Sunday, December 20, 2009

Kashmir lecture series at Harvard

" In an attempt to capture the nuances of the conflict and to build an inclusive dialogue, the Carr Center presents the 2009-10 Speaker Series Kashmir: Human Rights Policy for “The World's Most Militarized Dispute."
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How to invesitgate your own war crimes

CBI clears CRPF of rape and murder; charges witnesses and doctors for creating "false evidence"



CBI DROWNS SHOPIAN

Greater Kashmir December 15, 2009

‘No rape, no murder’

NASEER AHMAD /SAMAAN LATIF


► Police, Troopers Cleared Of All Charges
► Docs, Advocates, Witnesses Booked For ‘Creating False Evidence’
► ‘Case Was Framed To Defame, Discredit Police, Forces’

Srinagar, Dec 14: Contrary to Justice Jan Commission’s findings that Asiya Jan and Neelofar were raped and murdered, the Central Bureau of Investigation today produced chargesheet of Shopian case before the High Court, saying the victims had died due to drowning and there is no evidence to substantiate the charges of murder and rape. The chargesheet has been already submitted by the CBI to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar on December 10.
“The death of Asiya Jan and Neelofar has occurred due to ante-mortem drowning and offences under section 302, 326, 376 and 201 RPC could not be proved,” said the CBI chargesheet.
The Shopian Majlis Mashawarat and the High Court Bar Association rejected the report. The Majlis moved an application before the Court and said it was formally disassociating itself from the case. The Majlis president, Abdul Rashid Dewa, said they were not interested to see the presentation prepared by the CBI about the case. The CBI counsel Anil Bhan was insisting that the power point presentation should be shown in the open court. But the Majlis refused to watch it.
“Now they say it is case of drowning. There is nothing to watch,” said Dewa. The Bench comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh, Justice Yaqoob Mir though suggested the Majlis to assist the Court and said the CBI presentation was not sacrosanct and gospel truth, the Majlis however refused to watch it in open court. It submitted to the Court that it should not play the same in open Court, and the request was conceded. The Majlis accused the CBI of preparing ground for today’s report by selective leaks.
Outside the Court, the Majlis expressed its resentment against the chargesheet by burning it in full media glare. Shakeel Ahmad, husband of Neelofar and brother of Asiya Jan, burned the CBI chargesheet outside the Court. He said the CBI today committed another rape by declaring the incident as of drowning. He said it was not the question of two women of Shopian but of all women of Kashmir.
The CBI chargesheet presented before the CJM Srinagar says that during investigation, the allegations of rape and murder couldn’t be substantiated. “At the same time the investigation has established that the concerted efforts were made to create false evidence by creating false post mortem reports, fudged slides of samples taken from dead bodies and by inducing the witnesses to implicate the police, security forces in a false case of rape and murder of the two ladies,” it said.
“The findings of earlier post-mortem examination by the team of Shopian and Pulwama doctors stand negated by the opinion of the Board of Doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences,” the chargesheet said.
The CBI said that it was of opinion that the cause of death in Asiya Jan’s case was due to asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem drowning. “The lacerated wound present on forehand could be produced by blunt force striking head against the hard surface or object; and was not sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature. There was nothing suggestive of penetration of penis or like object through the hymeaneal opening as the hymen was found intact,” the CBI said.
In Neelofar’s case, the CBI said it is of considered opinion that the cause of death in this case was due to asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem drowning. “There were no external ante-mortem injuries on the body.”
The CBI said clothes worn by the two women on the day have been found intact. “The ornaments worn by Neelofar were intact at the time of discovery of her body, as is apparent from photograph taken by police photographer Nazir Ahmad Rishi which prima facie rules out robbery as motive for her death,” the CBI said.
The CBI said that since the two witnesses had stated that they had seen uniformed persons standing near a 407 police vehicle parked on the Zawoora Bridge from which screams of ladies were heard on May 29, 2009, it made extensive efforts to determine whether the vehicles or personnel were involved in the incident. “In the process the movement of 23 vehicles and their staff at the disposal of C Coy, 14th Bn CRPF; DPL Shopian and SOG camps in Shopian district located at Keller, Gagren were verified but nothing suspicious emerged.” The CBI said that the investigation pertaining to the vehicles belonging to the police and security forces has not revealed anything linking them to the incident so far.
The CBI said that investigation has established that false post mortem reports were prepared by the first team of doctors comprising Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal, and Dr Nazia Hassan and second team of doctors comprising Dr Nighat Shaheen, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi and Dr Maqbool Mir in connivance with Dr Ghulam Muhammad Paul. All the doctors have been arrayed as accused in the case.
“The investigation disclosed that after the falsification of the various postmortem reports and fudging of evidence by the doctors who were involved in the post mortem examination of two deceased ladies, a concerted effort was made by some advocates of Shopian Bar and some private persons to create further false evidence for implicating the police and security forces in a false case of rape and murder of the two accused,” the CBI said.
The CBI has named advocates Abdul Majid Mir, Mushtaq Ahmad Gatoo, Muhammad Yousuf Bhat, Altaf Muhammad and Sheikh Mubarak in the chargesheet along with Ali Muhammad Sheikh and Zahoor Ahmad Ahangar. The CBI said they induced, assaulted and threatened the witnesses to make false statements implicating police and security forces in a false case of rape and murder. The Court said the accused committed offences under section 120-B RPC r/w 167, 193, 194, 195A.
The CBI has accused the doctors of giving provocative statements after they conducted the post mortem on May 30, 2009, in Shopian hospital. The CBI said Dr Nighat after conducting the PV examined of the deceased women came out of the operation theatre in Shopian hospital and made false statement before the Deputy Commissioner Shopian. The CBI said subsequently a crowd gathered there saying that Asiya Jan had been subjected to rape and “that every care should be taken to protect Kashmiri girls.” The CBI said similar statement was made by Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi. “These statements aggravated the atmosphere as the general public of Shopian was blaming the conduct of police and security forces,” the CBI said. The crowd became furious and resorted to large scale violence which resulted in extensive damage to property.
The CBI said that Dr Nighat has not truthfully revealed the sources of the vaginal smears used for making slides. The CBI accused her of making false statements and of fabricating the slides with active connivance of other doctors.
The CBI report says the flow in Ranbiara was fast enough for Asiya and Neelofar to drown, a claim it has tried to substantiate through noise of water-flow in the stream.
The report also says the water in the stream had receded at the time it was photographed after the bodies were found at its banks. The photographs have shown the flow of water in the stream was too low for anyone to drown, a fact accepted by Justice (retd) Jan Commission also. Pertinently, the shots were taken barely 12 hours after Asiya and Neelofar had gone missing.
“The photographs and videos of the Rambiara Nallah taken a few days after the incident, when the discharge of water had decreased still show a fast moving stream, creating a great deal of noise as it moved amongst a huge number of rocks and boulders,” the report says.
CBI has mentioned the Zawoora bridge on the stream in its report to justify its claim. It says: “It has come to light that due to the high discharge of water during the summer season in order to visit Shopian town. The residents of village Nagbal normally used to cross the Rambiara using the wooden bridges which are slightly upstream of the Chashma into which the deceased were seen descending.”
The report says the post mortem of the bodies has revealed presence of diatoms inside the lungs of the victims which are present in the Ranbiara.
“The diatom test conducted by FSL Madhuban, Haryana, confirmed that the diatoms were detected in the lungs and sternum of Neelofar Jan and Asiya Jan and also in the lung tissues of Asiya Jan. These diatoms were similar to the diatoms found in the water samples collected from the place of recovery of the dead body of Neelofar Jan in the Rambiara Nallah,” it says.
While the earlier probes into the incident have categorically mentioned that the bodies were found in a naked state, CBI says the witnesses had found sand and mud was found from the clothes of the both Asiya and Neelofar.
“Witness Javid Iqbal Malik found sand in the undergarments of Neelofar. Similarly, witness Muhammad Ismail Sheikh noticed sand in Asiya Jan’s bra,” report says, adding witnesses had also found mud accumulated in the nostrils of Neelofar Jan during the initial examination of her body.
“Further, sand and mud like material was also found by the board of doctors in the lung tissues and esophagus of Neelofar. Similarly, during the dissection of the lungs of Asiya Jan, fine material and mud was found lodged in the trachea, bronchi and bronchioles,” it adds.
The report, however, claims that Sajad Ahangar, a neighbour of the victims, has stated before CBI that the water of the Nallah was high. “And it was quite risky for anyone to cross it, especially women.”
“If someone had suffered a fall in the nallah chances of his survival would be remote keeping in view the flow of water,” report has quoted Sajad as saying.
The report says the CBI has witnesses to prove that the family of the victims had taken the incident as a case of drowning at the time of the recovery of the body. “The impression of the family members of Neelofar and Asiya is also reflected from the fact that immediately after the two ladies went missing on the fateful evening, Shakeel and his family members started searching in and around the nallah and in the night also with local PS staff, they searched the Rambiara Nallah only for tracing the then two missing bodies,” it says.

CBI CHARGESHEETS 6 DOCS, 5 ADVOCATES, 2 CIVILIANS:
The 66-page chargesheet accuses 13 persons including 6 doctors, 5 advocates and 2 civilians of ‘fabricating the evidence’ in the aftermath of recovery of two bodies in Shopian in May this year.
The CBI informed the High Court that a chargesheet had been filed before Chief Judicial Magistrate Srinagar against 13 people for allegedly creating false evidence and witnesses.
In its report the CBI has accused Dr Nighat Shaheen, Dr Ghulam Qadir Sofi, Dr Muhammad Maqbool Mir, Dr Ghulam Muhammad Paul, Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal, Dr Nazia Hassan, Advocate Abdul Majid Mir, Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad Gatoo, Advocate Muhammad Yousuf Bhat, Advocate Muhammad Altaf Mohand, Advocate Sheikh Mubarak and two civilians Ali Muhammad Sheikh and Zahoor Ahmad Ahanger and charged them under section 120-B r/w 167, 193, 194, 195 A of RPC and substantive offences under section 167, 193, 194, 195A RPC.
CBI said the investigation had established that the five doctors conspired to defame, discredit and cause injury to the personnel of the police and security forces and wrongfully convict for a capital offence, by creating false reports and fudging the vaginal slides. The chargesheet said the 6 advocates and 2 civilians induced, assaulted and threatened the witnesses to make the false statements implicating the police and security forces in a false case of rape and murder.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, senior advocate of High Court, Syed Riyaz Khawar said the Section 120-B of RPC pertains to criminal conspiracy for commission of offence of death, life or offence which carries rigorous punishment of more than 2 years, adding that section 167, 193, 194, 195 A of RPC pertain to fabrication of evidence.
He said section 167 of RPC pertains to public servant framing an incorrect document with intent to cause injury and imprisonment for 3 years or fine or both. Reyaz said section 193 of RPC pertains to giving or fabricating false evidence in judicial proceedings. It was bailable offence with imprisonment of 7 years and fine.
Section 194 of RPC pertains to giving or fabricating false evidence with intent to cause any person to be convicted of a capital offence. Life or rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and non baliable, Reyaz said. He said section 195 A of RPC pertains to giving or fabricated evidence with intent to procure conviction of an offence punishable with imprisonment for life or for 7 years.