Welcoming the Supreme Court observation that personnel involved in rape and murder couldn’t invoke AFSPA, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Program Director Sam Zarifi said; “For far too long, Indian security forces have used the AFSPA as a cover for serious human rights violations.
The Supreme Court’s statement should finally allow some light to be shed on some of the army’s most gruesome violations – providing some hope for justice for the victims and a step forward imposing the rule of law.”
He said army personnel must stand trial when facing charges of serious violations of human rights, instead of hiding behind the controversial AFSPA. “There should be no need to obtain prior approval for prosecuting security personnel charged with having committed grave human rights violations such as rape and murder,” Zarifi said.
The Supreme Court on February 4 noted that rape and murder committed by security forces personnel should be considered a “normal crime”, and that there is “no question of sanction” from the government before prosecution of offenders in such cases.
“While the Court’s remark opens the chance for the prosecution of the eight army personnel, Amnesty International reiterates its demand for the repeal of the AFSPA, which has been in force in various parts of north-east India for over five decades and in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990,” Zarifi said.
“The AFSPA has provisions giving protection to personnel engaged in armed operations in designated areas from any legal proceedings unless it is approved by the Union government,” he said, adding that “this rarely happens in practice, as a result of which these laws have provided impunity for perpetrators of grave human rights violations.”
Citing human rights defenders in India, Zarifi said the union home ministry has recommended approval in only eight of 50 cases in which the Jammu and Kashmir government had sought clearance for prosecuting security personnel for human rights violations - “including torture, rape and extra-judicial executions”.
The defense ministry has denied approval in all such 50 cases, said the Amnesty official.
In January 23 this year another rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch had in its World Report 2012 stated that the Government of India has failed to repeal the widely discredited AFSPA, disregarding the recommendations of political leaders and advisers.
“The Indian government took few steps to prosecute abusive soldiers, undertake needed police reforms, or bring an end to torture,” HRW had said adding; “The government should no longer allow the army to hide behind claims about troop morale or operational needs as an excuse for impunity.”
Pertinently, Omar Abdullah had told reporters in Jammu on Tuesday that AFSPA is for legitimate protection and not for protection of the acts of crime.
“I do not think the armed forces have to commit rape, murder or any other such activities in order to perform their duties. Therefore the observation of the Supreme Court is correct,” he had said.
Under AFSPA, prior approval is required before prosecution or any other legal action can be initiated against armed forces personnel operating in areas declared “disturbed” by the government.
“You go to a place in exercise of AFSPA, you commit rape, you commit murder, then where is the question of sanction? It is a normal crime which needs to be prosecuted, and that is our stand,” an apex court Bench of justices B S Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar had remarked.
The court said AFSPA gave “very limited protection” confined to action in “discharge of duty”.
The court was hearing the CBI challenge against the army’s invocation of AFSPA against prosecution of eight officers chargesheeted in the Pathribal fake encounter in March 2000.
While the five men were identified as “Lashkar-e-Toiba mercenaries” by the army, they had turned out to be locals from nearby villages of Brariangan, Halan and Anantnag (Islamabad).
WITH INPUTS FROM IANS & GKNN
0 comments:
Post a Comment