Documentation of Indian War Crimes in Kashmir critical

Admission of a petition by the war crime unit of the Metropolitan Police, UK, to investigate and arrest those involved in war crimes in the Indian Occupied Kashmir has opened up a new vista of opportunities, for legal experts in particular, to file such kind of petitions in other European countries as well – including America and Canada – and pursue them vigorously to hold India accountable for atrocities in Kashmir

This was the consensus opinion of the participants of a meeting titled ‘Human Rights Violations in IoK: Significance of the Petition Filed to Metropolitan Police, UK’ held on January 27, 2022 under the auspices of IPS Working Group on Kashmir (IPS-WGK).

The session was addressed as keynote speaker by Advocate Nasir Qadri from Legel Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir (LFOVK), and participated by IPS’ Chairman Khalid Rahman, Vice Chairman Ambassador (r) Syed Abrar Hussain, Ambassador (r) Ishtiaq Hussain Andrabi, Iftikhar Gilani, UK-based Kashmiri journalist, Dr Anwar Gilani, vice chancellor, Hazara University, Raja Sajjad Khan, director, Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Cell (JKLC), Farzana Yaqoob, secretary, IPS-WGK, Mirza Qaisar Mahmood, and IPS team members Naufil Shahrukh and Sabur Ali Syed.

While briefing the participants about the background of the petition, Advocate Nasir Qadri, the architect of the move, held that LFOVK filed this petition with the Metropolitan Police through a legal firm Stoke White under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction and demanded for the investigation and prosecution of all those involved, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, in the war crimes being perpetrated in the held Kashmir.

Based on more than 2,000 testimonies taken between 2020 and 2021, the petition accuses eight unnamed senior Indian military officials of direct involvement in war crimes and torture in the Kashmir.

While highly appreciating the step taken by LFOVK, the participants of the meeting emphasized that a fool-proof documentation of the war crimes taking place in Kashmir is essentially important to initiate such petitions over other similar issues as well, including violations of the rights of vulnerable people, especially women and children, as well as those who are intentionally being targeted by the Indian forces on the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Kashmir.