VIENNA: The Interactional Hu man Rights Organization (IHRO) held India responsible for grave violations of human rights especially in Punjab and Kashmir at the UN World Conference on Human Rights (WCHR) held here at the Austria Center last week, D.S.Gill, who represented the IHRO from its head office in India at the World Conference, in his brief speech exposed India as a fundamentalist state intolerant of minority communities. Without naming India, Gill accused the Indian Government of condoning disappearances, custody deaths rape and clandestine elimination of lawyers, religious leaders, and political and human rights activists for exposing Government atrocities.
He recommended that foreign aid should be linked to a countries record on human rights. Pointing towards India he said the so called largest democracy was the worst violator of human rights, “There is hardly any rule of law or democracy there. These UN member states are killing their own people on the pretext of maintaining unity and integrity or in the garb of curbing terrorism in their respective countries Just to run down liberation movements.”
Aspirations of people of minorities communities in Punjab and Kashmir were suppressed by a State which violated all canons of human dignity. He said, “the brutalities let loose on the people also include sexual assault, molestation and rape of their women or even clandestine elimination of their families. Hundreds and thousands of people are detained under dreaded Legislation’s to sup press the voice of sanity. He called upon the world community to address itself to the challenge posed by nations which while posing as democracies blatantly violated human nights to suppress aspirations of their people.
He accused India of misusing foreign development assistance for beefing up its security forces and purchase of arms for suppressing the peoples of Punjab, Kashmir and Nagaland aspirations for in dependence. To implement the human rights decision of the world body THRO he said adding “the International Human Rights Organization is a strong supporter of the idea to establish a High Com missioner of Human Rights as recommended by the NGO Forum.
We also recommend the establishment of an International Criminal Court which must have a jurisdiction to try persons responsible for human rights abuses including political leadership of the state.
It should have universal jurisdiction and for better adjudication of its jurisdiction, regional courts or tribunal should be established. It should be a permanent judicial body.”
Article extracted from this publication >>July 2, 1993
