Between September 29, 2022 and October 31, 2022, Indian authorities continued to commit grave human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir (IAK). At least one civilian was killed by Indian forces, and at least two Kashmiris died in police custody. Indian authorities continued their systematic suppression of the freedom of expression and violations of the social, economic, cultural, and political rights of Kashmiris. A journalist and a scholar were charged under counter-terror laws for an opinion piece published in 2011 while another journalist was barred from international travel without explanation. Another private school was forcibly closed. Kashmir’s 2022 apple crop was prevented from being transported to Indian markets, resulting in significant losses in a critical industry in IAK. Authorities escalated their violations of cultural and Muslim religious rights, including through newly-announced plans to interfere with sacred and cultural spaces. In a case emblematic of the repression against Kashmiri journalists, Aasif Sultan, arbitrarily detained on August 27, 2018, remains illegally imprisoned. In a case emblematic of the repression against Kashmiri human rights defenders and civil society, Khurram Parvez, arbitrarily detained on November 22, 2021, remains illegally imprisoned in a maximum-security facility in New Delhi. Due to ongoing repression by Indian authorities, key developments in the human rights situation in IAK have likely gone unreported.
November 2022
Originally published