International Court of Justice orders Pakistan to review death penalty for alleged Indian spy
The International Court of Justice has ordered Pakistan to review a death sentence handed down in the case of a former Indian Navy officer accused by Pakistan of spying, finding that the country’s authorities acted in breach of the Vienna Convention
Photo/ICJ/Jeroen Bouman
By IAR Desk
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Pakistan to review a death sentence handed down in the case of a former Indian Navy officer accused by Pakistan of spying, finding that the country’s authorities acted in breach of the Vienna Convention, which lays out rules for diplomatic relations between countries.
Kulbhushan Jadhav, said the Court, had not been informed of his rights by the Pakistani authorities, and that the Indian Government has been deprived of “consular access”: the right to communicate with him.
During the hearings, the ICJ had directed Pakistan not to carry out the death sentence until the Court’s final ruling. On Wednesday, the Court ordered a “continued stay of execution”, as a “indispensable condition for the effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence”.
Mr. Jadhav was arrested three years ago by Pakistani authorities, who say that he was in the restive Balochistan province, which is home to a separatist insurgency that Pakistan accuses India of backing. The charges levelled against Mr. Jadhav were of “espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan”.
Although a video was released shortly after Mr. Jadhav’s arrest, in which he was shown admitting involvement in spying, India has always questioned the alleged confession, saying that it was extracted under duress. The Indian authorities also deny that Jadhav is a spy and say that he was kidnapped in Iran, which borders the province, which he was visiting on business.
Following Pakistan’s pronouncement of the death penalty, in April 2017, India filed a case with the ICJ, calling the trial, which took place in a military court, “farcical”, and asked for a stay of execution and consular access to Mr. Jadhav. Pakistan countered that Mr. Jadhav was not given consular access because he is a spy who illegally entered the country in order to create “unrest and instability”.
India has welcomed the judgement. In a statement released in New Delhi on July 17th, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it “welcomed the judgement” by the International Court of Justice in The Hague “in favour of India”, as by a vote of 15-1, the court “has upheld India’s claim that Pakistan is in egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 on several counts.”
What has particularly gone down well with India is that the ICJ has asked Pakistan to review and reconsider the conviction and sentence given to Shri Jadhav by the Pakistani military court, and to inform Shri Jadhav without further delay of his rights and to provide Indian consular officers access to him in accordance with the Vienna Convention.
The sole dissenting judge was from Pakistan.
Earlier today India’s Minister for External Affairs Dr. Subramanyam Jaishankar in a statement before parliament reiterated that “Kulbhushan Jadhav is innocent of the charges levelled against him” and called upon Pakistan to “release and repatriate him forthwith”, as the “government will vigorously continue its efforts to ensure Shri Jadhav’s safety and wellbeing as well as his early return to India.” “A continued stay of execution in the judgement of the court, constitutes an indispensable condition for the process of effective review and reconsideration,” he said.
Pakistan has also claimed a victory with the ICJ’s verdict, which has rejected India’s plea for repatriation of Jadhav. In a tweet Prime Minister Imran Khan said ‘Appreciate ICJ’s decision not to acquit, release and return Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav to India. He is guilty of crimes against the people of Pakistan. Pakistan shall proceed further as per law.”
In a separate move, and under US pressure, Pakistan on Wednesday arrested Hafiz Saeed, head of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group. The move comes just days ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s official visit to the US. However, Saeed had been arrested a number of times earlier too, and thereafter released. Pakistan is on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris, and is under pressure to take urgent action against the numerous terrorist groups operating with impunity on its territory, or face being put on the black list.
The FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.
