APDP rejects GOC’s offer on disappeared persons

Srinagar: Terming the offer of help by the Army’s 15 Core Chief, Lieutenant General Hasnain as a despicable ‘public relations stunt’, the association of parents of disappeared persons (APDP) Monday said that only an international- independent investigation would be acceptable to the family members of the disappeared.

Last month, General Hasnian, told media men on the sidelines of a public gathering in Shopian district of south Kashmir that the Army was ready to extend all cooperation to the police and the civil administration to  trace the people who have gone missing in the last two decades of turmoil. The Chief has also asked people to register complaints in police stations to put the record straight.

“The recent claims by Lieutenant General Hasnain are nothing but propaganda for hoodwinking the public opinions in India and Kashmir. Investigations by perpetrators are not acceptable to the family members of the disappeared. The perpetrators cannot be themselves judges of the crimes they have perpetrated. APDP believes only an international, independent investigation would be impartial and acceptable to the family members of the disappeared,” a spokesman of the human rights group led by advocate Parvez Imroz told a during a sit-in demonstration at municipal park, here this afternoon.

The spokesman said that the history of Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir was a testimonial to the fact that it has never cooperated with the police, judiciary or civil administration in investigations of human rights violations perpetrated by them.

“In last 20 years army has forced the JK police to file its version in the FIRs, for example, reporting fake encounters as ‘encounters in which foreign militants were killed’. The truth about these encounters in some cases has been revealed in cases like the Ganderbal fake encounter, Macchil fake encounter and Panchalatan fake encounter,” the spokesman said.

“Macchil fake encounter is one of the recent expose` of human rights abuses by the army as well as of how the police are forced to register false FIRs. Despite the media expose army continues to refuse cooperating with the police and civil administration in the investigations,” he added.

Referring to the Ganderbal fake encounter case, the APDP spokesman said that a senior police officer along with others were arrested following their indictment, but so far army has not cooperated in the investigations. He said no army personnel so far has been either arrested or questioned in this matter.

“In Panchalatan fake encounter case 5 locals were killed in a fake encounter and claimed to be the foreign militants responsible for carrying out the Chittisingpora massacre of 36 Sikhs. In this case again after several investigations and court proceedings army has refused to cooperate despite a charge sheet being filed by CBI against Army personnel,” he said.

The spokesman alleged that the Army had a history of frustrating the investigations conducted by the police in enforced disappearance cases and also refusing to handover its personnel to police for trial in the cases where investigations have indicted the perpetrators.

“Army has not hesitated in undermining the judicial processes by not even appearing in the court proceedings. Nor has the Army fallen short of excuses to not appear in the court hearings, thereby expressing contempt for the judiciary,” he said.

“In last 20 years Indian Defence Ministry has refused to grant sanctions for prosecution of Army personnel under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Army has called AFSPA as a holy book, which provides legal impunity to its personnel. So far not even in one case sanction under AFSPA has been granted. If army somehow wants to cooperate in investigations, they should begin granting sanctions under AFSPA and stop hiding behind the legal immunity,” he added.