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 year, Kashmir saw the longest period of curfew, strikes and virtual denial of democracy. It was an unprecedented era of killings and blinding.
This year, Kashmir witnessed gross violation of human rights in the form of extrajudicial executions, torture, injuries, the killing of human beings, unabated use of Public Safety Act (PSA), illegal detentions, vandalism of properties, ban on congregational religious activities, media gags and a ban on communication and internet services. All these things and induction of additional troops are the evidence of the fact that the ground situation in Kashmir has deteriorated further during 2016.
Clashes between protestors and forces, border clashes, firings and curbs on the public movement also remained unabated. 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”.
During this year Kashmir undoubtedly suffered on all fronts. Human sufferings touched new heights and this was a horrifying scenario which the Valley has not seen since 1989. As the wounds of 2008, 2009 and 2010 were still bleeding, 2016 has overtaken them all as number of horrid and horrendous cases of human rights abuses were reported from across the valley. Force used against the protesting children and youth during this year has no parallel in the contemporary history of the state. There are many instances in which excessive use of force has led to the killing of civilians. Excessive and disproportionate force was used with an apparent intent to kill and not to disperse protestors or enforce law and order. The argument that the government forces were forced to fire in self-defense, as they came under attack by unruly mobs, does not suffice and does not help the government to get away from its responsibility. A distinction has to be made between a government force, which is supposed to be governed by a set of rules, and a mob. If the government would have fixed the responsibility for the excessive use of force in 2010 and punished those who failed to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), perhaps the situation would have been different this time. Although superficial normalcy has been restored but peace can’t be harnessed through use of coercive means only and in absence of concrete political initiatives it can at best be defined as ‘negative peace’ for some time, before it explodes again and Kashmir will continue to lose everything at the hands of all the players.
The right to life, a basic human right, makes the government responsible for ensuring that all the needs of children are met. The right to fair trial and, more recently, the right to free and compulsory primary education for children below the age of 14 are some of the rights of children violated due to the non-implementation of the JJCPA Act here because the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection Act’ has remained a half-hearted exercise in the state. The Act (after its amendments in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013) has provisions for the setting up of juvenile courts, juvenile boards, district level committees,rehabilitation policy, observation homes (each district) et al for juveniles.However, as of now there is only one Juvenile observatory home with a maximum capacity of 50 at Harwan, Srinagar and there is no separate Juvenile Court to hear the cases of the children. Even after decades of propagation, the Act still has not been implemented.
A copy of this report is made available courtesy of KashmirLife.
December 2016
Originally published
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