This statement (one of many over many years submitted to the UN Commission of Human Rights by International Economic Development, Inc. and the Humanitarian Law Project (a U.S. NGO working to protect human rights and promote the peaceful resolution of conflict by using established international human rights laws and humanitarian law)) reprised violations of international law in Indian-Admnistered Jammu and Kashmir and accountability efforts at the UN while decrying the UN's failure to act on its commitments to the people of Kashmir.  It also urged the UN to fulfill pertinent UN Security Council resolutions and assess and address "the overwhelming numbers of humanitarian and human rights violations that have accumulated" in IAJK.

Topics: human rights in Kashmir

Terms: violations of human rights law, violations of humanitarian law, armed conflict, violations of Geneva Conventions, UN Security Council resolutions, failure to implement plebiscite, March 1996 killing of Jalil Andrabi, Rashtriya Rifles, Indian state propaganda, religious discrimination, racism, victim-blaming, failure of international accountability, failure of international community, international impunity, colonialism, occupation, denial of right to self-determination, denial of justice, right to self-determination, violation of international law, custodial killings, custodial torture, UN Security Council resolutions

Amnesty International recorded 70 deaths in custody and extrajudicial killings in the period January to August 2000 alone. The cease-fire in force since 28 November 2000 has not improved the human rights situation in the state as deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions by state agents and unlawful killings by armed groups continue unabated. Between the beginning of the cease-fire and mid-February 2001, some 23 extrajudicial executions have been reported in the media, in 15 of which the Special Operations Group have been implicated.Amnesty International calls on the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to take seriously its obligations under international human rights law to stop the unlawful killings by anyone, be they state agents or members of armed opposition groups and to end the impunity with which they are committed.

Topics: impunity in Jammu and Kashmir, the unlawful killing of Jalil Andrabi in March 1996, the unlawful killings at Chittisinghpora on 20 March 2000 and connected killings, the unlawful killings of Pahalgam and other places on 1 August 2000, the unlawful killings at Haigam on 15 February 2001, human rights obligations of the government of Jammu and Kashmir, obligations of armed groups to abide by minimum standards of humanitarian law, 

Terms: March 1996 killing of Jalil Andrabi, custodial killings, extrajudicial executions, Special Operations Group (OG), excessive use of force, violation of international law, violation of habeas corpus, legal impunity, Border Security Force (BSF), March 2000 Chittisinghpora killings, August 2000 Pahalgam killings, February 2001 Haigam killings, failure to investigate, failure to prosecute, failure of accountability, extrajudicial killing, lack of international access, failure of transparency, failure of international accountability

Despite Indian government claims that "normalcy" has returned to Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir after elections held in 1996, this report demonstrates that abuses by Indian forces remained rife.

Topics: rape and torture in Doda, extrajudicial executions in Doda, militant abuses in Doda and Southern Districts, extrajudicial executions in Kashmir Valley, disappearances in Kashmir Valley, torture in Kashmir Valley, detention practices that facilitate abuse, detentions for extortion, abuses involving countermilitant militias, threats against human rights defenders, attacks on the press, the ongoing problem of impunity, militant abuses in the Valley, applicable international law (human rights law, international humanitarian law)

Terms: Rashtriya Rifles, Village Defence Committees, manual labor, violation of freedom of religion, extrajudicial executions of Ghulam Qadir Wani, Imam Din Bhat, Saleema Bhat, Mohamed Husein Bhat, Sakeena Bhat, Shabeena Bhat and Mohamed Ashraf, enforced disappearance of Mohammad Saleem Zargar, extrajudicial executions of Ghulam Hassan Ganie, Ali Mohamed Bhatt and Mohamed Amin, enforced disappearances of Abdul-Ahad Dar, Ashiq Husein Malik, Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, Mushtaq Ahmad Kha, Meraj Din Dar, Mohahamed Sha'ban Khan, Mohamed Yahya Khan, Shabir Ahmad Dar, Bilal Ahmad Sheikh, Nizar Ahmed Wani, Bashir Ahmed Wani, Bashir Ahmad Bhat and Mohammad Iqbal, beating, electric shocks, stretching, hanging, sexual torture, log roller, lacck of access to healthcare, Public Safety Act (PSA), Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), arbitrary detentions of Nur Mohamed Kalwal, Abdel Majid Gadyara, Mehraizin Gadyara, Farouq, Abdelaziz Dar, killings of H. N. Wanchoo, Dr. Farooq Ahsai, Dr. Abdul Ahad Guru and Jalil Andrabi, harassment of Ghulam Nabi Shaheen and Ghulam Rasul Dar, assaults on Zafar Mehraj and Habibullah Nakash

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This report examines the cases of those who have “disappeared” in Jammu and Kashmir against the backdrop of recent political developments. It seeks to identify the legal, institutional and political factors which facilitate “disappearances” and impede redress. The report concludes with a list of recommendations to prevent future “disappearances”.

Topics: recent political developments, disappearances in India, factors facilitating disappearances, four illustrative cases of disappeared persons

Terms: Javed Ahmad Ahanger, Syed Bashrat Ahmad Shah, Sheikh Gowhar Ayoub, Bilal Ahmad Bhat

This is a Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission fact-finding report on the initial investigation of the 1998 mass killing of 19 members of an extended family in Salian, Kashmir. The investigation finds Special Police Officers and paramilitary officers to be responsible for the massacre, and it recommends that they are investigated. It also identifies the Indian Army as negligent and silent when the massacre took place. It ordered compensation be paid to survivors and that witnesses be protected.

Topics: 1998 Sailan Massacre

Terms: extrajudicial killings, custodial rape, Sailan massacre, use of torture, rape as torture, excessive use of force, Special Police Officers (SPOs), paramilitary forces, SPO Zakir Hussain, informants, associates of SPO Zakir Hussain, Indian Army