This is an annual report of human rights violations in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir. This report focuses especially on the killings and injuries of civilians post the 8th July killing of Burhan Wani in an encounter with government forces. Due to the high magnitude of the havoc created by the pellet guns, the summer of 2016 will go into the history of Kashmir as a season of “Epidemic of Dead Eyes”. Referring to curfews, media gag and blinding of protesters due to pellets, it says that human sufferings touched new heights this year “which the valley had not seen since 1989”.

Topics: total killings, arrests, Public Safety Act, curfew and restrictions, strikes/hartals, communication blockade, violence and mayhem, violation of juvenile rights, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and fake encounters, media gag, violation of religious rights, prisoners, harassment of Kashmiris outside Kashmir, induction of more troops, probes and inquiries, role of medical fraternity, role of NGOs, torture, border clashes, State Human Rights Commission, State Information Commission

Terms: extrajudicial killings, torture, injuries, maiming, killing, Public Safety Act (PSA), arbitrary arrests, arbitrary dententions, nocturnal raids, crackdowns, destruction of property, internet shutdown, religious discrimination, media gags, legalized impunity, intensified militarization, pellet guns, blindings, violation of freedom of speech, violation of freedom of assembly, fake encounters, extrajudicial killing of minors, custodial torture, arbitrary detention of minors, violation of international law, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), State Information Commission (SIC), curfews, strikes, violations of rights of minors, violation of rights of children, violation of religious rights, targeting of Kashmiris, discrimination against Kashmiris, failure to investigate, failure of accountability, attacks on medical personnel

This report of a 5-member group of prominent Indian former government officials and civil society leaders was presented to the Indian Home Minister based on a visit to Srinagar from October 25-27, 2016. The people they met with argued for a political solution to what they perceived as a political issue. Each one spent a considerable amount of time recounting the activities of the security forces which had alienated the population of the Valley.

Topics: reasons for immediate anger, reasons for long term anger, recommendations

Terms: excessive use of force, pellet guns, Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), violation of habeas corpus, arbitrary detention of minors, lack of accountability, cordon and search operations, destruction of property, nigh-time raids, scapegoating, targeting, denial of political rights, religious hatred, communalism

This report is a brief by a team from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (a human rights body based in India) following their October 14-22, 2016 visit to the Kashmir Valley after 100 days of popular protests following Burhan Wani’s killing and the Indian government's violent response. The report describes evidence of human rights violations committed by the state, the alienation of the Kashmiri people resulting from the Indian gvovernment's and Indian forces' ongoing brutality and the cross-demographic unity of Kashmiris to continue the struggle for Azadi. 

Topics: human rights violations in Kashmir, mass protests, state violence, delegitimation of state

Terms: Public Safety Act (PSA), excessive use of force by security forces, extrajudicial killings, clamppdowns, arbitrary arrests, arbitrary detention, maiming, blindings, blindings of children, use of pellet guns, July 2016 killing of Burhan Wani, detention of Khurram Pervez, detention of Adv. Zahid Alid, police raids, raid on Greater Kashmir, banning of Kashmir Reader, attacks on journalists, crackdowns on relief organizations, failure of state, failure of accountability, failure of authority

This is a communication of the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to the Government of India expressing grave concern for the arbitrary arrest, detention, intimidation and travel ban issued against Khurram Parvez in reprisal for cooperating with UN human rights mechanisms.

Topics: disappearances, human rights defenders, violation of freedom of movement, violation of right to travel, arbitrary detention, intimidation, reprisals

Terms: arbitrary detention of Khurram Parvez, travel ban, Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), enforced disappearances

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This is a communication of five UN Special Rapporteurs (on extrajudicial executions, freedom of opinion, freedom of peaceful assembly, health, and human rights defenders) concerning the alleged death of over 30 persons and injuries to hundreds in Kashmir as a result of indiscriminate live fire by Indian forces between 8 and 14 July 2016.

Topics: violation of right to life, violation of right to free expression, violation of right to free assembly, violation of right to belief, excessive use of force, violation of principle of proportionality, maiming, killing

Terms: July 2016 extrajudicial killingss, July 2016 maimings, july 2016 blindings, pellet guns, shotguns, live fire on civilians, denial of access to healthcare and medical treatment, curfews, misuse of lethal and non-lethal weapons

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