Human Rights and the Indian Armed Forces in Insurgency and Low Intensity Conflict Operations Contents

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES IN INSURGENCY AND LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT OPERATIONS

CONTENTS

Chapter Chapter Heading Page(s)

No

I Introduction 3 - 6

II Methodology 7 - 10

III Evolution of Human Rights 11 - 19

IV Human Rights in India 20 - 23

V Environment in which the Indian Army Operates 24 - 35

VI Alleged Human Rights Violation by Armed Forces 36 - 52

VII Actions Undertaken by the Armed Forces 53 - 58

VIII Suggested Remedial Measures 59 - 69

IX Conclusion 70

Bibliography 71 - 73

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES IN INSURGENCY AND LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT OPERATIONS

"I was far away from home, it was a beautiful land,

I fought a war in innocence,

I fought hard but not too well,

And back home I was forgotten, I was taken for dead,

I struggled for my pride as my faith slipped away,

And soon I knew, why heroes are born the cruel way,

Friends around me died too, that wasn't much,

But their memories died too, soon after their deaths,

I was friendly to terror, helpful to destruction,

For my ugly innocence never knew fear,

Like a God in frenzy, I killed and I maimed,

But it was war and I was proud of it all,

I felt like a hero but was wary of gods,

For victory was cruel and there was glory in death,

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Was I victor or vanquished I never did judge,

For something about this war made me lose control

I survived, then searched for a reason in it all,

But instead discovered only a little of beauty in war."

--- Ashish Sonal.

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1. The feelings of a soldier involved in a in Low Intensity Conflict Operations (henceforth referred as LICO) have indeed been very aptly described by Captain Ashish Sonal, VrC, in his above quoted book.

2. Every human being, irrespective of race, color, religion or sex has equal rights as a human being. Human rights violation are occurring almost everyday in all spheres of life, however, the Armed Forces by virtue of their assigned task bear the brunt as far as allegations of Human Rights Violation are concerned.

3. Since 1956 when troops were inducted for the first time in Nagaland for countering insurgency, the Army has been involved in LICO in different parts of the

country. Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and most states in the North East in particular have been long time targets with various other parts being targeted from time to time. From all indications available we shall be living with this menace in the foreseeable future too.

4. Unlike a regular war, since a LICO takes place amidst the civilian population without any laid down rules of engagement and geographic limitations, such conflicts invariably give rise to reports of Human Rights Violations in the form of kidnapping,

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torture, rape, custodial deaths and so on, both by the security forces and the insurgents. Though some of the reports are untrue, being a part of media campaigns and psychological warfare tactics to malign the other side, some have essentially an element of truth in them. The reasons for these occurrences are multifarious: from stress of the occasion, physical fatigue, monotony and long separation from families to coercion used for gathering intelligence by security agencies. In case of insurgents again, there are many reasons varying from criminal activities for personal gains to atrocities committed just to gain media attention for espoused cause.

5. The subject of Human Rights Violations in the context of counter insurgency operations has been discussed the world over the years. Various human rights groups like Amnesty International and Asia Watch have been very active in bringing to light many incidents and issues before the world audience. In this era of increased awareness and instant media accessibility due to communications technology

revolution, these events get wide publicity. Whereas any such publicity is helpful to the 'cause' of insurgents, it affects the country's image adversely in the international arena.

6. The Constitution of India guarantees to every citizen of India basic human rights and fundamental freedom. India has also set up a high level National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

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7. The Armed Forces are increasingly being called upon to assist the state and central security forces in controlling Internal Security situations and maintenance of law and order in the country. If one takes a look at the employment of the Indian Armed Forces on such duties, one finds that from 1981 to 1984 it had been employed 369 times for various purposes including maintenance of law and order, counter insurgency and anti terrorist operations, since then this trend has gone up and now one finds Indian Armed Forces involved in LICO and counter insurgency operations throughout the year with no count.

8. With this the