Several areas in India are beset by armed conflict. The regions of Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, and Chhattisgarh are differently but persistently affected by conflict, with conflict-related issues intermittently occurring in Punjab as well. The conflict in some of these areas has additional international dimensions. Additionally, areas such as Gujarat and Odisha have been impacted by far-reaching violence perpetuated against minority communities. The clinic partnered with the Armed Conflict Resolution and the People’s Rights Project, now the Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights Project (“Project”), a major research initiative of U.C. Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender. This collaboration sought to research, analyze, and document the performance of the Indian State in meeting international human rights standards in providing access to justice for victims of internal armed conflict and mass violence in India, particularly women. It also sought to provide recommendations to advocates and policy makers to bring India’s practices in line with these standards.
Right to Remedy and Reparations for Victims.
To advance the overall project goals, during the 2013-14 academic year, clinic students prepared two working papers. The first, entitled The Right to a Remedy for Enforced Disappearances in India, analyzes India’s obligations under international human rights law to ensure the right to a remedy for enforced disappearances and other gross human rights violations, evaluates India’s domestic law in light of the country’s international legal obligations, and identifies gaps and recommends law reforms to address them. The second working paper, entitled Comparative Country Studies Regarding Truth, Justice, and Reparations for Gross Human Rights Violations, examines transitional justice initiatives undertaken in Brazil, Chile, and Guatemala to address the widespread human rights abuses perpetrated during the military dictatorships in those countries and compares these initiatives to truth seeking mechanisms in India. Together, these documents support the work of advocates advancing redress for human rights violations committed in areas that have experienced internal armed conflict or mass social unrest in India.
In February 2014, clinic students presented their research at a meeting in Nepal with scholars and lawyers convened by the Project to discuss how international and State laws might intersect to protect the rights of civilians. For more information about the meeting, read the news story.