Syed Shah Geelani demands United Nations probe into unmarked graves

The chairman of the hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Tuesday demanded a probe into the existence of over 2,000 bodies in unmarked graves by United Nations' War Crimes Tribunal.

"United Nations' War Crimes Tribunal or any other international group should investigate the truth behind these graves," Geelani said in a statement in Srinagar.

Rejecting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's suggestion for setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for probing the deaths in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990, he said "those people who are responsible for the killings here, how can any investigation by them be impartial and just."

In its inquiry report, the investigative wing of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has claimed presence of unidentified bodies buried in unmarked graves at many places in north Kashmir.

Geelani said all the grave sites found by the SHRC had been traced to those areas which have been dotted with the Army and BSF camps.

"All these graves have been found in those areas where Army and BSF had set up camps," he said.