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| Human rights groups forget International Day of Disappeared | | August 30 goes un-noticed | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sep 2: The on-going Kashmir agitation has not only affected business and education. It has adversely affected the work of the human rights defenders as well. This year they forgot the International Day of the Disappeared. The government ignored the day. Or, to put it plainly, the government did not react because the human rights defenders and the sufferers forgot to observe the day which fell on August 30. Every year, at least two functions are held by different groups to mark the occasion. And every year the government reacts to their claims. But this year there was no claim and hence no official reaction.
Last year the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) founder, Parvez Imroz issued an appeal to foreign diplomats, journalists and legislators to refrain from staying in erstwhile Hari Niwas Palace which the state government is fact turning into a VVIP guest House. Imroz opposes the renovation saying it would destroy material evidence. Hari Niwas was used as a torture chamber since 1990. Imroz believes many a person succumbed to torture. "They were buried in the sprawling lawns. Therefore, we need to preserve the evidence", he said.
The relatives of disappeared persons carrying placards staged a protest demonstration in the Municipal Park, Residency Road on the International day of the disappeared last year. When asked why the day went un-noticed this year, a staffer in Imroz's office said: "Strike and curfew restrictions make it difficult to hold such programmes."
According to the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) 8000-10,000 persons have been subjected to enforced disappearance since 1989. The government vehemently contests this figure. A series of contradictory statements have been issued by successive state governments. Amid these claims and counterclaims truth has become a casualty. However, the contradiction in official statements forces one to use a different yardstick for APDP data.
When Omar Abdullah was not in power he took Mufti Sayed to task repeatedly for his government's record on human rights. Addressing a press conference on May 2, 2008 Omar Abdullah said 4000 Kashmiris were subjected to enforced disappearance by the state since 1990.
The process of issuing statements on custodial disappearances started in July 2002. Since then scores of contradictory statements have been issued by the state government. Former home Minister, Khalid Najeeb Soharwardy issued a statement on July 18, 2002. He admitted 3184 custodial disappearances since 1989.
In response to a list issued by APDP a few years ago, the police said that most of the persons in the list had crossed over to Pakistan administered Kashmir to seek arms training. "This is exactly what the governments in Nepal and Pakistan tell the traumatized relatives of the disappeared persons. In Nepal they are told that the missing persons had escaped to India. In Pakistan they are told that the missing persons were consumed by the war in Afghanistan. And in Kashmir they are told that the disappeared persons went to Pakistan", Imroz said. |
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