37th Session of the OIC, Council of Foreign Ministers, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tue, 18 May 2010 11:24:36 +0200

Barrister Majid Tramboo, Chairman, Kashmir-Centre.EU is currently attending the 37th Session of the OIC, Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan (May 18-20, 2010). He received an invitation from the Government of Tajikistan and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu for this important occasion.
Barrister A. Majid Tramboo also had meetings with the Tajikistan Foreign Minister Khamrokhon Zarifi and Culture Minister Mirzoshohrukh Asrori in Dushanbe.
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All Party Group for Kashmir in the European Parliament Re-Structured

Thu, 8 Apr 2010 10:18:55 +0200

The All Party Group for Kashmir in the European Parliament (APGK), which was re-structured following the 2009 elections, met in the European Parliament under the Chairmanship of James Elles (MEP). Among others Richard Howitt (MEP and Vice Chairman of APGK), Chris Davies (MEP and Vice Chairman of APGK) and Miroslav Mikolasik (MEP and Vice Chairman APGK ) were in attendance at the above meeting.
During the meeting there were deliberations on the current state of affairs surrounding the Kashmir issue. Although noting that at present there is very little progress on this matter, the group believed that India and Pakistan should resume their dialogue within which the Kashmir issue could be included. Both Z.U. Khan, Advisor to the President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), as well as Barrister Majid Tramboo, Chairman of the Kashmir Centre EU, contributed to the discussions.
Now reconstituted, the Group resolved to continue to promote the Kashmir cause within the European Union and work to continue towards its peaceful solution. The members unanimously agreed the proposed 2010 programme which includes not only a Kashmir-EU Week in June but also a Global Discourse on Kashmir (the fifth in the series) bringing together Indians, Pakistanis and Kashmiris, to be held at the European Parliament in Brussels in early October.
The Chairman, James Elles (MEP), thanked all the members and supporters for their continued support at the meeting.
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Kashmir Centre.EU Hosts "International Human Rights Norms and Crowd Control" at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:06:39 +0100

The International Council for Human Rights, in association with the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, hosted an Interactive Dialogue & Roundtable at the Palais Des Nations in Geneva.
The panel consisted of Barrister A. Majid Tramboo, Chairman of the International Council for Human Rights, Prof. Alfred de Zayas Professor of Public and International Law at Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Law, Prof. Nazir Ahmed Shawl Executive Director Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre London, Prof. Joseph Wronka permanent representative to the UN (Geneva) for the International Association of Schools of Social Work, Mr. Joshua Cooper Hawaii Institute for Human Rights and Human Rights Trainer.
Barrister Tramboo discussed the obligations that a state has to adhere to when it is faced with people exercising their right to peaceful assembly and their right to freedom of expression under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR. He highlighted three protester deaths that have occurred in J&K due to the aggressive and illegal tactics employed by Indian military and para-military forces. These were Zahid Farooq, who was shot in the back on the 5th of February, Yannick Farooq, who died after being struck with a teargas shell on the 31st of January and Inayat Khan, who was shot and then run over by the military on the 8th of January. He discussed the Indian intransigence over these issues as nobody has yet been convicted or punished for the deaths of these young men.
Prof. Alfred de Zayas made an analysis of the international human rights mechanisms that are in place to protect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. He noted that any society can only be said to be democratic when they allow people to voice their opinions. He said that when civilians feel the need to come out onto the street and exercise their rights to freedom of assembly must have serious issues with the state and that the ability to protest, demonstrate, have access to information and the freedom of the press are all a pre-requisite for a state to be able to say that it respects international human rights norms and those treaties that protect human rights.
Prof. Nazir Ahmed Shawl made a historical analysis of the suppression of legitimate protest in Jammu & Kashmir. He made particular reference to the Amarnath land transfer controversy that caused significant protests across J&K in May 2008. During these protests tens of people were killed by Indian forces and in excess of one hundred were severely injured. Prof. Shawl noted that the persistent lack of respect for international human rights law by Indian military and para-military forces in J&K resulted in numerous and persistent deaths for civilians.
Prof. Joseph Wronka made an analysis of the civil rights movement in the United States in the 1960’s. He noted several incidents in which minorities in the US has risen up in protest at their lack of representation and their constant harassment by the police forces only to suffer harsh retaliation from the police. He said that a democratic country must allow civilians to protest peacefully and that the state has international as well as moral obligations to do so. He said that he was distressed that the right to freedom of peaceful assembly was still not being respected despite the Universal Declaration coming into force over six decades ago.
Mr. Joshua Cooper discussed the rules that state forces are expected to follow when faced with protestors. He discussed the international obligations and the times when police are and are not allowed to use force in such situations. He noted that human righs training is woefully inadequate in the majority of states and that the police routinely violate international and domestic law with the full knowledge of the state.
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KC.EU Hold Demonstration Outside the UN in Geneva

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:04:39 +0100

The Kashmir Centre.EU, has once again created history by installing a military camp on the famous Place des Nations right outside the Palais des Nations for a period of five days, signifying occupation in Jammu and Kashmir by India and the gross human rights violations perpetuated by its occupying armed forces. The KC.EU also staged a demonstration in Place des Nations against the continued human rights abuses and Indian presence in Indian Held Kashmir.
Barrister A. Majid Tramboo addressed a crowd of supporters and appealed for the UN to take action on the issue of persistent human rights violations in Indian Held Kashmir. He raised the issue of the recent report of the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance in which the UN identifies the intransigence of the Indian government over human rights in Kashmir. He mentioned the J&K Public Safety Act, in which civilians can be detained for upto two years without trial, and offered his assurance that KC.EU will continue to fight at the highest levels to ensure that this law will be quashed and that other laws in J&K will be brought into line with international human rights norms, the treaties to which the Indian government is signatory, and the Indian constitution itself. He thanked the supporters that had come to show their unity with the people of Jammu & Kashmir.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chairmam of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, visited the tent whilst addressing the crowd thanked those that had attended and shown their support for the Kashmiri cause.
He went on to say that the people of Jammu & Kashmir has no quarrel with the Indian people but the Government of India's persistent policies denying the people of kashmir their right to self determinantion and intensified human rights violations in Indian held Kashmir. He referred to the recent killings of two students, Zahid Farooq and Yannick Farooq, and highlighted that oppression will not see the people of Kashmir stop their struggle for freedom. He said that the only solution to the Kashmir conflict is a political one that involved all concerned parties and that the actions of the Indian government were contradictory to this solution. He said that the only productive and meaningful result of dialogue between India and Pakistan must involve the people of Kashmir.
He also identified the diaspora leadership and applauded Barrister Majid Tramboo for organising the exhibition and the demonstration, and the work of Dr. G.N. Fai, Prof. Nazir Ahmed Shawl and Nazir Qureshi.
He said that the demonstration that was taking place in front of the UN in Geneva, during the most important meeting of the Human Rights Council in 2010, was to show that the people of Kashmir expected an end to the continuous human rights violations that take place in Jammu & Kashmir.
Dr. G.F. Fai, Executive Director Kashmir Centre Washington, made an impassioned statement in which he called for an end to the continued human rights abuses in Indian Held Kashmir. He further stated that the issue of Kashmir is the right to self-determinatoin. He highlighted the need for multilateral talks between all of the concerned parties and those talks must include the people of Jammu & Kashmir. He endorsed unity sentiments of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
Prof. Nazir Ahmed Shawl, Executive Director Justice Foundation Kashmir Centre London, expressed his deep concern at the recent rise in incidents of death and in jury that are befalling civilian protestors in Indian Held Kashmir. He called for the UN to respect the resolutions that it had passed in which the people of Jammu & Kashmir were granted their right to a free and impartial plebiscite. He declared that we stand united in our just struggle for the right to self-determination.
Mr. Nazir Qureshi, Vice President WKFM, raised the issue of mass graves in Indian Held Kashmir. He noted that no impartial investigation had yet been allowed by the Indian Government despite pressure from the UN an Urgency Resolution on Mass Graves in Kashmir. He called for the Human Rights Council to continue and increase the pressure on the Indian Government to allow investigation into this issue so that those who have lost loved ones can rest. He expressed his satisfaction that all those who matter in the Kashmiri struggle are present in the HRC and at the demo including the heads of all of the Kshmir Centres and the Chairman of the APHC.
Others who addressed the demo include Raja Zahir Ahmed (President Advisory Council Kashmir Centre.EU), Sardar Javaid Sarwer (Secretary General ACKC), Mirza Maqsood Farrad (Chief Spoesperson ACKC), Raja Shiraz, M. Ajmal and Quershi from Italy.

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Kashmir Centre.EU Hosts "The Use of Torture by States and the Mechanisms for Justice: Are They Enough?" at the Palais des Nations in Geneva

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:09:38 +0100

The International Council for Human Rights, in association with the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, hosted an Interactive Dialogue & Roundtable at the Palais Des Nations in Geneva.
The panel consisted of Barrister A. Majid Tramboo, Chairman of the International Council for Human Rights, Prof. Alfred de Zayas Professor of Public and International Law at Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Law, Ms. Sadani Malainine Human Rights Consultant and Member - Union La ActionFeminine ONG Maroc, Ms. Ahadija Roussi Representative for the Bait al Hikma, Mr. Syed Faiz Naqshbandi President World Peace Forum, Mr. Ronald Barnes International Peoples and Nations Coalition.
Barrister Tramboo highlighted the current situation of torture in Indian Held Kashmir. He discussed the constant threat of torture that any civilian may face and highlighted how the legislation applied to J&K allows little or no remedy for those who have been victim of torture. Nothing that torture is regarded as one of the most flagrant and serious abuses of human rights, and the various human rights treaties in which it is paramount are testament to this, he noted that the Government of India has not ratified the Convention Against Torture, despite numerous promises, and this was testament to how endemic torture is within the Indian armed forces in Jammu & Kashmir.
Prof. Alfred de Zayas made a succinct analysis of the current international standards and obligations that states face with regard to torture. He noted that the use of Torture is banned under numerous internaltional treaties and conventions and that there is seen to be no justification for the use of torture under any circumstances. He discussed a number of legal precedents across the globe and talked at lentgh about the illegality of the use of extra-ordinary rendition by the United States in recent years.
Ms. Sadani Malainine discussed the issue of torture in Morocco and other places in Northern Africa. She made the case study of a number of abuses that are said to have taken place in Morocco and highlighted the steps that the government has taken to resolve any issues.
Mr. Faiz Naqshbandi discussed the laws that are in place in Indian Held Kashmir that represent impunity clauses for the military and para-military forces that operate there. Highlighting legislation that applies only to Jammu and Kashmir such as the J&K public safety act he analysed the constant and recurring instances of torture in J&K and pointed out that there is no authority that has the power to bring the government of India to account on such crimes.
Ms. Ahadija Roussi gave a harrowing account of her own childhood in which she was forced to relocate from her native morocco to Cuba. She discussed how she was not taught her own culture and language as she resided in Cuba. She has now moved back to Morocco and fights to ensure that such incidents no longer occur.
Mr. Ronald Barnes linked the continuance of torture globally with those places and peoples that have yet to achieve their right to self-determination. He gave a number of examples and analysed a number of case studies in which it was shown that those who have been denied their right to self-determination are more likely to suffer torture at the hands of those who have never been elected to represent them. He stated that the realisation of the right to self-determination is followed by a marked increase in human rights standards as those who have been elected by the people are forced to work for the people and can be deposed if this is not the case.
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