Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Indian government to conduct speedy and transparent probe into fresh allegations of killings, torture and abuse by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the Indo-Bangla border.
"Despite orders from New Delhi to end killings and abuse and to exercise restraint in dealing with people crossing the border, new deaths and other serious abuses are being reported," said HRW South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly in a news release on the organisation's official website yesterday.
"The government has issued some positive new directives, but it needs to prosecute those who commit abuses so the soldiers will understand they can't act with impunity," she said in the news release "India: New killings, torture at Bangladeshi border."
The HRW said killings, torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses by the BSF continue along the border despite India's pledge to bring an end to such criminal activities.
India earlier announced that it would direct BSF members to show restraint and encourage them to use rubber bullets instead of lethal ammunition to stop border killings after the HRW last year published a report "Trigger Happy," a documentation of BSF's illegal activities along the border. The HRW welcomed the announcement.
The number of deaths in border shootings dropped substantially this year. However, at least 17 Bangladeshis were killed in BSF firing apart from other instances of severe abuse since January this year, said the HRW referring to a documentation of Odhikar, a Bangladeshi non-governmental organisation.
Shooting incidents at the border have decreased significantly but the BSF members continue to torture suspects, reports MASUM, a Kolkata-based non-governmental organisation conducting fact-finding missions in border areas.
Indian residents in the border areas are relieved to see a fall in shooting incidents but have complained about intimidation and torture by BSF members, said the HRW.
"The excessive use of force and the arbitrary beating of people along the border are unjustifiable. These abuses call into question India's stated commitments to the rule of law," Ganguly said.
The BSF is mandated to act against militants and criminals, especially those involved in narcotics smuggling, human trafficking, and transporting explosives and fake currency. But the HRW in its investigation found that in many cases those who had fallen victim to the BSF were cattle rustlers, farmers, or labourers.
The victims were hoping to supplement their meagre livelihood by working as couriers in the lucrative but illegal cattle trade rampant at the West Bengal border, said the HRW.
Ganguly said, "While the Indian authorities vigorously protest attacks on fishermen who enter Sri Lankan waters, they seem unwilling to act against their own border forces when they commit crimes against Bangladeshis.
"As a regional power, India should lead by example in South Asia to end the culture of impunity for security forces."
Source : The Daily Star
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