Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said the soldiers shot dead the youths in 2010 after staging a gun battle and claiming they were trying to sneak across the disputed border from arch rival Pakistan.
"This is a watershed moment. No one in Kashmir ever believed that justice would be done in such cases. Faith in institutions disappeared," Abdullah said in a Tweet.
Rights groups have long accused the thousands of Indian soldiers deployed in Kashmir of acting with impunity, as they search for militants fighting against Indian rule for independence or merger of the region with Pakistan.
Families of the victims claimed the army lured the three close to the de-facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakisan, on the promise of jobs and money, before staging the "fake encounter".
The killings in Machil sector sparked widespread protests in Kashmir at the time, leading to 120 deaths in battles between demonstrators and security forces, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
"I hope that we never see such #Machil fake encounter type of incidents ever again and let this serve as a warning to those tempted to try," Abdullah said.
The army declined to confirm when the military court's ruling was handed down. According to local media, court martial proceedings began in January this year against the seven and ended in September.
Amnesty International applauded the sentences, but called for allegations of human rights abuses to be probed by civilian courts instead of the army itself.
"For justice to be the rule and not the exception, all cases of human rights violations should be investigated and prosecuted by independent civilian authorities," Amnesty India programmes director Shailesh Rai said.
Under an emergency military law known as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, soldiers deployed in Kashmir cannot stand trial in civilian courts without express permission of the federal government in New Delhi.
In January, a military court exonerated five army officers over the killing of five civilians 14 years ago, sparking clashes between angry Kashmiris and police and the closure of shops and schools in protest.
About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for Kashmir's independence or for its merger with Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, dead.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the picturesque Himalayan region of Kashmir.
COMMENTS (10)
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@Annabel:
Forget east Pakistan. Forget civilians. Pakistani army has killed Kashmirirs, Palestinians and not just Bengalis, Balochis.
But forget the civilians.
I ask you where is the report of Kargil where army refused to take the bodies of their own soldiers?
Where is the report on Ojhri explosion which is widely believed to have been an inside job which killed close to 3000, many army men among them?
@Nadeem: Really ?
India is mature democracy. All credit to Indian leadership, they are not using fighters jet, blind artillery or attack helicopters to kill their own citizen.
All that moral posturing is ridiculous. How many Pakistani army men were jailed in its history for atrocities committed against innocents, including those against their own country men in the erstwhile East Pakistan ?
not only 7 soldiers, but they all should be jailed for thousands of killings, rapes, torture etc. etc. They have been doing their inhumane behaviour with our Kashmiri brothers since decades. Things should be changed now.
You are not going to feel the Kashmiris and Pakistanis with this. These are sacrificial lambs to give Indians the moral high ground. Its not enough. Get the rest of them. Those who have raped women. May be rape is a tool of the state to suppress the voice of justice.Then remove the whole herd of animals you call the BSF out of Kashmir. They are despise.
Ok, now we have got seven culprits punished for killing three innocent Kashmiris. Imagine if justice was really served in India, almost all of Indian army since 1947 would be languishing in jails, thanks to millions of killings, rape, arson, torture, etc they have inflicted on poor Kashmiri people. #KashmirforPakistan
Kill innocent unarmed people anywhere, jail is the natural outcome. No one anywhere in India is above the Law -- Politicians, Army men, Policemen, Judges, Bureaucrats, Businessmen all gone to jail along with common criminals for their perfidies.
The real battle is to win the minds and hearts of the local people. This is a good start.
Shows that there is no deep state mechanisms at work, even though its taken its time to bring them to justice ! Perhaps the Neighbor need to learn from this and deal with their non state actors too !