Refusing compensation to Kashmir human shield victim a heartless step: Amnesty
Srinagar, Nov 16 (IBNS): The Jammu and Kashmir government’s refusal to pay compensation to a man who was strapped to a jeep and paraded by army personnel was a “callous attempt” and evasion of its human rights obligations, Amnesty International India said on Thursday.
On 27 October, the Jammu and Kashmir Home Department rejected a recommendation from the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) to give Farooq Dar Rs 1,000,000 (about USD 15,300) as compensation for “humiliation, physical [and] psychological torture, stress, wrongful restraint and confinement”.
The Home Department said it could not accept the recommendation because “there were no accusation of human rights violations levelled against the state government” and that there was “no scheme or policy” under which the compensation could be paid, among other reasons.
“The Jammu and Kashmir government claims that it was not responsible for violating Farooq Dar’s rights, but refusing to pay him compensation for torture is also a human rights violation,” said Zahoor Wani, Senior Campaigner at Amnesty International India.
“The fact that Farooq Dar was tied to an army jeep and paraded is not in dispute. Authorities have an obligation to provide him with adequate remedy, which includes compensation, and ensure that those suspected as responsible are prosecuted in civilian courts,” he said.
“The Jammu and Kashmir government must not look for excuses to shirk its obligations. The Union Ministry of Defence should also ensure that the Army cooperates with the civilian investigation. This case should not join the long list of allegations against security force personnel in Kashmir, which have gone unpunished in the last 27 years,” said Zahoor Wani.
“This incident highlights the need for a strong law to combat torture and other ill-treatment. India needs to urgently ratify the UN Convention against Torture, as recommended recently by India’s Law Commission.”
Farooq Dar was strapped to a moving Indian Army jeep and driven around for over five hours in Budgam district during parliamentary election on April 9.
Amnesty International India met Farooq Dar on April 14. He had several bruises and a dislocated wrist.
He allegedly told Amnesty International India that he had been detained by Army personnel while he was travelling to Gampora village on his motorcycle on April 9, the day of polling for a parliamentary by-election.
Senior Army officials and central government functionaries later claimed that Army personnel had tied Farooq Dar to the jeep as a ‘human shield’ to deter people from throwing stones at their convoy.
On the basis of reports from the Jammu and Kashmir Police and statements by doctors from government hospitals in Srinagar, the SHRC ruled that Farooq Dar “did not suffer only humiliation publicly but also suffered trauma which resulted in psychiatric stress which may remain with him for the rest of his life”.
(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)
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