Srinagar, May 10: The family members of the persons missing in custody Tuesday asked the Kashmir government to set up an Inquiry Commission to probe the custodial disappearances in the region.
“Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had said that he was in favour of setting up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe the disappearances. It is now high time for the government to set up the Inquiry Commission to probe the custodial disappearances,” Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) chairperson Parveena Ahanger said on sidelines of a monthly sit-in against the enforced disappearances here in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir.
Stating that thousands of persons have disappeared in custody of Indian security forces, she said the government should announce a time bound probe to investigate the disappearance cases.
APDP chairperson asked the Indian government to ratify the international convention for the protection of all persons from enforced or involuntary disappearances. “Even after signing the convention in 2007, the Indian government had failed to ratify the convention and only a fraction of the cases of disappearances had been investigated,” she said and called upon the Kashmir government to provide a supportive, enabling environment to facilitate access to justice for human rights defenders.
She also demanded that the government should put in place laws and policies to ensure protection of witnesses and those complaining against arbitrary state action.
