Kashmir and International Justice

While the levels of violence have receded since 2003 (Iqbal et. al. 2014, 52), the massive military presence and its attendant abuses continue. Despite tremendous odds, including the legal impunity provided to the Indian military, there are growing efforts by Kashmiris to bring the perpetrators to justice. These initiatives together with recent visits and reports by UN Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights defenders, on extrajudicial executions, and on violence against women can form the basis for UN-led efforts to begin the work of documentation with a view to future criminal prosecutions. While international tribunals and criminal prosecutions have so far addressed post-conflict or transitional societies, the case of Kashmir demands the urgent recognition that justice is an essential component of the peacemaking process itself. Bringing human rights abusers to justice cannot wait until the establishment of peace; rather, the prosecutions themselves point to the direction the peace process should take.