By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, December 10 (IslamOnline) - Jammu and Kashmir Human Rights
Forum chairman, Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, made an abortive attempt of
self-immolation this morning after sprinkling petrol on his body at
around 10.30 am at Srinagar's main intersection, Lal Chowk.
Police
personnel managed to douse the fire and took Untoo into custody.
Police refused to say anything about the physical condition of
Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, but sources said he has sustained serious burn
injuries on various parts of his body.
Untoo
took the extreme step on World Human Rights Day to protest against
continuing human rights violations by the security forces in Kashmir.
Untoo,
an advocate and human rights activist, had announced his intention for
self-immolation a few days ago while the Indian federal government or
the state administration took no steps to prevent him from resorting
to this extreme step or to address his demands, especially a probe
into all human rights violations in the state during the last 13 years
since the eruption of militancy.
"I
will set myself ablaze at Lal Chowk, nerve center of the city, on the
World Human Rights Day tomorrow if the government fails to fulfill the
demand for setting up of an inquiry commission to probe all violent
incidents which took place in the state during the past 13
years," he had said in a statement Monday, December 9. He had
first made the threat 15 days back.
Untoo
alleged that new Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was turning a
blind eye to the human rights violations in the state and was trying
to divert attention of the people from the issue by doling out
ex-gratia relief and government jobs to the victims. Both the Center
and the state governments would be responsible for his extreme step,
he said.
World
Human Rights Day was marked today in Kashmir by demonstrations,
processions, seminars and conferences. Security forces resorted to
baton-charge and tear gas shelling at Budshah Bridge in Srinagar. A
women procession in front of the U.N. Observers Mission at Sonawar in
Srinagar was also attacked and at least two dozen women including
Khawateen Markaz leaders Zamarrud Habib and Yasmin Raja were arrested.
They were not allowed to deliver a protest memorandum at the U.N.
office.
To
thwart the day's human rights programs, senior All Party Hurriyat
Conference (APHC) leader, Maulana Abbas Ansari was placed under
house-arrest in Srinagar early this morning while other APHC leaders,
Javed Ahmad Mir and Naeem Ahmad Khan were arrested and lodged in
separate police stations in the city.
A
seminar was held Tuesday at APHC headquarters in Srinagar to mark the
World Human Rights Day. It called upon the international community not
to remain tightlipped to the rein of terror unleashed by the security
forces in Kashmir. Conferences and seminars were also held in other
places including Jammu and Kashmir High Court premises and Ahdoos
Hotel in Srinagar.
In
a related development, Amnesty International has urged Chief Minister
Mufti Sayeed to put an end to human rights violations in his state.
In
a letter, Amnesty asked the chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed to
allow independent experts, including from United Nations, to visit the
troubled state. It also demanded a halt and a thorough probe into the
violations and punishment to the culprits.
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Human
rights demonstration in Srinagar Tuesday
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"The
organization requests you to consider inviting independent experts,
such as the U.N. Special Rapporteurs on torture and on extra-judicial,
summary or arbitrary executions to visit the state and assess the
human rights situation," said Demelza Stubbings, Amnesty’s
Program Director for Asia and Pacific Program in an open letter to
Mufti Sayeed.
"Amnesty
urges you to ensure that the large number of human rights violations
committed in the past be independently and impartially investigated,
that findings of such investigation be made public and those found
responsible be criminally charged and tried," the letter dated
November 25 reads.
Reminding
Mufti Sayeed of his much-flaunted "healing touch" pledge,
the global watchdog hoped "a new era of openness" will begin
in which national and international human rights organizations can
freely exchange views with the administration.
Amnesty
has said for years it has been gravely concerned about the high level
of human rights abuses in the state. Those responsible include the
security forces, police and armed opposition groups. Torture,
including rape, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and
disappearances have been perpetrated by "agents of the
state" with impunity.
Amnesty
made a special mention of custodial killings in the state, regretting
that nobody has been taken to task till date. According to it, 125
persons were subjected to extra-judicial execution between November
2000 and September 2002. Of them, 70 custodial deaths from January to
May 2001, were mostly due to torture.
The
real number of such violations may be much higher. The state
government has admitted that 3,184 people have over the past 10 years
‘disappeared’ in the custody, says the letter, adding that
virtually none of the perpetrators of these grave human rights
violations has been held accountable.
"Prompt,
independent and impartial inquiries into grave human rights violations
and punishment of those responsible for them are part of a state’s
obligation under human rights treaties to secure an effective remedy
for those who have suffered human rights violations," the letter
reads.
Referring
to the PDP-Congress Common Minimum Program (CMP) point 3, Amnesty says
the government has promised to review the cases of the prisoners being
held without trial for years together. "A judicial review of such
cases with a view to releasing all those against whom there are no
criminal charges and to providing compensation as required by article
9(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to
which India is a State Party, is urgently required.
The
international human rights body also sought disbanding of the infamous
Special Operations Group (SOG)-one of the salient features of the
PDP’s pre-poll manifesto.
"The
SOG has been particularly prominent in reports about human rights
violations. Its members are known to have been awarded fast track
promotions and bonuses for 'eliminating’ militants and are feared by
the civilian population for their unrestrained resort to force,"
it said, adding that disbanding them will be widely welcomed,
"but pending complaints against SOG staff should not be lost
sight of in the process. They should be investigated and acted upon
fully and promptly."
Again
reminding the coalition government of CMP point 17, the Amnesty is of
the view there are enough laws to deal with militancy. It says several
of the security laws in force in Jammu and Kashmir "indeed
directly curtail or violate" the human rights of people in the
state or facilitate their abuse.
"The
Armed Forces [Special Powers] Act, 1958, empowers security forces to
arrest individuals and enter property without warrant and to use force
- including lethal force - to affect an arrest in areas declared as
‘disturbed’ and to shoot to kill. The Act is widely believed to
have facilitated grave human rights violations in areas where it is in
force - in particular extra-judicial executions."
About
the "impotent" State Human Rights Commission, the Amnesty
believes it is under-equipped, understaffed and its orders are widely
ignored by security forces and police. Human rights defenders have
been consistently telling Amnesty that the SHRC has failed to support
their work in the most basic ways.
The
rights body also demanded compensation for the violence victims.
"According to local reports, over 2,000 people were waiting for
compensation in November 2002 while police and hospitals failed to
promptly provide relevant information. The families of the
‘disappeared’ are particularly disadvantaged: for seven
years-until a ‘disappeared’ person is legally declared dead, his
widow cannot claim official compensation.
Amnesty
also urged the Mufti government to ensure safe return of Kashmiri
Pandits to the Valley. "In recent years, Islamist militants have
attacked and killed members of the Hindu minority including the
elderly, women and children as well as Sikhs. Amnesty urges you to
ensure that religious minorities can enjoy all their rights without
fear and that abuses perpetrated against them are investigated with a
view to punishing offenders."
The
letter concludes thus: "We hope that the commitments made by you
throughout the election campaign and in the Common Minimum Program
will be fully implemented at all levels of the state.".
