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Amnesty Urges India Not to Adopt Controversial Anti-Terror Law
NEW DELHI, Nov. 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - India should strengthen its "weak criminal justice system" rather than enact a controversial new anti-terror law that endangers human rights standards, Amnesty International said Friday, news agencies reported.
"The perceived heightened threat to security and law and order ... must be seen as an opportunity to further strengthen the criminal justice system rather than enact a new draconian law like POTO
[Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance]," the human rights organization said in a statement carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"Amnesty International India is concerned that a weak criminal justice system of armed with draconian laws is only likely to end up victimizing the socially and politically marginalized," the statement added.
Last month, the Indian cabinet approved POTO - a legislation which gives Indian police sweeping powers of arrest and detention and, if enacted, would reinstate a modified version of the notorious Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), repealed in 1995 after widespread public opposition, according to Human Rights Watch.
TADA facilitated tens of thousands of arrests, detentions, and acts of torture in violation of international law, and was used to crackdown on political opponents, social activists, and human rights defenders. Rights groups fear that if enacted, POTO could be put to similar misuse.
Around 400 members of the security forces in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both, are facing prosecution for human rights offences against Kashmiri Muslims.
POTO still needs to be passed by both houses of parliament or it will lapse on December 21.
The legislation has been opposed by India's main opposition Congress party and communist parties and some allies of Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party, who apprehend its misuse against the press and political opponents.
In their recent statements, some government ministers labeled those opposed to POTO as "anti-national," AFP said.
Under the ordinance, any person "knowingly possessing information relating to offences under the ordinance" and keeping it from the authorities would be penalized under the provisions of the law.
India has waged a 12-year-old war against Muslim-majority Kashmir, which seeks independence. It has also been warring with Indian northeastern states.
"Ratification of POTO by parliament would be a setback to the protection and promotion of civil liberties and human rights in general," said Amnesty.
Amnesty said the ordinance could render "vulnerable sections of society and their political struggles susceptible to criminalization and state repression" in a clear reference to Kashmir and the northeastern states.
In Kashmir, a police official told AFP the anti-terrorism ordinance has already been invoked in nearly a dozen cases.
Former Indian environment minister, Saif-u-Din Soz, a Kashmiri, called imposition of POTO "tragic and deplorable."
"There was no need of such a law in Kashmir," he told AFP. "I apprehend a spurt in human rights violations in Kashmir and elsewhere."
Human Rights Watch had cautioned earlier in November against ill-considered changes to laws in India that unnecessarily sacrifice due process and personal liberty under the auspices of "fighting terrorism".
"There is a temptation to think that tightening controls on freedom of expression and association will enhance state capacity to resist terrorism, but we've repeatedly seen the opposite," said Sidney Jones, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
"The best way to guarantee security is to strengthen democratic structures," he said. "Respect for human rights must be part of any strategy to address terrorism and should be on the agenda of both meetings."
Meanwhile, in Kashmir's summer capital of Srinagar, police fired over the heads of a crowd of thousands Friday to break up demonstrations angered by the arrest of nine Muslim women by Indian security forces, witnesses said, AFP reported.
Protesters had poured onto the streets of Bandipora township, 35 miles (60 kilometers) north of Srinagar, and staged a noisy demonstration against the Indian army and Kashmir authorities, they said.
Agitated by the arrest of the nine Muslim women, the protesters set up road blockades and pelted government buildings and vehicles with stones.
Officials said police opened fire in the air when protesters tried to attack the local office of Kashmir's ruling National Conference party and two other government buildings. At least a dozen people suffered stampede injuries, residents said.
Police also used batons and tear-gas shells to disperse the demonstrators. Shopkeepers closed down their shops and local traffic kept off the roads as part of the protest, according to AFP.
Residents said army soldiers and counter-insurgency police arrested the nine women during separate raids Thursday evening.
Six of the arrested women were found innocent, officials said. Three others remained in custody after two wireless sets and two hand grenades were allegedly found in their possession.
Kashmiri lawyers had called a day's strike on Wednesday to protest against the introduction of POTO. The
strike closed down shops and businesses across Srinagar, and there was much less traffic in the city. Most government and semi-government offices, including educational institutions, were also closed.
Also on Wednesday, senior Kashmiri leader, Shabir Shah, who had threatened to launch protest against the new ordinance, was placed under house arrest.
"I had planned to hold anti-POTO protests today [Wednesday]," Shah told AFP over the telephone. He said a number of police officers were deployed around his residence to prevent him from leaving.
Two other Kashmiri leaders, who had also planned to stage a protest, Javed Mir and Shahid-ul-Islam, were also arrested and detained at a police station, said AFP.
In addition, Indian authorities used POTO on Monday to seal off the house of a Kashmiri accused of allowing Muslim activists to use it as a hideout in Srinagar.
A senior Kashmir police officer, K. Rajinderan, said that police had invoked the provisions of POTO in 10 cases since Sunday.
About 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Indian rule began 12 years ago.
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