Srinagar – Even as a report by the International Council for Human Rights indicted India for grave HR violations in Kashmir, the chairman of the Hurriyat (M), Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, demanded the revocation of the AFSPA and the Disturbed Areas Act in the state, asking New Delhi to adopt UN recommendations on rights issues.
At a seminar in Geneva, the Mirwaiz said that India would be unable to halt HR violations in Kashmir with its existing laws and policies, nor bring violators to book.
Urging New Delhi to implement the 169 recommendations framed by UN members with respect to the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the Mirwaiz said that this could help improve the situation.
Draconian laws like the Disturbed Areas Act and the AFSPA make matters worse, he said. These laws give sweeping powers and immunity to the army and the paramilitary forces.
The Mirwaiz also called for DNA testing of the remains in unmarked graves discovered in various parts of the state, saying that identifying those buried at those sites would be impossible otherwise.
The seminar, held outside the human rights headquarters of the UN, had been organised by a member of the European Parliament.
The South Asia expert at the Oxford University, Dr. Ishtaiq Ahmad, the head of the International Education Development, Dr. Karan Parkar, the head of the Kashmir Centre in London, Prof Nazir Ahmad Shawl, and the head of the Kashmir Centre in Brussels, Dr. Abdul Majeed Tramboo were among the participants. Observer News Service
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