New Delhi: Human Rights group Amnesty International on Wednesday demanded that security personnel facing serious charges like rape and murder should stand trial and not hide behind Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Welcoming the Supreme Court statement that personnel involved in rape and murder could invoke AFSPA, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Program Director Sam Zarifi said, "for far too long, Indian security forces have used the AFSPA as a cover for serious human rights violations.
"The Supreme Court's statement should finally allow some light to be shed on some of the Army's most gruesome violations providing some hope for justice for the victims and a step forward imposing the rule of law," Zarifi said.
He said Army personnel must stand trial when facing charges of serious violations of human rights, instead of hiding behind the controversial AFSPA.
The Supreme Court last week had noted that rape and murder committed by its personnel should be considered a "normal crime", and that there is "no question of sanction" from the government before prosecution of offenders in such cases.
"While the Court's remark opens the chance for the prosecution of the eight Army personnel, Amnesty International reiterates its demand for the repeal of the AFSPA, which has been in force in various parts of north-east India for over five decades and in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990," Zarifi said.
"The AFSPA has provisions giving protection to personnel engaged in armed operations in designated areas from any legal proceedings unless it is approved by the Union government," he said, adding that "this rarely happens in practice, as a result of which these laws have provided impunity for perpetrators of grave human rights violations."
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has repeatedly said he was committed to the revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state in a gradual fashion.
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