December 13, 2001	Thursday	Ramazan 27, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 12: The Amnesty International (AI) has flayed the unlawful killings of 10 civilians and injuring of up to 40 others by Indian forces following an attack on an army convoy on Dec 8 at Baramulla.

This incident at Baramulla was just one in a series which had led to deaths of many civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in recent weeks, the AI said.

It said that according to local observers, security forces had fired both from moving convoy vehicles and bunkers on passers-by and passing vehicles in retaliation to the ambush. There were reports that a nearby border security force patrol also joined in the firing, the AI said.

The world body pointed out that it was not the first time that security forces had turned on the civilian population after coming under attack. According to reports, the members of Kashmir Light Infantry had killed six labourers unlawfully after the attack on an army convoy at Baramulla in July 2001, it added.

The world body has urged all sides in the conflict to respect international humanitarian law that prohibits deliberate or indiscriminate attacks on civilians and those not taking part in hostilities.

Acknowledging that the Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered an inquiry into the incident at Baramulla, the AI said that previous probe into human rights abuses in the region had failed to punish the culprits.

REFUGEES PROTECTION: Supporter states for the ‘war against terrorism’ have failed in dealing with its results and sharing the responsibility of protecting the Afghan displaced persons (DPs), the Amnesty International stated in a press release on Tuesday.

The world body said: “For 50 years, since the adoption of Refugee Convention, states have failed to effectively address the source of refugee flow, primarily the human rights violations, including violations during armed conflict.” They had not taken steps which would ensure the effective monitoring of their treaty obligations, it added.

The AI said the ministerial meeting on the Refugee Convention in Geneva was an unprecedented opportunity for the international community for strengthening international refugee protection.

“In the face of challenges such as people trafficking and tight security after the Sept 11 attacks, governments must re-affirm their commitment to the Refugee Convention and ensure that protection is not compromised,” the world body said. In the aftermath of Sept 11, many governments have neglected the human rights of refugees and asylum-seekers by imposing security laws which inevitably target non-nationals.

The Amnesty International said it had received reports that UK immigration officials at Prague airport singled out travellers from the Roma minority for detailed questioning and many had been refused permission to board their flights to the UK. The Australian government was diverting boats loads of asylum-seekers to Pacific island nations - which amounts to ‘burden-shifting’ rather than ‘burden-sharing’, it said.