This report focuses on the human rights situation in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1993 and 1994. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada is responsible for making decisions on immigration and refugee matters, including who needs refugee protection, among thousands of claimants who come to Canada annually.
Topics: geographical and historical overview, international relations, media access, main militant groups, Indian forces, human rights abuses by Indian forces, national security legislation, government measures to improve human rights protection, the judicial system, human rights abuses by militants, displaced populations, future prospects
Terms: international human rights monitors lack of access, propaganda, Newspapers Incitements to Offenses Act (1971), killing of journalist Ghulam Mohammed Lone, government media pressure, factionalism, Indian army, Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), April 1993 killing off-duty Kashmiri police officer, cordon and search operations, curfews, troop presence, November 1993 Sopore Massacre, January 1993 Sopore Massacre, April 1992 Sopore Massacre, April 1993, April 1993 Lal Chowk Arson and Massacre, October 1993 Bijbehara Massacre, March 1994 Mahand Massacre, September 1994 Bandipora Massacre, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest, routine disregard of laws, violation of habeas corpus, custodial killing, torture, rape, Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act (AFSPA), the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1991 Amendment of Code of Criminal Procedure, impunity, failure to register complaints, denial of responsibility, falsification of records, intimidation of witnesses and complainants, partial inquiries
Select excerpts:
US Ambassador J. Kenneth Blackwell, who visited the region in December 1993 with the independent Congressional Human Rights Foundation, found that "the presence of military and police in Kashmir is overwhelming. Troops line every thoroughfare; heavily armed bunkers are on every corner."
According to Amnesty International, families of the disappeared have a difficult time getting security forces to acknowledge that an individual has been detained or to state where that person might be. The United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances states that these families also report feeling endangered themselves, allegedly "having been threatened for trying to locate a missing person, or detained and physically mistreated when held in lieu of the person security forces wished to question or detain."
A Srinagar judge with 20 years of experience, who refused to allow his name to be used, summed up the situation this way: When arms spread, laws are silent.... That has been the situation here for five years. We have no control over them (the Indian forces). We may issue a court order, but people are too frightened to act. Nothing gets done.... They can come at any time.... They can kill with impunity. There is no recourse for us.”
March 1995
Originally published
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