KGC writes letters to Indian office bearers in USA, Canada & UN

US/CANADA (PNI) Kashmir Global Council (KGC), a political advocacy group registered in US and Canada wrote letters to Indian officer bearers in USA, Canada, and UN. These letters have been written to Ajay Bisaria, High Commissioner of India to Canada; Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India to USA; and T.S.

Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations. The subject of the letter is: Detention and trial of political prisoners and under trials in Jammu & Kashmir

The letter says, Kashmir Global Council (KGC), a political advocacy group registered in US and Canada, would like to raise the issue of detention and trials of hundreds of political workers, journalists, human rights defenders, and other political activists from Jammu & Kashmir. We would like to bring to your notice the following concerns with the Government of India:
1. Many detainees have inadequate financial resources, limited access to lawyers, and not enough legal aid to defend themselves.

2. Many political detainees have been languishing in jails for years, while as many under trials have been going in and out of courtrooms for decades.

3. Many of these political activists undertrials are compelled to travel out of their hometown to far away cities for court hearings which adds to financial and mental strain on their families.

4. Many detainees are released or granted bail but immediately detained under a different order, thus creating a revolving door of detentions that lasts months or years.

5. Many ordinary Kashmiris have been detained on trivial matters (such as chanting slogans, social media posts) that otherwise would not incur repercussion either in India or other democratic countries.

International law guarantees the rights of detainees, as laid out in Articles 9, 10, 14, 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which India is a signatory.

There are similar provisions in the Geneva Conventions, as well as in Articles 9, 10, 11 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Many members of Kashmiri diaspora have expressed interest in funding the legal aid of these detainees, especially those who lack financial resources, in order to protect their right to justice. We request Government of India to allow and facilitate this through proper legal channels.

We are also concerned that these continued political detentions and trials have an adverse effect on the physical, mental, and financial well-being of the detainees and their families.

We request Government of India to take into cognizance the humanitarian impact of these long-standing detentions and trials, and to review its policies in order to facilitate the release of all political prisoners. We would appreciate your positive approach taken in this regard.

We are also hopeful that the Governments of Canada and United States will support any positive gesture taken by Government of India in this regard, letter added.