‘Could facilitate a reparative approach’: SC directs establishment of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to probe human rights violations in J&K

Justice Kaul said that the Commission should not turn into a criminal court and must offer a platform for dialogue instead

The Supreme Court has ordered the establishment of a Truth-and-Reconciliation Commission to investigate human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1980s.

Justice S.K. Kaul in his concurring verdict directed the setting up of the commission to probe human rights violations both by the State and non-State actors.

“I recommend the setting up of an impartial Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate and report on the violations of human rights both by the State and non-State actors at least since the 1980s and recommend measures for reconciliation. The Commission must be set up before memory escapes. The exercise must be time-bound. There is an entire generation of youth that has grown up with a feeling of distrust and it is to them that we owe the greatest day of liberation,” Justice Kaul said while pronouncing the verdict in open court.

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However, considering the sensitivities of the issues involved, Justice Kaul said that it was up to the government to decide how the Commission must be set up. He also cautioned that the Commission must not ‘turn into a criminal court’ and must offer a platform for dialogue instead.

“The Commission could facilitate a reparative approach, that enables forgiveness for the wounds of the past and forms the basis of achieving a shared national identity,” the judge underscored.

Such commissions have been set up in many countries of Latin America and Africa and are meant to probe human rights abuses and restore peace between communities following internal armed conflicts.