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Gujarat
Carnage—To The NHRC
National Human Rights
Commision
I.
In compliance with Article V of the International Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948 that India has
signed in 1948 and ratified in 1958, a State that is Signatory is bound
to effectively act upon and legislate upon the intents of the
Legislation. Our country has not done complied with this requisite in
the Convention though more than five decades have passed. The Tribunal
has clearly held that the crimes in Gujarat were crimes against humanity
and Genocide. But, to date there is no law for punishing these people.
Under the present political circumstances, the Tribunal does not expect
either the State of Gujarat or the Union of India to enact such a
much-needed law.
II. Despite
the fact that there is no law on genocide at present, the Tribunal holds
that the Covenant on Genocide has become part of the customary law as it
doesn’t conflict with any other existing law. Such an interpretation of
the law is imperative and binding on the NHRC. Such an approach would
help the NHRC to conduct a detailed investigation into the crimes in
Gujarat and submit a detailed Report to the Government and the nation.
The facts narrated in the NHRC’s Summary Report on Gujarat already add
upto a prima facie accusation of genocide. The Commission has a present
and urgent obligation to the people and a mandatory obligation to
posterity to inquire into Gujarat violence and record its findings so
that no political party and no government in future ever resort to such
brutal practices.
III. As
part of this obligation, the NHRC must prepare a Model Statute on
genocide including provisions for effectively taking preventive measures
to protest religious ethnic and linguistic minorities from being
attacked. This is mandatory because under the International Criminal
Code genocide and crimes against humanity are declared as offences.
State actors may not follow this but Human Rights Commissions set up by
various countries will have to enforce them however limited their
jurisdiction might be ‘’Genocide is an attack on human diversity as
such, that is upon a characteristic of the’’ human status without which
the very words ‘’mankind’’ or ‘’humanity’’ would be devoid of meaning’’
(Hannah Arndt)
(Source: Recommendations, Crimes Against Humanity, Vol II) |
