On the occasion of the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan from July 7-9, 2008 Peace and Justice Forum (PJF) has urged the Summit leaders and President of the European Commission (EC) for their help in encouraging both New Delhi and Islamabad to initiate a tripartite process involving India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership to negotiate in a result oriented and time-framed dialogue to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully.
Mr. Mushtaq A. Jeelani, Executive Director of the PJF, expressed his serious concern about India’s failure to live up to its promise of a "zero-tolerance" policy towards human rights violations, and the failure of bilateral process to resolve the Kashmir issue. The Executive Director underlined that the Indian occupying troops continue to carry out arbitrary detention, summary executions, custodial killings, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, rape, sexual exploitation, torture and fake encounters. Since October 1989, the 700,000 strong Indian forces have killed more than 100,000 Kashmiris to silence the people’s demand for freedom, justice, and respect for human rights. Generations of Kashmiris have grown up under the shadow of the gun; not a single family is unaffected; property worth hundreds of millions of dollars has been destroyed and the suffering and devastation continues unabated, sadly drawing no significant attention from the international community, including the G8 nations.
Moreover, India has failed to live up to its promise of a "zero-tolerance" policy towards human rights violations; the recent discovery of thousands of unidentified graves in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir containing remains of victims of summary executions, custodial killings, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and other abuses shows the real face of India’s barbarity!
Impunity has become a licence for the Indian occupation forces to wreak havoc with the lives of Kashmiris. The deliberate and unprovoked attacks and other patterns of abuse have all become too frequent to report. No perpetrator has ever been prosecuted in a real manner, despite the fact that such crimes have been extensively documented by many international human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
There is a dire need to implement recommendations made by the New York-based Human Rights Watch in its latest report issued on July 1st, 2008, suggesting an independent and time-bound commission to investigate allegations of ‘disappearances’ and extrajudicial killings. Such a commission should have the capacity to use forensic tests to identify the bodies and security forces should be ordered to cooperate with the commission’s inquiries.
On April 7th, 2008, Human Rights Watch demanded, "The United Nations Human Rights Council should insist the Indian government to take strong steps to hold accountable members of its security forces responsible for torture, arbitrary detentions, killings, and ‘disappearances.’ The report found that the impunity provided to state forces and the failure to hold them accountable for human rights violations have created an atmosphere where violators believe they can get away with serious crimes."
Contrary to the facts India likes to tell the world that it has a world class legal system that allows it to solve its own problems, but the reality on the ground is far different. Killers and torturers in the army and police do their work with official protection, degrading the law and taking the shine off of India’s claim to be an emerging world leader. Now is the time to repeal antiquated laws that protect abusers."
About 15 million Kashmiris are yearning for peace, justice and freedom. They want a just and dignified peace that guarantees total freedom from foreign occupation and alien domination. Their struggle to achieve that right of self-determination will not be extinguished until India accept its exercise by the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
No comments:
Post a Comment