Probing Indian-sponsored terrorism: Pakistan has option to set up criminal war tribunals: expert

Pakistan has a valid option to set up its own international criminal war tribunals by following the established standards to investigate the alleged involvement of Indian state in terrorism and sabotage activities in the country, said Toby Cadman, an international law expert.
Cadman, who is founder of the Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers and the Guernica Centre for International Justice, was speaking as a guest speaker in a conference on 'The Saga of Bangladesh and Kulbhushan: International War Crimes,' jointly organised by the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) University and the Research Society of International Law.
Chairman Board of Investment Dr Miftah Ismail, former Minister for Law and international law expert Ahmer Bilal Soofi and Chairperson SASSI University Dr Maria Sultan were the key speakers of the conference. Although it requires more investigation to establish involvement of high Indian authorities, yet nothing prevents Pakistan from establishing its own international criminal war tribunals based on the international standard to investigate Indian state involvement behind the activities of Kulbhushan Jhadav, Cadman said. He further said that Pakistan has also relevant forums like UN Security Council to present its case.
Commenting on the war tribunals in Bangladesh, he described the tribunals as illegal and sham trials, saying they did not follow due procedural laws for convicting the accused. He said that there have been deliberate attempts by the Indian government to frame the 1971 war in a way so as to absolve itself from all responsibility for it and illegality of its current trials.
He severely criticised the manner in which the Bangladesh tribunal has handled the cases brought to it, and said the international standards were not applied by far in the proceedings of such cases and they will not stand the test of international scrutiny and standard. He said that witnesses were made to disappear and found later in Indian prisons, while they were abducted in certain cases from the steps of the tribunals. He said this process was certainly not up to international standards.
Speaking at the occasion, Dr Miftah Ismail stated that Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbours, but no country would be allowed to create disruption and terrorism in Pakistan. He said that Pakistan will respond to all such challenges and maintain the principle stand that no acts of subversion or terrorism will be tolerated.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is very positive about CPEC and has even invited India to be part of the project. However, on Kulbhushan Jadhav, he said the state is unified in its response and will remain committed to pursuing the cause of justice.
He said that Kulbhushan is guilty of spreading terrorism in the country, and he has confessed his crimes in front of the court and was tried and convicted as per the law of the land.
He stated that Jadhav still has a chance in the high forums and in courts of law for appeal against the verdict as per the due process of the law. He made it clear that Pakistan will neither allow any other country to foment terrorism nor will allow anyone to use its soil against other countries.
Ahmer Bilal Soofi said that Kulbhushan was indicted because of his own confession in front of the magistrate. However his connection to the Indian state could bring altogether a different interpretation to his conviction and the response of the Pakistani state.
He said that Kulbhushan confessed of having conducted terrorism in Pakistan and had given funds to terrorists and Baloch separatists. He admitted that he was working under the instructions of the Indian state, he added. Also, he pointed out that the Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj calling him the "son of India" is an endorsement of his actions as a state functionary.
Highlighting that the Bangladesh war tribunal is not an international tribunal, he seconded the statement made by Toby Cadman that the tribunals in Bangladesh are not international but are a domestic forum masquerading as an international tribune.
He said the law of evidence followed by the Bangladeshi courts was less than adequate as the proceedings under judicial process in Bangladesh are taking place 40 years after the crime took place.
He pointed out that there was no evidence and the eyewitnesses, which can be reliable sources, all at best can be called hearsay, which is not admissible in the court of law. International procedures were denied and series of prosecution gaps were present, he added.
Speaking about the 7 acts of aggression carried out by any state and the 70 crimes listed as crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Dr Maria Sultan said that Jadhav is a reminder of the 1971 war, which was culminated from the wide-scale espionage and sabotage by the Indian state against the people of Pakistan. She stated that the Bangladeshi leaders are being convicted of sham war crimes, while the Bangladesh government has yet to answer the unfair recourse of justice provided to those who are being convicted of war crimes in Bangladesh.