This report by the US State Department in 2006 found that major problems included extrajudicial killings of persons in custody, disappearances, torture and rape by police and security forces. The lack of accountability permeated the government and security forces, creating an atmosphere in which human rights violations often went unpunished. Although the country has numerous laws protecting human rights, enforcement was lax and convictions were rare. Poor prison conditions, lengthy pretrial detention without charge, and prolonged detentions while undergoing trial remained significant problems. Government officials used special antiterrorism legislation to justify the excessive use of force while combating terrorism and active, violent insurgencies in Jammu and Kashmir and several northeastern states. Security force officials who committed human rights abuses generally enjoyed de facto impunity, although there were investigations into individual abuse cases as well as punishment of some perpetrators by the court system.

Topics: respect for human rights, disappearance, torture, denial of fair public trial, civil judicial procedures and remedies, respect for civil liberties, freedom of speech and press, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, refugee protection, governmental attitude regarding international and nongovernmental investigation of alleged violations of human rights, women, children

Terms: excessive use of force, illegal abductions, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances,  custodial torture, custodial killings, state impunity, army impunity, Border Security Forces (BSF), Rashtriya Rifles (RR), custodial rape, rape as a weapon, violation of habeas corpus, right to trial, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA)

This report details the results of a study done by MSF in 2006 on the impact of violence on the mental health of Kashmiris.

Topics: state violence, mental health

Terms: sexual violence, rape, molestation, reprisals, humiliation, intimidation, threat of violence, intimidation, state terror, crackdowns, raids, arson, property destruction, torture, anxiety, distress, suicidal ideation, stress, physical health

In this report, Human Rights Wacth documented "serious abuses, especially the targeting of civilians, by both government forces and militants in Jammu and Kashmir. Those abuses continue, despite a tentative peace process that includes talks between New Delhi, Islamabad, and some of Kashmir's separatist leaders, modest confidence-building measures between India and Pakistan, and the 2002 election of a state government with an avowed agenda to improve the human rights situation. Particular attention is given in this report to the problem of impunity from prosecution, whereby those responsible for abuses rarely get investigated, let alone tried and convicted.

Topics: legal causes of abuses and impunity, failure of accountability, continuing impunity, militant abuses

Terms: Section 45 of Criminal Procedure Code, Section 197 of Criminal Procedure Code, Disturbed Areas Act, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Public Safety Act, Gawkadal, Maulvi Farooq, Beijbehara killings, Jalil Andrabi, Chattisinghpora massacre, killings, disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 (AFSPA) a law operative in “disturbed areas”, including large parts of the Northeast region of India and Jammu Kashmir, has facilitated grave human rights abuses, including extrajudicial execution, “disappearance”, rape and torture by bestowing sweeping powers on the armed forces in these areas.The Act violates non-derogable provisions of international human rights law, including the right to life, the right to remedy and the rights to be free from arbitrary deprivation of liberty and from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (ill-treatment) as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party since 1979, and other treaties and standards. Amnesty International welcomes the review of this Act by the Government of India and calls on the Government of India to repeal the AFSPA and ensure that all future legislation is in line with international human rights standards.

Topics: violation of the right to life, violation of the right to liberty and security of person, torture, ill-treatment and “disappearances”, violation of the right to remedy, an undeclared state of emergency for undefined reasons and for unlimited periods

Terms: March 1996 enforced disappearance of Jalil Andrabi, Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), custodial rape, custodial torture, excessive use of force, mass human rights atrocities, legal impunity, extortion and killing of civilians, violation of habeas corpus, impunity, enforced disappearances,

This report summarizes an April 1, 2005 confidential briefing by the ICRC to the US Embassy in New Delhi in which the ICRC describes the torture of Kashmiri political prisoners and concludes that the Government of India condones torture and keeps the ICRC in legal limbo in India.

Topics: detention, torture, political prisoners, humanitarian access

Terms: ICRC, detention centers, prisoner abuse, electric shock, suspension from ceiling, roller, crushing, stretching, water-boarding, sexual torture, extrajudicial killing, Cargo, Indian forces rewarded for violations