It is a positive development that the judges at Russell Tribunal looking into the Indian war crimes being committee in IIOJK have called for seeing the Kashmir dispute within a broader global context of settler colonialism, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The judges made these statements at a maiden Russell Tribunal on Kashmir held by Kashmir Civitas, a Canadian registered NGO in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
The event was held in collaboration with World Kashmir Awareness Forum, Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation (Nottingham, UK), the Permanent People’s Tribunal of Bologna, Italy, Nahla (Center for Education and Research), the Center for Advanced Study in Sarajevo, International University of Sarajevo (IUS) and Aljazeera Balkans.
A panel of judges listened to the proceedings and, thereafter, finalize a report that will be distributed to UN agencies, EU parliament and other world bodies and governments. They observed that serious accusations of genocide, crimes against humanity, rape as a weapon of war, unlawful arrests and mass blinding had been made. The event marked the testimonies of multiple witnesses who narrated their accounts of ordeal faced by themselves or their fellow citizens.
Russell Tribunal on War Crimes in Kashmir 2021 aimed to replicate the significance and impact of the Russell Tribunal on Vietnam that gained worldwide press coverage and had a clear, discernible impact on transforming the narrative on Vietnam. It was also aimed at paying homage to the courage of Professor Bertrand Russell, who dared to challenge American hegemony at the height of its power, the tribunal used that model to expose the crimes of India in IIOJK.
The international event was attended by international lawyer, Richard Falk, Professor Anthony Carty, Yvonne Ridley, David Hearst, Pepe Escobar, Jonathon Brown, Professor Sami Al Arian, Hatem Bazian, Tarek Chertaoul, Yvonne Ridley, David HearsEdward Moad, Tarek Cherkaoui, Khaled Beydoun, Dalia Mogahed Omar Suleiman and many more. The event focused on four thematic areas including genocide, de-colonization, settler-colonialism, crimes against humanity and nuclear war – mass graves, rape as a weapon of war, and the ever present threat of nuclear war in this contested region.
It heard evidence of genocide, in Jammu in 1947 and 1948, during which time the Indian government and Dogra regime claimed to be directly responsible. The tribunal unanimously agreed that the events need to be carefully recognized and studied. The accusations are grave and warrant deeper investigation. In its conclusion, based on the statements, oral testimonies and reports the Tribunal found serious indications of constant restrictions on freedoms and gross human rights violations, including mass crimes, mass rapes and other crimes against humanity.
It called upon the international institutions in a strong worded statement, ‘this is only the beginning of a long process. Given the seriousness and gravity of these incriminations, it is important that international institutions and human rights tribunals urgently open cases and examine these allegations and prosecute those responsible for violations. The tribunal offered an open invitation to the world public to visit Kashmir and report on the state of freedoms and human rights.
The initiative can be termed as the beginning of arduous and judicious process to uncover truth, but the live testimonies and the reports and evidence presented during the proceedings of Russell Tribunal, have left with serious concerns about crimes, which appear to have been carried out on a massive scale.
