Grave human rights violations have risen dramatically since mid-1992 and have reached alarming proportions: two appendices to this report list details of 706 people who are reported to have been killed in the custody of the security forces in the state since January 1990, nearly all after torture. Most of the people who are tortured and killed in custody are young men picked up by the army or paramilitary forces during "crackdown" operations in villages or other areas to identify suspected militants. The relatives of those arrested are often not told why they are taken away or where they are being taken. People have been tortured to death either in crude attempts to extract information, to intimidate the local population, or as an act of reprisal for the killing by armed militants of security forces personnel.This report lists 706 cases recorded in four years. These findings underline Amnesty International's experience elsewhere: in situations of armed insurgency, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, the protection of human rights is most acutely and gravely at risk.

Topics: torture, deaths in custody, legal framework and the collapse of the rule of law, human rights abuses by armed opposition groups, amnesty international’s recommendations

Terms: custodial torture, custodial killings, arbitrary detention, "crackdowns," cordon and search operations, collective punishment, denial of access to justice, failure to investigate violations, denial of due process, mutilation, rape, intimidation, reprisals, attempted cover-ups, impunity, methods of torture, sexual abuse, encounter killings, denial of access to healthcare, refusal to investigate or prosecute, Border Security Force (BSF), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Counter-Intelligence, Kashmir (CIK), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Public Safety Act (PSA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA)

‍This is a report of the UN special rapporteur on torture (Nigel S Rodley) that was submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Topics: torture, purposes of torture, methods of torture, systemic torture, impunity

Terms: torture by police, torture by Indian forces, systematic torture, custodial torture, torture to extract information, torture to punish, execution by torture, custordial rape, systematic rape, lack of prosecutorial authority, lack of prosecutions, crackdown on dissent, 1993 custodial torture of Noodin Chaudry, 1993 custodial torture of Mohamed Hanif, 1993 custodial rape and killing of Sara Ganai, 1994 detention and custodial torture of journalist Mohammad Shafi, Papa II, Border Security Force (BSF) torture center, 1994 detention of and assault on journalist Mukhtar Ahmed

This is a report of the UN working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Topics: enforced disappearances, violation of habeas corpus, impunity

‍Terms: arbitrary detention, disappearances by army, paramilitary groups and police, fake encounters, preventive detention, prolonged detention, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), Public Safety Act (PSA), denial of responsibility, disinformation

Article Summary: This is a report by the UN special rapporteur (Abdelfattah Amor) on religious discrimination that was submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights. Disclaimer: This report (by a UN rapporteur) repeats and amplifies Indian state propaganda on Kashmir.  It uses terminology and analysis deployed by Indian disinformation efforts which are inconsistent with factual reality and, among other things, serve to obscure actual violations and promote impunity for those violations.

Topics: persecution of Hindus, Muslim extemism, terrorism, separatism, Indian state propaganda, disinformation, organized lying

Article Summary: This is a report of the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions (Bacre Waly Ndiaye) submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights

Topics: extrajudicial killings, torture, custodial killings, killing of minors, arbitrary killings, impunity, failure of international accountability

Terms: extrajudicial killing of minor Bilal Ahmed and parents, extrajudicial killings of Hamida Mattoo, H.N. Wanchoo, Abdul Ahad Magrey, Imtiaz Ahmed, Farooq Ahmed Ashai, Hussain Ashiq, Mohammed Shadi, Aijaz Ahmed Khan and Noor Mohammed Sofi, Indian denial of entry by UN rapporteur

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