A group of human rights workers on Wednesday rejected Army’s confirmation to the sentence of life imprisonment to six soldiers including a Commanding Officer for their involvement in Machil fake encounter saying the Court Martial held by army does not fulfil the requirements of justice to the victims. Describing the court martial proceedings as “opaque with no accessibility for the victims’ families” they said the previous verdicts of court martial have been challenged in court and resulted into acquittal of soldiers.
The rights activists were speaking at the formal release of a titled “Structures of Violence: The Indian State in Jammu and Kashmir”. The report has been published jointly by International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).
The report claims that that they have gathered evidences, mostly eyewitness accounts, against 267 officers of army, paramilitary and Police for their alleged involvement in grave human rights violations in Kashmir.
The 800-page report has been sent to the UNO, embassies of foreign countries in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and top Army officers as well.
“In the length and breadth of 22 districts of J&K, 1781 military intelligence personnel, 364 of personnel of IB and 556 personnel of RAW are active”, the report reads, adding that 1972 personnel including 267 senior Army, paramilitary and Police officers have been found involved in various in “human crimes” in Kashmir.
The report claimed that more than 7.5 lakh troops including army and paramilitary were deployed in the embattled state, a first documented figure on the deployments.
The civil society group has demanded investigation in 6000 unmarked graves found in various parts of J&K. “The United Nations has been appealed to allow at least 12 working group representatives of human rights to observe the prevailing situations in Jammu and Kashmir”, the report said.
The report also presents and analyzes 333 case studies of enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, sexual violence and torture with 972 identified alleged perpetrators. “The case studies reiterate the lack of any will to provide justice. The list of alleged perpetrators, their ranks, units and area of operations strongly suggests that crimes in Jammu and Kashmir are widespread, systematic and systemic and under directions and in the knowledge of senior officials of the armed forces and the State itself,” said the report. “From the 333 cases emerges a list of 972 individual perpetrators, which include 464 army personnel, 161 paramilitary personnel, 158 Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel and 189 Government gunmen. Among the alleged perpetrators are one Major General and seven Brigadiers of the Indian Army besides 31 Colonels, four lieutenant Colonels, 115 Majors and 40 Captains. Add to this, 54 senior officials of the paramilitary forces and the following Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel: a retired Director General of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, a present Additional Director General of Police, two Inspector Generals, two Deputy Inspector Generals, six Senior Superintendents of Police, and three Superintendents of Police,” the report said.