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==See also==
==See also==
* [[Pakistan and state sponsored terrorism]]
* [[Inter-Services Intelligence activities in India]]
* [[Human rights abuses in Sindh]]
* [[Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir]]
* [[Rape in Jammu and Kashmir]]
* [[Human rights abuses in Kashmir]]
* [[Human rights abuses in Kashmir]]
* [[Human rights violations in Balochistan]]


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 20:21, 2 September 2012

Not to be confused with Human rights abuses in Kashmir or State sponsored terrorism.
This article is about Human rights abuses in India-administered Kashmir. For Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir, see Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir. For Human rights abuses in Pakistan, see Category:Human rights abuses in Pakistan.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir
LocationJammu and Kashmir
DateOngoing
TargetCivilians and combatants
PerpetratorsKashmiri separatist groups
Islamic insurgents
Indian security forces

Human rights abuse in Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory administered by India is an ongoing issue. The Indian central reserve police force and border security personal and various paramilitary groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians suspected of harbouring or facilitating terrorists.[1][2] A WikiLeaks issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent wide spread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.[3]


Terrorist violence has caused ethnic cleansing of lakhs (300,000 - 400,000) of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits[4]. A US state government finding reports that the Indian army in Jammu and Kashmir, has carried out extrajudicial killings of innocent civilians and suspected insurgents, however the report has also mentioned killings and abuse being carried out by insurgents and separatists.[5] In 2010, statistics presented to the Indian government's Cabinet Committee on Security showed that for the first time since the 1980s, the number of civilian deaths attributed to the Indian forces was higher than those attributed to terrorist actions.[6] In a 1993 report, Human Rights Watch claimed that militant organizations have targeted civilians.[7]

Reportedly, the militant organizations forced the Hindus residing in the Kashmir valley to flee and become refugees in Delhi and Jammu. Although there is controversy regarding whether or not all pandits left due to fear of violence or were they encouraged by government to leave in order to undermine the support for millitant movements.[8]

Separatist groups

Reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists have confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by militants which claim Jammu and Kashmir to be part of Pakistan.[4] The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has also been blamed of carrying out human rights violations, ranging from kidnapping to ethnic cleansing of several hundred thousand Hindu Kashmiri Pandits.[4] A 2010 US state departmnet report blamed separatist insurgents in Kashmir and other parts of the country of committing several serious abuses, including the killing of security personnel as well as civilians, and of engaging in widespread torture, rape, beheadings, kidnapping, and extortion.[5]

In August 2000, militant groups killed 30 Hindu pilgrims in what became known as the 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre.[9] The Indian government blamed the Lashkar-e-Taiba for the killings.[10][11] The BBC writes that "hundreds of Hindu labourers ha[d] been leaving the Kashmir Valley" in August 2000 due to targeted killings against Hindu workers.[9]

Ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs

During the eruption of armed rebellion the Islamic insurgency has claimed to have specifically targeted the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits minority and violated their human rights.[12] Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 1,40,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley [13][14] The local organisation of pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti claimed that 399 Kashmiri Pandit were killed by insurgents.[15][16]

Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed.

— A crying old man in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter[12]

The violence was condemned and labeled as ethnic cleansing in a 2006 resolution passed by the United States Congress.[17] It stated that the Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and and began an ethnic cleansing campaign to convert Kashmir to a Muslim state. According to the same, since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes[18].

According to Hindu American Foundation report, the rights and religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindus have been severely curtailed since 1989, when there was an organized and systematic campaign by Islamist militants to cleanse Hindus from Kashmir. Less than 4,000 Kashmiri Hindus remain in the valley, reportedly living with daily threats of violence and terrorism.[19]

The CIA has reported nearly 506,000 people, about half of which are Pandit Hindus from Indian Administered Kashmir, are displaced due to the insurgency.[20][21] The United Nations Commission on Human Rights reports that there are roughly 1.5 million refugees from Indian-administered Kashmir, bulk of whom arrived in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in Pakistan after the situation on the Indian side worsened in 1989 insurgency.[22]

Post-1989, Kashmiri Pandits and other minority groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been targets of ethnic cleansing by Jihadi elements which India alleges and blames on the Inter-Services Intelligence.[23] The Kashmiri Pandits, a community of Hindu Brahmins, then comprising 5% of the population of the state were the primary targets of Islamic militants, who also sought to also eliminate Kashmir's record of 5000 years of Hindu Sanskrit culture and scholarship as well as the tolerant indigenous multiculturalism referred to as Kashmiriat.[24] As many as 400,000 Kashmiri Pandits fled the state and ethnic violence is considered to have killed 30,000 people.[25] Muslim paramilitaries raped, tortured and killed thousands of Kashmiri Pandits, burnt their temples, idols and holy books.[24]

According to Bhatt a United Nations adviser, the houses of Kashmir Pandits have been burnt, many killed, and that there has been "an almost total ethnic cleansing of Kashmir Pandits from Kashmir by fundamentalist forces of terrorism organised and supported from Pakistan".[26]

Other minorities such as Kashmiri Sikhs were also targeted. According to Chitkara the killing of Sikhs near Anantnag in 2001, by the Jehadis was aimed at ethnic cleansing. Hindus have migrated from most of the Kashmir valley, Sikhs who form a very small percentage could be forced to migrate in the wake of such killings.[27]

Indian Security Forces

Thousands of Kashmiris have reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody, extradjudicial executions and enforced disappearances and these human right violations are said to be carried out by Indian security forces under total impunity.[28][29] Civilians including women and children have been killed in "reprisal" attacks by Indian security forces and as a "collective punishment" villages and neighbourhoods have been burn down and women raped.[7][30] International NGO's as well as the US State Department have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India's counter terrorism operations [4] United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces.[31]Human Rights Watch has also accused the Indian security forces of using children as spies and messengers, although the Indian government denies this allegation.[2] Torture, widely used by Indian security, the severity described as beyond comprehension by amnesty international has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody[32] The Telegraph, citing a WikiLeaks report quotes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that Indian security forces were physically abusing detainees by beatings, electrocutions and sexual interference. These detainees weren't Islamic insurgents or Pakistani-backed insurgents but civilians, in contrast to India's continual allegations of Pakistani involvement. The detainees were "connected to or believed to have information about the insurgents". According to ICRC, 681 of the 1296 detainees whom it interviewed claimed torture. US officials have been quoted reporting "terrorism investigations and court cases tend to rely upon confessions, many of which are obtained under duress if not beatings, threats, or in some cases torture."[33]

Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

Main article: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958

In July 1990 Indian military was given special powers under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) that gives protection to Indian Armed Forces personnel from being prosecuted. This law is widely condemned by human rights groups.[34][35] United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.[36]

Fake encounters

According to the Srinagar-based Association of Parents of Displaced Persons (APDP), a minimum of 8,000 people have disappeared since the insurgency began. In February 2003, the government of India-administered Kashmir, led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, told the state legislative assembly that 3,744 people were missing and that many of those reported missing since 1990 were actually in Pakistan, where they had signed up to be trained as militants.[37]


Hundreds of civilian's including women and children have been reported to be extrajudicially executed by Indian security forces and killings concealed as fake encounters.[38]Despite government denial, Indian security officials have reportedly confessed to human right watch of widespread occurrence of fake encounters and its encouragement for awards and promotions[39] According to a BBC interview with an anonymous security person, 'fake encounter' killings are those in which security personnel kill someone in cold blood while claiming that the casualty occurred in a gun battle. It also asserts that the security personnel are Kashmiris and "even surrendered militants".[40] In 2010 three men were reported missing proceeding these missing reports 3 men claimed to be militants were killed in a staged gun battle the army also claimed they had found Pakistani currency among the dead. The major was subsequently suspended and a senior soldier transferred from his post.[41] In 2011, a Special Police Officer and an Indian Army Jawan were charged by the Kashmir police for murder of a civilian whom the duo had killed in an encounter claiming that he was a top Lashkar-e-Taiba militant.[42]

Disappearances

Indian security forces have been implicated in many reports for enforced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiris where the security forces deny having their information and/or custody. This is often in association with torture or extrajudicial killing. The number of men disappeared have been so many to have a new term "half-widows" for their wives who end up impoverished. Human right activists estimate the number of disappeared over eight thousand, last seen in government detention.[38][39][43] These are believed to be dumped in thousands of mass graves across Kashmir[44]

Mass graves

Thousands of mass graves have been identified all over Kashmir by human right activists believed to contain bodies of thousands of Kashmiris of enforced disappearances.[45][37] A state human rights commission inquiry confirmed there are thousands of bullet-ridden bodies buried in unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the 2730 bodies uncovered in 4 of the 14 districts, 574 bodies were identified as missing locals in contrast to the Indian governments insistence that all the graves belong to foreign militants[37][46] According to a new deposition submitted by Parvez Imroz and his field workers asserted that the total number of unmarked graves were about 6,000.[47] The British parliament commented on the recent discovery and expressed its sadness and regret of over 6,000 unmarked graves[48]. Christof Heyns, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, has warned India that “all of these draconian laws had no place in a functioning democracy and should be scrapped.”[47][49]

Extra Judicial killing by security personnel

In a 1994 report, Human Rights Watch described summary executions of detainees as a "hallmark" of counter-insurgency operations by Indian security forces in Kashmir. The report further stated that such extrajudicial killings were often administered within hours of arrest, and were carried out not as aberrations but as a "matter of policy".[50] In a 1995 report, Amnesty International stated that hundred of civilians had been victims of such killings, which were often claimed by officers as occurring during "encounters" or "cross-fire".[51] A 2010 US state department report cited extrajudicial killings by security forces in areas of conflict such as Kashmir as a major human rights problem in India.[5]

Online protests

Main article: I Protest

A grass root movement of E-Protesters, I Protest, uses electronic media, blogging and social networking to protest against the alleged civilian killings by the Indian Security Forces in Indian-administered Kashmir.[52]

A new book "Echoes from Beyond the Banihal-Kashmir" discusses many factors that not all cases related to Human Rights registered in J&K are true, some of them are falsely made up too.[53]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hindwan, Sudhir (1998). Verma, Bharat (ed.). "Policing the police". Indian Defence Review. 13 (2). Lancer: 95. ISSN 0970-2512.
  2. ^ a b Hartjen, Clayton (2011). The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions (2012 ed.). Springer. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4614-2178-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Burke, Jason (16 December 2010). "WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ a b c d Forsythe, David P. (2009). Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. p. 306. ISBN 978-0-19-533402-9.
  5. ^ a b c "2010 Human Rights Reports: India". State.gov. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  6. ^ "For the first time, security men kill more civilians than terrorists in J&K". Times of India. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 1993. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  8. ^ Asia Watch, Kashmir Under Siege (May 1991), pp.147-151
  9. ^ a b Amarnath pilgrimage resumes, BBC, 2000-08-04
  10. ^ "Steve Coll: "Zawahiri's record suggests he will struggle" | FRONTLINE". PBS. 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  11. ^ Prime Minister Vajpayee's statement in Parliament regarding the recent massacre in Jammu & Kashmir
  12. ^ a b Paradise lost. BBC news.
  13. ^ "Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989"". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  14. ^ "219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989". news.outlookindia.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  15. ^ Azad Essa. "Kashmiri Pandits: Why we never fled Kashmir - Kashmir: The forgotten conflict". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  16. ^ GreaterKashmir.com (Greater Service) (2011-06-20). "399 Pandits killed since 1990 KPSS Lastupdate:- Mon, 20 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT". Greaterkashmir.com. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
  17. ^ Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the Republic of India and the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir should take immediate steps to remedy the situation of the Kashmiri Pandits and should act to ensure the physical, political, and economic security of this embattled community. HR Resolution 344, United States House of Representatives, 2006-02-15
  18. ^ "Pallone introduces resolution condemning human rights violations against kashmiri pandits". U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  19. ^ "Human Rights Issues by Country - Currently viewing issues for India". Hindu American Foundation. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  20. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  21. ^ Ka Leo The Voice - Kashmir: The Predicament
  22. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2008-07-02). "Refworld | Freedom in the World 2008 – Kashmir [Pakistan]". UNHCR. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  23. ^ B. Raman (19 January 2012). "Future Of Kashmiri Pandits". Outlook. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  24. ^ a b Knuth, Rebecca (2006). Burning books and leveling libraries: extremist violence and cultural destruction. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 77–79. ISBN 978-0-275-99007-7. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  25. ^ Leather, Kaia (2004). "Kashmiri Separatists : Origins, Competing Ideologies and Prospects for Resolution of the Conflict". In Columbus, Frank (ed.). Asian economic and political issues, Volume 10. Nova Publishers. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-59454-089-9. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  26. ^ M. K. Kaw; Kashmir Education, Culture, and Science Society (2001). Kashmiri Pandits: looking to the future. APH Publishing. pp. 3–. ISBN 978-81-7648-236-3. Retrieved 11 March 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ M. G. Chitkara (2002). Kashmir Shaivism: under siege. APH Publishing. p. 172. ISBN 978-81-7648-360-5. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  28. ^ http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/022/2002/en/97c3d0a6-d779-11dd-b024-21932cd2170d/asa200222002en.html
  29. ^ http://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/session13/IN/JS22_UPR_IND_S13_2012_JointSubmission22_E.pdf
  30. ^ http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/INDIA948.PDF
  31. ^ Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, E/CN.4/1994/7, paragraph 327
  32. ^ http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/033/1995/en/28f7013b-f893-11dd-b378-7142bfbe1838/asa200331995en.pdf
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  34. ^ "INDIA: SECURITY FORCES CANNOT CLAIM IMMUNITY UNDER AFSPA, MUST FACE TRIAL FOR VIOLATIONS". Amnesty International. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  35. ^ "Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir". Thomson Reuters Foundation. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  36. ^ "India has duty to use global influence to speak out on human rights". United Nations News Service. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  37. ^ a b c India: Investigate Unmarked Graves in Jammu and Kashmir | Human Rights Watch
  38. ^ a b http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/002/1995/en/42cb86f1-1ffe-4b90-a12d-c3f6f03b164d/asa200021995en.pdf
  39. ^ a b India: Investigate All ‘Disappearances’ in Kashmir | Human Rights Watch
  40. ^ "South Asia | Kashmir's extra-judicial killings". BBC News. 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  41. ^ Hussain, Altaf (2010-06-28). "BBC News - 'Fake killings' return to Kashmir". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  42. ^ "SPO, jawan arrested for fake encounter in Kashmir, victim 'civilian'". Deccan Chronicle. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  43. ^ "Everyone Lives in Fear"
  44. ^ India | Human Rights Watch
  45. ^ http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/BuriedEvidenceKashmir.pdf
  46. ^ LYDIA POLGREEN (August 22, 2011). "Mass Graves Hold Thousands, Kashmir Inquiry Finds". NYTimes.
  47. ^ a b Scott-Clark, Cathy (2012-07-09). "The mass graves of Kashmir". The Guardian. London.
  48. ^ "Early day motion 2607 - KASHMIR GRAVES - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-10.
  49. ^ http://www.wghr.org/pdf/Status%20report%2023.05%20version.pdf
  50. ^ "Continuing Repression in Kashmir" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 1994. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  51. ^ "Summary of Human Rights Concerns in Jammu and Kashmir" (PDF). Amnesty International. 1995. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  52. ^ "Kashmir protest reaches social networks". Times of India. Aug 6 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  53. ^ "New book on Human Rights and the Armed forces in war struck Kashmir". Online Press. Aug 18 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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