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Kashmir Human Rights Commission Indicts
Soldiers
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| Kashmir- Army atrocity victim weeping |
By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, June 18 (IslamOnline) - Kashmir State Human Rights Commission
(SHRC) has established prima facie guilt of 10 Border Security Force
(BSF) personnel. A civilian was sliced into several pieces and dumped
into a gunny bag at Qazigund in the district of Anantnag which the
Kashmiris call 'Islamabad'.
A
judgment, passed by the SHRC chairman Justice (retd) AQ Parrey, said
the case was prima facie established against them. The accused would
be put to regular prosecution when sanction is granted by the central
government. The matter has already been referred to the latter by the
investigating agency.
As per complaint filed before the SHRC, Abdul Salam Bhat was picked up
by D Company of 70 Bn BSF, deployed in Qazigund who allegedly caused
his death.
The case was investigated by the police and crime branch which
identified 10 BSF personnel of the said unit. As per the
investigation, the body of the victim was chopped into pieces, dumped
in a gunny bag and thrown into a nulla (rivulet) to evade the evidence
of murder, a spokesman of SHRC said in Srinagar.
The pieces of the body were recovered by Qazigund police on
information of the local security guard. The complainant came to know
about the body and it was exhumed with the help of the area's district
magistrate.
SHRC,
meanwhile, recommended the sanction of an ex-gratia amount of rupees
0.5 million [US$ 10,200] for the victim's family. The commission urged
the case to be treated as a special one and compensation be provided
within 30 days to the family consisting of three minor children of the
deceased.
The
Hurriyat Conference accused the troops and security personnel of
committing excesses. Quoting allegations made by delegations from some
parts of Kupwara, a spokesman of the secessionist conglomerate said
soldiers force entry into houses and harass inmates. The Hurriyat also
expressed serious concern over harassment of relatives of Syed Ali
Shah Geelani by the police. Geelani was arrested on June 9 and sent to
a far-off jail in the state of Jharkhand where he is denied basic
amenities.
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| Kashmir- Child victim of violence. |
In
its annual report for 2000-2001 tabled in the state legislative
assembly recently, the state's human rights official watchdog
highlighted the ever-increasing number of violations by various
security agencies in the state.
According
to a report in Greater Kashmir daily published from Srinagar, the
121-page report says the SHRC received 227 complaints in 1998-99, 309
in 1999-2000 and during 2000-01 (upto 31.3.2001) the number swelled to
497.
Providing
the breakup, the rights body says it received 63 cases of enforced
disappearance, 37 of custodial deaths, 104 seeking relief while 73
complaints of harassment were lodged with it in 2000-2001.
The
Srinagar district tops the list accounting for 104 cases followed by
Varmul with 78, 49 from Kupwara and 37 and 35 from Islamabad and
Pulwama districts respectively. Thirty-four complaints each have been
received from Doda district of Jammu division and Budgam in Kashmir.
The
SHRC laments over the government’s failure in implementing the
former’s recommendations in most cases. “In some cases it has been
experienced that unconventional procedure is attracted by the
implementing agencies, thus defeating the very purpose of the
Commission. The attitude of the government should be liberal in
implementing the SHRC’s recommendations," the report says.
Established
in 1997 to provide succor to the militancy-hit people of the state,
the Commission has indirectly hinted at its helplessness. The SHRC
claims its job is to wipe the tears of the tearful eyes but duly
acknowledges “the Commission cannot dry-up the tears of the weeping
eyes.”
“The
Commission feels it necessary to place it on record that destitute
persons whose next of kins are victimised or whose property is damaged
either by the insurgent outfits or by anti-insurgency actions,
approach this Commission with high expectations. Moreso, in the
opinion of the general public, the SHRC is believed to be
philanthropist in nature and the statute for its creation does not
envisage that the Commission is the protector and propounder of the
human rights of the state citizen.”
“At
the same time it becomes obligatory on the part of the government to
accept the recommendations of the Commission in toto in each
individual case as every complaint is decided on its merits,” it
asserts. In a number of cases the SHRC has clearly conveyed its
“impotence,” according to the report.
Plight
of prisoners too figures in the SHRC report as it has recommended that
sufficient medicines should be provided for their treatment. Besides
it seeks reviewing the Jail Manual to make the conditions of inmates
more humane. “It was also recommended that daily allowances for food
purposes should be increased from rupees 17 [US$ 0.34] per head as
it's meagre and insufficient as well,” the report said.
The
Kashmir rights body has also touched upon the cash crunch confronting
it saying that in last year’s report the government was requested to
place sufficient funds for the Commission to promote research etc in
the field of human rights. “But the government did not provide funds
for the purpose,” it rues.
Kashmir's
human rights commission is seen as a show-piece established to
whitewash army and security personnel's excesses. The commission has
no jurisdiction over the army and its recommendations are seldom taken
seriously. Over the years since the militancy erupted in July 1988,
there have been hundreds of allegations of mass rape, custodial
deaths, murders in fake encounters, theft and willful torching of
property, mysterious disappearance of hundreds of people and so on.
But little justice is done to the victims.
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