Indian Air Force wing commander Abhinandan Varthaman, being captured by Pakistan on Wednesday following an aerial encounter over the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir, there were several calls for Pakistan to treat Abhinandan humanely and not torture or interrogate him in all circumstances.
Geneva conventions beset four treaties and an additional three protocols which regulate the conduct of the armed dispute. The fourth article of the third Geneva convention makes it illegal for any nation’s military personnel to be “tortured”.
According to NDTV news reports, Pakistan had violated the convention as according to experts referring to a purported video released yesterday showing Abhinandan being tied up and bloodied on social media.
Later, the video was soon removed from the official Twitter account of the Pakistani government.
Experts said Abhinandan is protected by international humanitarian law, which says any national prisoned must get minimum conditions of arrest covering food, medicine and accommodation.
On Twitter, “#SayNoToWar” and “GenevaConvention” were among the top trends with messages calling for a de-escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan.
The Indian government said an IAF pilot was in Islamabad’s custody after a fighter jet was shot down in an aerial encounter with PAF (Pakistan Air Force) fighter jets trying to target Indian military installations yesterday.
This came after Pakistan claimed “strikes across Line of Control from within Pakistani airspace”, following India’s air strike targeting Pakistan backed and based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror outfit camps in Balakot on Tuesday.