New Delhi:
In an explosive revelation by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, cables sent by US diplomats in 2005 quote the Red Cross as saying that the Indian government condones torture of detainees in Kashmir.
US diplomatic cables in April 2005 said the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) had become frustrated with the Indian government which, they said, had not acted to halt the "continued ill-treatment of detainees" and the ICRC concluded that India "condones torture" and that the torture victims were civilians as militants were routinely killed.
NDTV traced one of the alleged torture victims who the Red Cross team met in Srinagar's Central Jail in 2004. Tariq Ahmad, arrested in June 2004 for suspected links to militants, says he was subjected to electric shocks, and was often stripped and beaten up while in custody.
"They (ICRC asked me how you were tortured. I told them they stripped me naked, electrocuted me, rolled a roller on my body and tied my hands with a rope from the ceiling. I told them (ICRC) about this torture and showed them torture marks on my back," says Tariq.
The current government in the state says it can only speak for its own regime. "These transcripts or these leaks pertain to 2005 now you do your own maths as to what regime was in power at that time. All I am saying is that, as far as this government is concerned, we do not condone torture. We never have, we never will; in fact in order to establish transparency this is the first time that Amnesty international was allowed entry into Jammu and Kashmir," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said.
"Have nothing to investigate based on cable sent by Embassy to Washington. Nothing for us to investigate," Omar Abdullah added
Mehbooba Mufti, the President of the PDP, which was in office at the time referred to in the reports denies these claims. "The PDP-led collation government had inherited a bad situation from the National Conference government when POTA was in place, and when people in large numbers were taken into detention," Mehbooba Mufti said. She went on to blame the current administration stating 117 people have been killed in two months during Omar Abdullah's rule and Kashmir has been converted into one big jail.
In its official response to the WikiLeaks cable quoting Red Cross on alleged torture of detainees in Kashmir, India's Foreign Ministry has said:
"If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms, in an effective and transparent manner. Neither have we shied away from an open and candid discussion on such issues when raised by our international friends and partners."
US diplomatic cables in April 2005 said the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) had become frustrated with the Indian government which, they said, had not acted to halt the "continued ill-treatment of detainees" and the ICRC concluded that India "condones torture" and that the torture victims were civilians as militants were routinely killed.
NDTV traced one of the alleged torture victims who the Red Cross team met in Srinagar's Central Jail in 2004. Tariq Ahmad, arrested in June 2004 for suspected links to militants, says he was subjected to electric shocks, and was often stripped and beaten up while in custody.
"They (ICRC asked me how you were tortured. I told them they stripped me naked, electrocuted me, rolled a roller on my body and tied my hands with a rope from the ceiling. I told them (ICRC) about this torture and showed them torture marks on my back," says Tariq.
The current government in the state says it can only speak for its own regime. "These transcripts or these leaks pertain to 2005 now you do your own maths as to what regime was in power at that time. All I am saying is that, as far as this government is concerned, we do not condone torture. We never have, we never will; in fact in order to establish transparency this is the first time that Amnesty international was allowed entry into Jammu and Kashmir," Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said.
"Have nothing to investigate based on cable sent by Embassy to Washington. Nothing for us to investigate," Omar Abdullah added
Mehbooba Mufti, the President of the PDP, which was in office at the time referred to in the reports denies these claims. "The PDP-led collation government had inherited a bad situation from the National Conference government when POTA was in place, and when people in large numbers were taken into detention," Mehbooba Mufti said. She went on to blame the current administration stating 117 people have been killed in two months during Omar Abdullah's rule and Kashmir has been converted into one big jail.
In its official response to the WikiLeaks cable quoting Red Cross on alleged torture of detainees in Kashmir, India's Foreign Ministry has said:
"If and when an aberration occurs, it is promptly and firmly dealt with under existing legal mechanisms, in an effective and transparent manner. Neither have we shied away from an open and candid discussion on such issues when raised by our international friends and partners."
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