Amnesty International recorded 70 deaths in custody and extrajudicial killings in the period January to August 2000 alone. The cease-fire in force since 28 November 2000 has not improved the human rights situation in the state as deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions by state agents and unlawful killings by armed groups continue unabated. Between the beginning of the cease-fire and mid-February 2001, some 23 extrajudicial executions have been reported in the media, in 15 of which the Special Operations Group have been implicated.Amnesty International calls on the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to take seriously its obligations under international human rights law to stop the unlawful killings by anyone, be they state agents or members of armed opposition groups and to end the impunity with which they are committed.
Topics: impunity in Jammu and Kashmir, the unlawful killing of Jalil Andrabi in March 1996, the unlawful killings at Chittisinghpora on 20 March 2000 and connected killings, the unlawful killings of Pahalgam and other places on 1 August 2000, the unlawful killings at Haigam on 15 February 2001, human rights obligations of the government of Jammu and Kashmir, obligations of armed groups to abide by minimum standards of humanitarian law,
Terms: March 1996 killing of Jalil Andrabi, custodial killings, extrajudicial executions, Special Operations Group (OG), excessive use of force, violation of international law, violation of habeas corpus, legal impunity, Border Security Force (BSF), March 2000 Chittisinghpora killings, August 2000 Pahalgam killings, February 2001 Haigam killings, failure to investigate, failure to prosecute, failure of accountability, extrajudicial killing, lack of international access, failure of transparency, failure of international accountability
Many reports of unlawful killings in Jammu and Kashmir make it impossible for observers to decide who the perpetrators were. For instance, in the case of the killing of 36 Sikhs in Chittisinghpora in March 2000, observers and investigators have provided widely varying interpretations, alleging that government agents, former militants or armed opposition groups carried out or instigated the killings. In the absence of hard fact resulting from independent inquiries, rumour and speculation about who might have profited or expected to profit from a killing flourish. Such speculation may sometimes be taken for fact and result in further violent action to avenge an assumed action. The uncertainty about the identity of the perpetrator also gives other people who consider the use of violence the confidence that they would not be held to account.
Impunity is one of the main contributing factors for the continuing patterns of human rights violations the world over. By bringing perpetrators to justice, governments send a clear signal that such violations will not be tolerated and that those found responsible will be held fully accountable. When there is failure to investigate human rights violations and those responsible are not punished, a self-perpetuating cycle of violence is set in motion resulting in continuing violations of human rights.
Following the fifth anniversary of the killing of Jalil Andrabi and the first anniversary of the killings at Chittisinghpura, and indeed the daily anniversary of many other victims’ deaths and suffering, Amnesty International urgently calls on the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to break the cycle of impunity and further human rights violations by undertaking the following measures in accordance with the United Nations (UN) Principles on the Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Summary and Arbitrary Executions:
April 2001
Originally published
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