Amnesty urges compensation for 13 STF victims

Chennai, Jan 19 (UNI) Urging the Karnataka government to immediately distribute compensation to 13 pending victims of the STF atrocities during the ''nab Veerappan'' operations, Amnesty International (AI) today wanted Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to thoroughly investigate the pending human rights complaints against STF officials and place them under suspension.

In a release here, the AI expressed concern over several adivasi victims of the decade-long STF operations against Veerappan, who were yet to receive justice and compensations for the Human rights violations perpetrated against them.

Even one year after Justice A J Sadhasivam ordered the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu governments to pay compensation to 51 victims, 13 of them were yet to receive it. The Tamil Nadu government had paid compensation to 38 victims as directed by the Commission. It pointed out that even the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had directed both the governments to pay compensation to 89 victims.

The AI also urged both the governments to probe pending human rights complaints against 39 STF officials and bring those suspected of perpetrating violations to book in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness and without the imposition of the death penalty.

Though the Commission had concluded that the STF had perpetrated torture, it had failed to initiate charges against any of the 39 STF officials, the release recalled.

Demanding immediate suspension of the officials named in the complaints pending investigation, it also appealed to the NHRC to participate in the cases to ensure that the victims were given justice.

The AI also wanted the NHRC to re-examine victims' complaints ignored by the Sadhashiva commission.

The release said the AI had also been campaiging to ensure justice for 104 others victims whose complaints of human rights violations, including sexual assault, were reportedly ignored by the commission.

UNI GV VV AKJ RAI2001