NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 28: The government has turned down a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) request that it be allowed to observe proceedings against Army personnel in cases involving alleged rights violations.The Army says that its ``time-tested'' system is transparent and allowing the NHRC would send confusing signals. ``There is no question of permitting multiple authorities to be present when a court of inquiry and subsequent court martial proceedings are underway,'' highly placed sources in the Army headquarters said.However, the NHRC says that the armed forces and public servants should be subject to the same yardstick. ``Under Section 19 of the Protection of Human Rights Act (1993), there is a different procedure laid down in respect to investigations into violation of human rights by the service personnel. We have been proposing that the procedure should be the same for both,'' N. Gopalaswami, secretary general of the NHRC told The Indian Express.``We will ask the government to reconsider its decision as this has been the consistent plea of the NHRC,'' he added.But the Government isn't likely to review its decision because Army officers argue there is little reason to complain. ``Recently, an Army captain was given seven years rigorous imprisonment for raping a minor girl in Jammu and Kashmir. In civil courts, the same case would have lingered on but here the punishment was swift,'' an official said.Over the past three years, Army Headquarters has received 593 complaints of rights violations by its personnel. According to an army spokesman, 561 of these complaints were found to be baseless after ``detailed investigation.''The Army claims that a large number of ``false rights violation complaints'' leaves them bogged down and often these measures are used to delay action or prevent a vigorous approach towards operations.The Army headquarters has also come out with a formal, standard operating procedure (SOP) for counter-insurgency operations. ``The government is of the opinion that since cases of alleged human rights violations are being investigated expeditiously and appropriate disciplinary action taken against those found guilty, there is no need to amend the existing procedure,'' an official in the Defence Ministry said.
