WASHINGTON: Two US Human Rights groups have accused the Clinton administration of softening criticism of Indias Human Rights record and called on President Clinton to take up with Pane Minister Narasimha Rao violations in Punjab und Kashmir

In a 103-page report the Human Rights Watch/Asia and Physicians for Human Rights allege that counter-insurgency campaign in India has left a legacy of brutal police force whose resort to murder and torture has been sanctioned by the state as an acceptable means of combating political violence

More disturbing says the report is the fact that many in Indias Central government see the Punjab solution as.an appropriate policy to implement in other areas of conflict notably Kashmir.

Meanwhile Sidney Jones executive director of Human Rights Watch/Asia has criticized John Shattuch Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and assistant secretary for South Asia Robin Raphel for softening American criticism of India on the human rights issue during hearings of the senate appropriations subcommittee on April 19. In a letter to President Clinton urging his intervention with Prime Minister Rao when he visits the United States Jones said at the forthcoming meeting on June 29 of Indias bilateral and multilateral donors Human Rights Watch has called on the US participation to be outspoken about these abuses both privately and publicly.

Jones urges Clinton to convey to Prime Minister Rao that your administration will closely follow developments in Kashmir for signs of significant progress on human rights. In particular we urge the Red Cross to carry out the full range of its humanitarian a service in Kashmir

In the introduction to the report the two organizations admit there is no question that the militants also committed atrocities from the outset the militant Sikh organizations deliberately targeted civilian’s as part of a strategy calculated to terrorize the local population and compel compliance with their demands

The report urges both the government of Prime Minister Rao and the terrorist forces to end the abuses and restore the rule of law to Punjab.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 27, 1994