Ottawa: Kashmir Civitas, a Canadian-registered NGO, has partnered with the Russell Foundation in London, UK, the Permanent People’s Tribunal of Bologna, Italy, the International University of Sarajevo and the Center for Advanced Studies in Sarajevo to hold the inaugural Russell Tribunal on Kashmir in Sarajevo, Bosnia on December 17-19, 2021. The tribunal will highlight the grave issue of genocide, settler-colonialism, crimes against humanity and nuclear threat emerging in the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
More specifically, the focus of the tribunal will be on four thematic areas:
- De-Colonization – Kashmir is not a secessionist/separatist movement, but a de-colonial (b) Settler-Colonialism (land-grabs, coercive patriotism etc); (c) Crimes Against Humanity – mass graves, rape as a weapon of war and other war crimes. (d) Genocide and Nuclear War – including a discussion on the Jammu Genocide in which an estimated 230,000 – 500,000 people were killed.
- A panel of judges will listen to the proceedings and, thereafter, finalize a report that will be distributed to UN Agencies, EU Parliament and other world bodies and governments.
- Attendees/invitations include international lawyer Richard Falk, Professor Anthony Carty, Yvonne Ridley, David Hearst, Pepe Escobar, Jonathon Brown, Edward Moad, Tarek Cherkaoui, Khaled Beydoun, Dalia Mogahed and Omar Suleiman., and many more.
- The Russell Tribunal on War Crimes in Kashmir aims to reaffirm the primacy of international law as the basis for solving the Kashmir conflict. Moreover, it aims to raise awareness of the responsibility of the international community to prevent ongoing crimes against humanity and the potential for a genocide to occur.
