Narendra Modi, British invitation and universal jurisdiction | N. Jayaram (open democracy)

Narendra Modi, British invitation and universal jurisdiction
Some British MPs have invited an Indian politician widely accused of having committed crimes against humanity in his Gujarat state more than a decade ago. It is not a crisis but an opportunity: Universal Jurisdiction may be invoked to get moving abroad the wheels of justice, which have failed to catch up with him at home.
by N. Jayaram (open democracy - 16 August 2013)

Some British MPs have invited Narendra Modi, chief minister of India’s Gujarat state, to visit and address the House of Commons. The initiative appears to have come from Barry Gardiner, Labour MP for Brent North, home to a large number of people of Gujarati upper-caste Hindu origin. Some Conservative Party MPs too have added their support to the invitation.

The news is certain to divide people in India and Britain alike. Social networking sites have been abuzz with heated exchanges among Indians on the issue. In Britain too voices have been raised against the invitation.

Many Indians say Modi presided over an anti-Muslim pogrom in 2002 in which more than 2,000 people were killed. Genocidal slogans were openly aired, including calls for Muslim women to be raped, calls that seem to have been acted on in numerous instances. Although some of his associates have been convicted and sentenced for their hand in the events, Modi has thus far evaded any form of accountability, subverting attempts by courts at various levels to indict him for his role in stoking up the killings, rapes and other acts of violence. He has commandeered the services of many of India’s top lawyers, paying handsomely for their services. Massive monies have also been spent on public relations and Modi has emerged as the de facto prime ministerial candidate of his right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party – currently the principal opposition – ahead of general elections to be called latest by mid-2014.

For human rights groups, the prospect of Modi’s London visit is not a crisis but an opportunity. Should he take up the invitation, they could move courts for his arrest and trial under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction for crimes against humanity. Although Universal Jurisdiction was not invoked in the 1998 arrest of Chile’s former dictator Augusto Pinochet in London, it drew worldwide attention to the principle. Judge Baltasar Garzon in Spain called for his arrest on the ground that some of the victims of human rights abuses in Chile after the 1973 coup were Spanish citizens. Britain’s Law Lords ruled that Pinochet could not cite diplomatic immunity as certain crimes were too serious for international arrangement to be invoked. Pinochet spent nearly a year and a half under mostly house arrest. [. . .].
FULL TEXT HERE http://www.opendemocracy.net/openindia/n-jayaram/narendra-modi-british-invitation-and-universal-jurisdiction