Islamabad, January 04, 2021 (PPI-OT): Federal Minister of Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari has said that the Narendra Modi government has violated Article 76 and 83 of the Geneva Convention by moving the Kashmiri Hurriyat activist, Aasiya Andrabi to Tihar jail in New Delhi.
Addressing a press briefing alongside Aasiya Andrabi’s son, Shireen Mazari said, called out the Indian government for committing war crimes by moving prisoners from Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir to India and violating the Geneva Convention through ill-treatment of women prisoners.
“Article 76 says that women shall be confined in separate quarters and shall be under the direct supervision of women and the detainees have the right to be visited by the Red Cross but Indian authorities don’t even provide doctors,” said Mazari. “Andrabi and two other women with her are unwell but the Indian government is denying her medical assistance.”
The minister asserted that the Indian government was violating international laws and called upon the international community and local and international human rights organisations to condemn the actions. Shireen Mazari said, the Indian government is committing war crimes by moving Kashmiri prisoners to Indian jails.
She was referring to Article 8 (war crimes) of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court which states, “Transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory”.
Dr Shireen Mazari urged the international community, human rights organizations, and the global media to act in preventing India from judicial murder of Kashmiri leader Asiya Andrabi, currently detained in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
She said Indian courts are preparing for a judicial murder of Kashmiri leader Dr Asiya Andrabi by awarding life imprisonment sentence to her. She said life imprisonment in India has been defined as imprisonment till death, which is repugnant to all worldwide definitions in this regard. She said Dr Asiya Andrabi has been facing imprisonment, along with the two other Kashmiri women activists, and Indian Supreme Court is likely to announce its verdict this month.
Dr Shireen Mazari said Asiya Andrabi’s husband has also been under detention for last 28 years. She said Kashmiri leaders are facing Indian torture and oppression in jails in sheer violation of Article 148 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on human rights. Shaking the global conscience, the Federal Minister called upon the international community, especially the human rights organizations, to immediately intervene in Asiya Andrabi’s matter to protect life and rights of the Kashmiri people.
The minister said Pakistan should demand an international tribunal to proceed against India regarding war crimes. “In 2005, all countries at the United Nations accepted the responsibility to protect in principle that every country has the responsibility to intervene. There are laws present. So the question is: why is the world silent? Is it our failure that we are unable to make a strong case or are countries avoiding taking on India due to economic interests?”
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