'Indian govt has callous attitude towards mass graves found in Kashmir'

Govind Acharya, South Asia Co-Group, Amnesty International USA talks to about the discovery of mass graves in Kashmir and other issues that the international human rights organisation has raised in the recent past.

In Kashmir, the state human rights commission iidentified over 2,700 unmarked graves in North Kashmir and another 3,844 unidentified bodies in mass graves in Poonch and Rajouri. NGOs estimate that over 8,000 people have "disappeared". Amnesty International has proposed to the Indian government that an impartial inquiry should be conducted. Where has this dialogue reached?

Not to my knowledge. Generally the government of India is keen on trying to ignore a lot of this stuff and hope that the people will move on. That kind of happened in Punjab. But it's a rather callous attitude isn't it? Families do not know what happened to their loved one and may never know. The perpetrators might have received awards or promotions and are living a nice life. What a sad juxtaposition.

Despite being a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, India has had a terrible track record in Kashmir, the Naxal zones and the Northeast for the last few decades. Is it realistic to expect India to invite the UN to investigate human rights violations by its own security forces? Is there another alternative to bring justice to the victims?

Realistic, yes. Do I expect it, no? Unfortunately, because of the powerful status of India in the international community, it is very difficult to pressure the government of India. The voices demanding justice must come from within and from the Indian diaspora community of which I'm a part of.

Amnesty International has reported on a report titled 'Buried Evidence' by the International People's Tribunal's findings in 2008, Back then, no action was taken against India internationally for violating several international laws that the country is signatory to. What will you do to ensure this time around that the silence is broken?

We can only try to highlight these issues over and over again and hope that eventually the Indian government will take steps towards accountability. It's not as if they don't try perpetrators of human rights violations. It just takes a lot of effort. In Kashmir, it's perceived that the Indian security forces were fighting a war brought on by Pakistan. Yet most of the victims are innocent civilians. We only have our voice and we raise it. But it is up to Indians to demand justice and accountability.

Amnesty International thoroughly documented the detentions and the torture that had taken place in Kashmir during the 2010 protests. A petition was even sent by Amnesty International to the PMO. What was the response and what have been the grassroots-level changes in the Valley as a result?

I think that there have been some small steps taken by the J&K government. They have become sensitive towards detaining youth under administrative detention for example. But there has yet to be any attempt made to prosecute any cases of excessive use of force in the Kashmir Valley in 2010.

What has been the impact of Amnesty International's report on detentions under PSA in Kashmir last year? Detention centres (like Cargo) are still functioning, and illegal arbitrary detentions are taking place even now. What will Amnesty International's next step be?

We received a lot of media attention when the report was released in Kashmir. But very little concrete has been done. There are moves in the J&K State Assembly to amend the Juvenile Justice Act to conform with international standards. But frankly until PSA and more importantly AFSPA are repealed, accountability and justice will be hard to obtain.

What hope there is for justice when the judiciary itself finds itself totally impotent -- when summons are not obeyed, when concerned armed forces in habeas corpus pleas simply refuse to reply to investigating officer or just refuse to come to court. Amnesty Internationalreport on PSA itself says that by revolving door detentions the state bypasses the judicial system. This is perhaps the gravest violation in a democracy -- the destruction of the judicial system.

The judiciary is able to function effectively only when the executive complies with the law. In this case, often times the law is so broad that the judiciary cannot force the executive to act because the law permits impunity. This is especially the case with AFSPA. So in fact the problem is the executive/legislature creating laws that the courts cannot get around. So your reference to impotence rather than being powerless is an apt one.