By TwoCircles.net staff reporter,
Srinagar (J&K): The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) has welcomed the European Parliament’s resolution on the issues of nameless graves, enforced disappearances and against the attack on Advocate Parvez Imroz by the state agencies.
Enforced disappearances are a human issue and needs a humanitarian response. APDP has been consistently demanding impartial investigation into all the allegations of disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir. Since 1998, APDP has demanded the appointment of the Commission under the Commission of Inquiries Act but the government hasn’t bothered to respond till date. On the one hand government of India is introducing new laws like Right to Information Act and on the other hand the family members of the disappeared have been denied any information regarding the whereabouts of their disappeared family members who have been subjected to the cruel phenomenon of enforced disappearance, says the release.
The text of the 11-point resolution of the European Parliament is available on the website of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (www.icaed.org).
The European Parliament has called on the Government of India to urgently ensure independent and impartial investigations into all suspected sites of mass graves in Jammu and Kashmir and as an immediate first step to secure the grave sites in order to preserve the evidence.
It urged the Indian Government and the state authorities to investigate all allegations of enforced disappearances, calling on EU Member States to facilitate and support all possible cooperation between the Indian and Pakistan Governments in relation to this investigation.
The resolution has expressed its concern for the safety of Pervez Imroz and other human rights activists who are investigating the unmarked graves and other allegations of human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir and called on the Indian authorities to ensure their protection and allow them to operate without fear of harassment and violence. It urged the authorities to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the attack on Pervez Imroz.
The APDP press release said that in Punjab, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had confirmed that police disappeared and then illegally cremated 2097 victims of fake encounters in Amritsar district alone. Though the 16 districts of Punjab were not investigated. When investigations against the enforced disappearances can take place in Punjab why not in Jammu and Kashmir, asks APDP.