Article Summary: This is a situation update and analysis report focusing on developments in Indian-Administered Kashmir during September and October 2019.

Topics: arbitrary mass detentions, use of excessive force, curtailed access to medical services, doctors and critical supplies, local media paralysed

Terms: violations of right to habeas corpus, arbitrary detention of minors, excessive use of force, maiming by shotguns, pellet injuries, violation of freedom of speech, custodial torture, violation of proportionality principle, fear of reprisal, denial of medical care, denial of justice, state impunity, harassment of human rights defenders, political repression.

Article Summary: Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a human rights organization based in Srinagar, Kashmir, collected nearly 300 testimonies of pellet gun victims. This report records testimonies from 23 victims, showing how their injuries have completely transformed their lives and destroyed their futures, rendering them unemployed and impoverished. Since 2010, Indian military and paramilitary forces have fired shotguns at peaceful protestors, bystanders and people in their homes. These weapons fire cartridges containing 450-600 lead pellets with sharp edges. When fired, the cartridges burst, spraying pellets indiscriminately. While described as “non-lethal” weapons, shotgun injuries have maimed and blinded hundreds of people in Kashmir and resulted in many deaths.‍

Topics: background on human rights abuses in the Kashmir conflict, 2016 uprising - curfews, deaths and injuries from pellet-firing shotguns, medical testimonies on pellet injuries, attacks on reporters, attacks on reporters, human rights defenders and medical personnel and facilities, arbitrary detentions and other abuses, militarization and attacks on students and schools, relevant legal frameworks, narratives and testimonies from pellet gun victims, recommendations‍

Terms: maiming, blinding, partial blinding, curfews, maiming children, blinding children, fatal injuries, victims of shotgun violence (2016), Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (1990) (AFSPA), excessive use of force, use of lethal force, power to kill on suspicion, Border Security Forces (BSF), 2016 killing of Burhan Wani, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rashtriya Rifles, Indo-Tibetan Border Force

This is report from Sabrang India’s visit to three different regions in Kashmir in October 2019. Sabrant combats communalism and caste discrimination in India. The report describes Kashmiris’ denouncement of the abrogation of Article 370, the continuation of human rights violations such as custodial killings and arbitrary detention of minors, and judicial failure on the part of the state.

Topics: overall impressions, economic losses, apple trade, religious restrictions, educational losses, arrest of children and minors, custodial death
Terms: judicial failure, violation of habeas corpus, religious discrimination, abrogation of Article 370, right to life, right to fair trial, rights of minors, custodial killings, arbitrary arrest of minors, self determination, excessive use of force, denial of justice, satyagraha, non-violent resistance

This is a report by an Indian civil society group who travelled to Kashmir between September 25-30, 2019 and Jammu between October 6-7, 2019 as part of a solidarity and fact finding mission to understand the impact of the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent security clampdown and communication blockade on the lives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Topics: civil disobedience, trauma, radicalization, extremism and the loss of a middle ground, fear, disunion, love and resilience, recommendations

Terms: torture, custodial torture, sexual harassment, excessive use of force, state impunity, army impunity, Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), trauma, mental health issues, abrogation of Article 370, information blockade, arbitrary detention, dissent, religious persecution, Kashmiri Sikhs, Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiri Christians

This report details the dimensions, nature, and technologies of violence and physical infliction of pain used by Indian forces and police in Kashmir and against Kashmiris.‍

Topics: arbitrary and excessive use of force, psychological injury, government intervention, lack of relief, violation of domestic and international law, impunity 

Terms: pellet-firing shotguns, protest, information blackout, lockdown, J&K State Police, police action, blinding, visual impairment, trauma, illegal and unrecorded arrests, courts, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)