct in times of armed conflict.

It needs to respect the right to life, personal liberty and provide a fair and speedy trial guaranteed to all individuals it claims to govern and also ‘protect’ them from 'enforced disappearance'.

Do these laws fuel self-determination sentiment in Kashmir or are the laws a response to self-determination sentiment?

Human rights abuse and the denial of justice by way of these laws are seen as tools for curbing dissent and therefore suppressing the popular sentiment for freedom in Kashmir.

In that sense, they are not responsible for fuelling the sentiment for freedom to sustain it, nor has the sentiment been born out of acts resulting from these laws. As a matter of fact, these laws and the resultant abuse exist because of the sentiment for freedom.

Source : AlJazeera

Wednesday, 6 April 2011

Son’s killing haunts Old City mother on Indo-Pak clash

Aisha shows a family picture at her residence in Srinagar's Old City. Photo: Izhar AliThe Indo-Pak clash in the cricket World Cup semi-finals has raised the cricket fever, like the rest of sub-continent, to a fervent pitch in Kashmir. Mouths wide open in nervousness, twitched eye brows, tension in the sitting rooms, all eyes glued to the Television screens, keen to not miss even a single moment of the clash.Not at the house of Aisha in Bana Mohalla locality of old city's Fateh Kadal area.

Up four stairs from the main door is a small room on the right, where she lies on the bed, X-rays hanging over her head. There is a silence and a stillness that lingers on her face and around. She is unmoved by the cricket fervor outside. An old TV set covered by a table cloth lies still. Not buzzing. A threefold photo frame is on a table next to her bed. It has family pictures.

For Aisha the India-Pak cricket fervor is an aching reminiscence. Years back she had thanked God for Pakistan’s victory over India. As she folded her prayer rug she came to know the victory had come for a price. It was too big a price. Her son.

Aisha’s son remains by her side captured in the photo. Tears brimming her eyes, it seems is the only sign of life on her old face. “This television was brought by my son. Cricket was not just a game, but obsession for him. He would forget everything else to watch Pakistan team playing,” she says, while pointing to the small black and white television.

“It doesn’t work anymore. But I always want it to remain in my sight,” she says.

On April, 22, 1994, Pakistan lifted the Australasia Cup defeating arch rivals India by a score of 39 runs. Pakistan’s victory in Sharjah triggered celebrations in Kashmir as well. Groups of youth and children poured on the streets in Fateh Kadal area of the old city to celebrate the Pak win.

Sweets, candies, firecrackers and pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan slogans marked the jubilations that brought old city to life. However, the celebrations didn’t last long.

A file picture of Imtiyaz taken days before he was killed by the CRPF after India lost to Pak in 1994Ayesha’s son Imtiyaz Ahmad, in his thirties, was returning euphoric after watching the game at his friends place in the neighborhood. Exuberant over Pak’s victory, he was celebrating the big moment. Minutes later, troopers came in charging. Anger and disappointment writ largely on their faces. They vent it out and Imtiyaz became their target.
“To revenge the defeat, they caught hold of my son and shot him twice till he died,” tearful Aisha says in feeble voice.

 Imtiyaz, an employee in University of Kashmir was the youngest of the eight siblings, including four sisters.An avid cricket fan, he would die for Pak’s victory and so he did.

Aisha manages to walk a few steps to reach the cupboard. In the cupboard is a steel trunk which has memories of her slain son treasured.

“There are the socks he was wearing on that day,” she says amid sobs.

Leaving the socks on the floor, she takes out a polythene bag containing some important documents and some memorable pictures of her son and other family members.

“She is Behanji; she is my daughter Maryam, this is her husband and here is my son Imtiyaz. This picture is of my daughter’s wedding,” she says a half-smile escaping her lips.

Suddenly, she breaks down again. Wiping the tears with her scarf she recalls, “It was Friday, Jumma-e-Muhammad (PBUH). After the game was over, we offered prayers and thanked Allah for bestowing Pakistan with victory. I was so happy that day.”

Victory became a loss.

“As I was walking down the stairs, gunshots replaced the firecrackers. Cries, screams and elegies replaced the slogans. I struggled to reach the main door, only to find my son lying in a pool of blood on the lane,” she laments.

An ailing Aisha remembers her son who was killed by troops in 1994. Photo: Izhar AliImtiyaz, she said, was cornered by the troopers as blood was profusely oozing from his chest.

Before, she could blink her eyes, she said, a trooper pointed his rifle on her son and shot at him again. “Yeh saala abhi zinda hain. Goli maro isko,” she quoted a trooper talking to his colleague.Imtiyaz’s last words were, “Go tell my mother that her son has been martyred.”After ‘cold-blooded murder’ the troopers, Aisha said, prevented her from picking up the body of her slain son. The troopers had warned her that she would be shot if she made advances.

“I asked them why they killed my son. I told them to shoot me as well. They pointed rifles and told me to go home,” she says in a choked voice.

The incident shattered the family and left Aisha in a state of shock. Sixteen years from now, she is yet to come in terms with the loss. “Like my son, I was crazy about cricket. Now, I don’t watch it anymore,” she says.

“Cricket reminds me of the painful death of my son. It was just a game. What was the fault of my son? Why was he killed?” asks a desperate mother while making failed attempts to hold back tears.


Published by Kashmir Dispatch