Traveling and collecting personal testimonies from Kashmiri civilians, a team of economists and activists offer a glimpse into the silenced streets of Srinagar and neighboring villages. The report finds unanimous anger in Kashmir against the Indian government for the abrogation of Article 370, widespread curfews in public spaces and no space for peaceful protests.

Topics: separatist movement, abrogation of article 370 and 35A, repression of freedom of speech, misleading national propaganda

Terms: denial of justice, information blockade, internet blockade, denial of right to freedom of assembly

This report is based on information collected by OHCHR through monitoring the situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir. In Indian-Administered Kashmir, “Cordon and search operations”, were reintroduced in the Kashmir Valley in 2017. Additionally, around 160 civilians were killed in 2018, which is believed to be the highest number in over one decade. A widely followed Indian civil society group that tracks internet shutdowns reports that 65 of the 134 incidents of internet shutdowns recorded in the country in 2018 were in Jammu and Kashmir. In the first four months of 2019, Jammu and Kashmir experienced 25 instances of internet shutdown. Legally backed ongoing arbitrary detention, censorship, killings and torture continued, as did conflict with between the state and militant groups. 

‍Topics: update on political situation, human rights violations in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir, civilian killings and excessive use of force, continued use of pellet-firing shotguns, cordon and search operations, arbitrary detentions, impunity for human rights violations, restrictions on freedom of expression, censorship, attack on press freedoms, restrictions on freedom of assembly and association, torture, targeting of Kashmiri Muslims outside Jammu and Kashmir, abuses by armed groups, human rights violations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Jammu and Kashmir, constitutional and legal structures impacting enjoyment of human rights, restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and association, business and human rights, impact of counter-terrorism on human rights, restrictions on the freedom of religion or belief, enforced or involuntary disappearances, arbitrary internet shutdown‍

Terms: Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act 1990 (AFSPA), custodial killing, March 2019 custodial killing of Rizwan Pandit, torture, July 2018 amendment of PSA, internet shutdowns, kidnappings, civilian killings, rape, killing of minors, February 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing, cordon and search operations, excessive use of force, impunity, June 2018 governer’s rule, annulment of Article 35A of Indian Constitution, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 2019 Pulwama airstrike, December 2018 Pulwama extrajudicial protestor killings, falsifying information, violation of haebus corpus, use of human shields, June 2018 Anantnag killings during Eid, November 2018 arrest of Masrat Alam, 2000 Pathribal fake encounter, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), impunity for 2010 Macchil fake encounter killings, June 2018 assault of journalist Muheet Ul Aslam, June 2018 killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari, August 2018 detention of journalist Aasif Sultan, 2018 foreign media restrictions, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 (UAPA), 2019 arrests of Yasin Malik, attacks and assaults on Kashmiris in India, abductions, killings of political workers

This report from FIDH summarizes the key human rights issues in Indian-Administered Kashmir since 1990.  The Indian military's counter-insurgency operations were marked by excessive and disproportionate use of force. Since 1990, more than 70,000 people have been killed, more than 8,000 have been subjected to enforced disappearances, several thousands have been arrested and detained under repressive laws, and torture and other acts of inhuman and degrading treatment against protestors and detainees have been routinely used by Indian forces.

Topics: the continuing crime of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings go unabated, torture used as a punitive measure, systematic impunity for grave crimes, mass and unmarked graves, continuation of arbitrary and administrative detentions to curb dissent, ongoing military operations threaten human rights, rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of religion or belief curbed, surveillance, human rights defenders under threat, sexual violence used as a tool of repression, lack of safeguards placing children in danger, former militants hindered from reintegrating into society, stiuation of minorities instrumentalized by authorities

Terms: maiming, blinding, use of pellet guns, use of shotguns, use of landmines, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, lack of redress, violation of habeas corpus, attacks on human rights defenders, custodial rape, custodial torture, sexual violence, abuse of minors, minority discrimination, excessive use of force, killing of Burhan Wani, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), mass graves

This is a communication of three UN Special Rapporteurs (on extrajudicial executions, health, and torture) to the Government of India, expressing grave concern overviolations of the right to life by state forces in Jammu and Kashmir over the last 29 years and discusses the details of 79 such cases. Many of the cases include victims who were allegedly subjected to torture, denied medical care, were minors, etc. An annex contains the details of all of these cases.

Topics: extrajudicial klilling, arbitrary killings, violation of right to life, custodial killing, excessive use of force, violation of freedom of speech, denial of access to healthcare, torture, failure to investigate, failure of rule of law, failure to provide access to justice, failure to remedy, Indian Government lack of response, impunity, intimidation of victims, bribery, threatening victims

Terms: excessive use of force, police brutality, abduction, killings by Indian Army, killings by police, killings by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), killings by Border Security Force (BSF), killings by Rashtriya Rifles, killings by government militias, killings by Ikhwan, killings by Special Operations Group, execution through torture, killings by unidentified gunmen

This report is the first report, which focuses on torture, perpetrated systematically and indiscriminately by the Indian State since 1947, and intensified further since the armed struggle for self-determination began in the late 1980s.This report builds on the body of human rights documentation on torture in Kashmir through an examination of 432 case studies of torture, focussing on the trends and patterns, targets, perpetrators, contexts and impact of torture in Kashmir.

Topics: historical background, torture and counter insurgency in Kashmir (1990-2018), contexts of torture, purpose of torture, methods of torture, collective punishment, human shield, forced labour, sexualized torture, perpetrators of torture, sites of torture, torture on combatants and non-combatants, torture irrespective of gender and age, targeting of protected persons, proscription of torture under international law, international and regional instruments prohibiting torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment, convention against torture, defining and documenting different forms of torture as recognised under international law, prohibition of torture under the Indian constitution and judicial pronouncements, India’s response to the universal periodic review and international criticism regarding ratifying torture convention, protection against torture under Indian constitution, statutory provision as safeguards to torture, judicial and states human rights commission responses to torture in Kashmir, impact of torture on health and mental health, impact of torture on economy, testimonials of torture victims

Terms: custodial torture, custodial rape, enforced disappearances, cordon and search operations, Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Central Reserve Police force (CRPF), torture of minors, custodial killing, extrajudicial killing of minors, crackdowns, mass torture, violations of right of habeas corpus, Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), Operation Tiger, Special Police Officers (SPO), Special Operations Group (SOG), Special Task Force (STF), Ikhwan, naabid, arbitrary detention, incommunicado detention, physical impacts of torture, physical disabilities, psycholgoical impacts of torture, impunity, erasure of history, erasure of memory, denial of access to justice