Pak violated Vienna Convention in Kulbhushan Jadhav case: ICJ

Pakistan violated its obligations under the Vienna Convention in the case of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, International Court of Justice (ICJ) President Judge Abduylqawi Yusuf told the UN General Assembly in New York.

Presenting the annual report of the ICJ during the 74th session of the UNGA, Yusuf on Wednesday informed about the verdict of Jadhav case on July 17. He said the court told Pakistan that it should follow the Vienna Convention in its entirety and should examine “possible prejudice” caused by the violation are fully examined.

“In its Judgment, the court found that Pakistan had violated its obligations under Article 36 of the Vienna Convention and that appropriate remedies were due in this case,” said Yusuf.

“The Court moreover clarified what it considered to be the requirements for effective review and reconsideration. It stressed that Pakistan must ensure that full weight is given to the effect of the violation of the rights set forth in the Vienna Convention and guarantee that the violation and the possible prejudice caused by the violation are fully examined. While the Court left the choice of means to provide effective review and reconsideration toPakistan, it noted that effective review and reconsideration presupposes the existence of aa procedure that is suitable for this purpose and observed that it is normally the judicial process that is suited to this task,” he added.

Jadhav, 49, was purportedly “arrested” from Balochistan by Pakistani security forces on March 3, 2016, after he allegedly entered the country from Iran as claimed by Islamabad. India has rejected Pakistan’s allegations about Jadhav’s involvement in spying and subversive activities and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar where he was running a business.

In July, the ICJ by a vote of 15-1 in the Jadhav case upheld India’s claim that Pakistan is in egregious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations on several counts.

It was on March 25, 2016, Twenty two days after the actual arrest, that then Foreign Secretary of Pakistan Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry had informed the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad of Jadhav’s “arrest.” Since then, Pakistan has not offered any explanation as to why Islamabad took over three weeks to inform the Indian High Commissioner about Jadhav’s arrest.

Jadhav was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on April 11, 2017.Following this, India on May 8, 2017, approached the ICJ against Pakistan “for egregious violations of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963” in the matter.India alleged that Pakistan is in breach of Article 36(1) (b) of the Vienna Convention, which obliged Pakistan to inform India of the arrest of Jadhav “without delay”.

On the delay in informing, Yusuf said that Pakistan making the notification of Jadhav arrest “constituted a breach of its obligation to inform India’s consular post ‘without delay’, as required by the provisions of the Vienna Convention.”

The ICJ president said that the court received communication on August 1 from Pakistan stating that it has informed Jadhav of his right under the Vienna Convention and that the consular post of the High Commission of India in Islamabad had been invited to visit him on 2 August 2019.