ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
OF WAR CRIMES IN MAQBOOZA KASHMIR BY INDIA’S
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER ASSERTS KHURRAM PARVEZ:
POSTED BY HABIB
YOUSAFZAI, KASHMIR DIASPORA ALLIANCE
Press
Release: 29 June 2013
On 28 June 2013, Salman Khursheed, India’s
External Affairs Minister, on a visit to Srinagar, said about the Kunan
Poshpora mass rape/torture case that, “I am ashamed that it happened in my
country”. Further, he said that in war there is suffering. But, post war, there
must be forgiveness. Finally, he stated helplessness in dealing with the
situation.
It took 22 years for someone in the Indian
Government to partially acknowledge the Kunan Poshpora mass rape. It is
obviously not enough. Justice cannot be substituted by mere acknowledgements.
Prosecution of 125 accused Rajputana Rifles personnel is the only meaningful
response required. Anything else, including the present lip service, will be
construed as sustained impunity for the perpetrators. We do not need their
acknowledgements. We know the very long list of criminal acts of the Indian
troops in Jammu and Kashmir and we understand what it means when the State was
silent and provided impunity for so many years. It is the struggle for justice
that makes lies unsustainable and therefore truth comes out. We need justice
and these statements after decades of lies and denial of justice do not impress
us. Reconciliation minus justice is unacceptable.
Salman Khursheed, as the External Affairs
Minister of India would be aware of the international connotations of his
statement in which he appears to accept that the Indian State is at war with
the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Consequently, international law including the
rules of war must apply to the Indian State and its role in the commission of gross human
rights violations. India is party to the Geneva Conventions, 1949, and the
Genocide Convention, 1948. India’s role in Jammu and Kashmir must be considered
in light of the laws relating to Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes
and numerous other internationally recognized crimes.
Further, by accepting helplessness in dealing
with the situation, the Indian External Affairs Minister makes a strong
argument for Indian State institutions to step aside and immediately allow
Jammu and Kashmir to be brought to the attention of international law and
institutions. In April this year, various human rights groups from India,
Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir while acknowledging the scale of human rights
violations and the denial of justice, sought that a United Nations
monitoring group be created to be based in Jammu and Kashmir, to monitor
and report on the past and ongoing human rights violations in Jammu and
Kashmir.
After the partial acknowledgement by the
Indian External Affairs Minister, the Indian army now is in the dock. They
should end the era of obfuscation and refusal to cooperate with the processes
of justice.
- Villagers
of Kunan Poshpora
- Support
Group for Justice for Kunan Poshpora
- Jammu
Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
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