Sunday, Feb 29, 2004
Gujarat denying justice to riot victims: Amnesty
LONDON, FEB. 28. Expressing solidarity with the victims of Gujarat communal riots, the global human rights body, Amnesty International, has accused the State Government of denying them justice.
"Two years after the massacres took place, most of the victims are still demanding justice, but they are not being heard," it said in a statement on the second anniversary of the Godhra carnage on Friday. "Despite efforts of the human rights community and the scrutiny of the Supreme Court on some of the trials, the Government of Gujarat and elements of the criminal justice system in the State seem to be colluding in denying justice to the victims. This attitude reopens the victims' wounds every day," it alleged.
Expressing solidarity with the victims of Godhra and post-Godhra violence, the Amnesty alleged that the Gujarat police in many cases reportedly failed to record complaints or did it in a defective manner, diluted charges against the accused, omitted their names from complaints, failed to organise identification parades, record witnesses' statements and collected the corroborative evidence necessary to identify the perpetrators.
PTI
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