A/HRC/10/9
page 40
General allegations
179. Information was submitted by credible sources to the Working Group concerning obstacles
reportedly encountered in the implementation of the Declaration. This information was
transmitted to the Government after its eighty-third and eighty-fifth sessions.
180. It was reported that there is an absence of domestic remedies to address enforced
disappearances, particularly those that took place between 1984 and 1995 in Punjab. The
Government of India has allegedly refused to take effective legislative, judicial and
administrative measures to end enforced disappearances.
181. In 1997, the Supreme Court appointed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)
of India as its sui generis body to examine secret cremations and to redress fundamental human
rights violations. However, the NHRC limited its mandate to secret cremations, ignoring the
violations of the right to life and the right to liberty; territorially restricted its mandate to
three crematoriums; and refused to investigate any disappearances, relying on police admissions
to determine the status of victims, rather than hearing any evidence from family members.
182. In a separate allegation, it was reported that hundreds of unidentified graves have been
uncovered from 2006 in Jammu and Kashmir. The graves of at least 940 persons have been
found in 18 villages in Uri District alone.
183. These graves are believed to contain the remains of victims of unlawful killings, enforced
disappearances, torture and other abuses which occurred from 1989. However, it was reported to
the Working Group that the Indian Army has claimed that the graves belong to armed rebels and
foreign militants killed lawfully in armed encounters with military forces and that there have
been no investigations or exhumations of the gravesites.
184. No responses were received from the Government regarding both general allegations.
Total cases transmitted, clarified and outstanding
185. Since its establishment, the Working Group transmitted 423 cases to the Government. It
clarified 61 cases, 51 on the basis of information provided by the Government and 10 on the
basis of information provided by the source; 362 remain outstanding.
Observations
186. The Working Group reminds the Government of its obligations under the Declaration,
mainly the right to a prompt and effective remedy (art. 9), the obligation to investigate all cases
of enforced disappearances (art. 13.1), the obligation to make available findings of investigations
to those concerned (art. 13.4) and to conduct thorough and impartial investigations “for as long
as the fate of the victim of enforced disappearance remains unclarified” (art. 13.6).
187. The Working Group requests the Government to comment on the information contained in
the general allegations, which may lead to the clarification of outstanding cases.
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