WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Thursday reported widespread human rights violations in the Indian occupied Kashmir, including encounter killings, disappearances and rapes. The departments 2009 Human Rights report underlines dozens of violations in various parts of the occupied state.
On March 20, the Indian army stated that three soldiers were guilty of killing two civilians on Feb 22 in Bumai. Authorities initially claimed the victims died in crossfire between militants and security forces. The army ordered disciplinary action against the soldiers.
On May 29, in the Shopian, relatives and police discovered the bodies of two women in a stream. Local residents and examining doctors alleged that Indian security forces committed gang rape before killing Neelofar Jan and Asiya Jan, and government officials stated that police involvement in the killings could not be ruled out.
On Jan 7, the Indian army ordered a high-level inquiry into the death of Abdur Ahad Reshi, a deaf and mute man in Veer Saran Pahalgam.
On March 7, Jammu and Kashmir police registered a complaint against the Central Reserve Police Force for the killing of Sahbbir Ahmad Ahangar in Nowhatta.
On March 28, the CRPF admitted that two troopers of the 181st Battalion killed Ghulam Mohiuddin Malik on March 18.
On May 18, the army ordered an inquiry into the alleged custodial death of Manzoor Ahmed Beig by the Special Operations Group in Srinagar.
On Sept 13, the government ordered a magisterial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of Noor Hussain in Rajouri.
On August 23, the Jammu and Kashmir state government claimed that since 1990, 3,429 persons have been reported missing in the state. A private agency maintained that 10,000 persons remained missing.
The Public Safety Act, which applies only in Jammu and Kashmir, permits state authorities to detain persons without charge or judicial review for as long as two years. During this time family members do not have access to detainees, and detainees do not have access to legal counsel. According to media reports, since 2004 Indian authorities arrested approximately 2,700 Kashmiris under the PSA. On Aug 28, the state government announced that officials had detained 121 persons under the PSA during the year.
On Feb 5, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court overturned the detentions of 10 persons arrested under the PSA during Amarnath land transfer agitation in 2008.
On April 18, the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Court Association informed the State Assembly that lawyers had filed 2,223 PSA petitions since 2004.
On May 26, police placed Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of a faction of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, under house arrest. Police invoked the PSA and accused him of leading protests regarding the rape and killing of two Shopian women and an alleged police cover-up of those events. In July the Jammu and Kashmir High Court overturned the PSA charges against Geelani and directed authorities to release him; they did so on Sept 9.
The report observes Courts in Jammu and Kashmir often are reluctant to hear cases involving insurgent and terrorist crimes and failed to act expeditiously, if at all, on habeas corpus cases.
According to a study by the South Asia Forum for Human Rights and the Centre for Law and Development, thousands of habeas corpus cases were pending in the courts throughout the Kashmir valley.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
NGOs reported that Jammu and Kashmir held political prisoners, and the government from time to time temporarily detained hundreds of persons characterised as terrorists, insurgents, and separatists. Human rights activists based in the state estimated there were 150 political prisoners. Prisoners arrested under one of the special antiterrorism laws often were not formally charged, nor did their family or other visitors have access to them.
In Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Manipur, authorities have special powers to search and arrest without a warrant. Human rights groups reported that security forces in Jammu and Kashmir targeted suspected terrorists, insurgents, and their supporters.
Human rights groups maintained that in Jammu and Kashmir and in the northeastern states, military and paramilitary forces continued to hold numerous persons. Human rights activists feared that many of these unacknowledged prisoners were tortured and some may have been killed.
DAWN.COM | International | US reports widespread rights violations in occupied Kashmir
