By: Johan Simith
New York, Jully 7: The recent killing of three men by soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir in an apparent faked encounter with so-called militants underscores the urgency for the Indian government to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers (Jammu and Kashmir) Act (AFSPA), Human Rights Watch said today. Under the Act, which has been in force in Kashmir since 1990, soldiers may not be prosecuted in a civilian court unless sanctioned by the federal government, which is extremely rare.
Police have accused Col. D.K. Pathania and Maj. Upinder Singh of the 4th Rajput Regiment of killing three Kashmiri villagers on April 30, 2010. The military men falsely claimed that the villagers were anti-government militants and shot at the Line of Control (LOC), the effective border separating the Indian- and Pakistani-administered regions of Kashmir. The army ordered an inquiry, suspended the major, and removed the colonel from command.
"We have seen too many army inquiries, supposed suspensions, and false promises of punishment whenever soldiers are implicated in killing civilians," said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "But when the dust settles, the army obstructs prosecution under the Special Powers Act, and fails to deliver justice."
The army claimed that it killed three militants after it foiled their attempt to infiltrate in the Machil sector of the Line of Control, and displayed AK-47 assault rifles, ammunition, and Pakistani currency allegedly recovered from the men. Police allege, though, that a member of the Territorial Army, Abbas Hussain Shah, deliberately lured the three men - Mohamad Shafi, Shehzad Ahmed, and Riyaz Ahmed, all residents of Nadihal in Baramulla district - into army custody with an offer of jobs.
Police arrested Shah, along with two alleged accomplices, after relatives reported that the three men were missing. The police said that Shah had admitted that he took the men to a village near the border, from which soldiers transported them to the Line of Control. Shah said he was acting under orders from Major Singh. The three bodies were later exhumed and identified by their relatives in the presence of a magistrate.
"The army's narrative of shooting infiltrators is the same tired story used time and again to claim military glory," Ganguly said. "The army's special powers to operate in conflict areas are being repeatedly abused and should be withdrawn."
A government-appointed review committee recommended repealing the act in 2004 because of repeated abuse. In 2009, the Indian government promised to revise the law to ensure human rights protections, but the bill has yet to be placed before parliament. The army has resisted any curtailment of its powers under the act, particularly its immunity from prosecution, saying that it will lead to frivolous complaints and will hurt troop morale. Human Rights Watch has documented numerous cases of faked "encounter killings."
For instance, in a 2000 case in Pathribal, the Central Bureau of Investigation filed murder charges against five army officers - Brig. Ajay Saxena, Lt. Col. Brajendra Pratap Singh, Maj. Saurabh Sinha, Maj. Amit Saxena, and Subedar Idrees Khan - for their role in abducting and killing five villagers in a staged armed encounter. The army challenged the charges under AFSPA since federal government approval had not been sought before the charges were filed. Court proceedings in the case still drag on, and none of the accused have been taken into custody or brought before a judge. According to some media accounts, some of the accused have continued to serve in the army and received promotions.
Everyone Lives in Fear"
We have seen too many army inquiries, supposed suspensions, and false promises of punishment whenever soldiers are implicated in killing civilians. But when the dust settles, the army obstructs prosecution under the Special Powers Act, and fails to deliver justice.
Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher
Thursday, July 1, 2010
(Announcement) Travel Grants for Cultural and Artistic Exchanges in Africa
Art Moves Africa (AMA) is an international nonprofit organization working to “to facilitate cultural and artistic exchanges within the African continent. AMA offers travel funds to artists, arts professionals and cultural operators living and working in Africa to travel within the African continent in order to engage in the exchange of information, the enhancement of skills, the development of informal networks and the pursuit of cooperation.”
AMA offers travel grants to “artists, arts professionals and cultural operators living and working in Africa to travel within the continent in order to engage in the exchange of information, the enhancement of skills, the development of informal networks and the pursuit of cooperation.”
Art Moves Africa supports the travel of artists and cultural professionals working in the following artistic fields:
Performing arts : theatre, dance, story telling…etc
Music
Visual arts
Cinema
Literature
Applications are accepted round the year and the next deadline to process the applications is 1 September 2010. For more information, visit this Website: www.artmovesafrica.org
ART MOVES AFRICA (AMA)
Khadija El Bennaoui, Coordinator
98, rue Antoine Dansaert. 1000 Brussels/Belgium
Tel.: +32476676149
Fax: +32 251 15 202
Website: www.artmovesafrica.org
Email: info@artmovesafrica.org
Indian Army restrict Kashmiris to houses: Mirwaiz Farooq
Srinagar, Jully 1 (Writer-South Asia): In disputed state of Kashmir, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that, on one side, the Indian troops and police personnel are killing Kashmiris and, on the other, the people of Kashmir have been restricted to their houses through undeclared curfew.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar appealed Kashmiri people to continue their peaceful protest against Kashmiris’ massacre by troops. He said that if the occupation authorities prevented them from holding demos on roads, then they protest in mosques.
He said that the people of Kashmir have pledged to take the ongoing liberation struggle to its logical end despite the use of brute force by Indian troops. He said that no power of the world could stop them from their just struggle for right to self-determination.
The APHC Chairman appealed the world community to send teams to the occupied territory to review the situation and also urged it to put pressure on India to stop massive human rights violations in Kashmir and resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with Kashmiri’ aspirations.
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