ISLAMABAD, Jun 27 (APP):World Muslim Congress’ permanent representative to the United Nations Altaf Hussain Wani has said that protection, documentation, identification and investigation of bodies and human remains of victims of unlawful deaths are not an option but an obligation under international law.
Wani said this while taking part in an interactive dialogue with a special rapporteur on extrajudicial and summary executions held under agenda item three on the sidelines of the 56th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, received a press release here from Geneva.
Welcoming the Special Rapporteur’s report on the protection of the dead, he said that the international criminal law, which concerns individual accountability for the most serious human rights violations, also criminalizes ill-treatment of the dead.
The mutilation of dead bodies in armed conflicts, he said, was classified as a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
“Violations of the right to life implicate the dignity and protection of the dead and the right of families to the remains of their loved ones”, Wani said, adding that identifying and returning the dead and their belongings, also pertain to upholding the rights of the deceased’s family.
Referring to the disrespect and mutilation of dead bodies by Indian forces in Kashmir, Wani said, ” Since 2019 Indian government has not returned 658 bodies of those killed by occupation forces in so-called encounters”. He said that all the bodies were deposed without the will of their families.
Terming it as a flagrant violation of International humanitarian law and a violation of Article 21 of the Indian constitution Wani said, “WMC would like to know if the Special Rapporteur has taken up this matter with the government of India”.
He said that the disrespectful treatment of the dead also harms individuals and societies besides impeding the victims’ right to truth, justice and reparations. “Therefore, state obligations to protect the dead are paramount to fulfilling the rights of families and to ensuring that all unlawful deaths are thoroughly”, he added.
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