This report is based on work done over several in-person missions to Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir and over 130 corroborated witness interviews, the examination of physical evidence, medical examinations and other documentation of the incidents described.
Topics: the pattern of impunity, access for international organizations, applicable international law, extrajudicial executions and reprisal killings, summary executions and deaths in custody, reprisal attacks, indiscriminate use of lethal force, torture, rape by Indian government forces in Kashmir, indiscriminate attacks and assaults on civilians, violations of medical neutrality by government forces, other medical consequences of the conflict, the government's comments and Asia Watch/PHR's response, violations by militant organizations, disappearances, comments of the Government of India
Terms: attempted execution of Masroof Sultan, killing of Gowhar Amin Bahadur and Javed Bakshir, killings in Srabala, killing of Ashiq Hussain Masoodi, killings at Tengpora, Dal Gate killings, killings in Abeguzar, killing of Mohammad Yaqub Mir, burning of Lal Chowk, the Shikara killings, April 1993 Sopore killings, killing of Dr. Farooq Ahmed Ashai, Sopore Massacre, killing of three civilians in Sopore, killings at Badasgam, massacre in Batekote, killings in Safakadal, massacre at Nasarullahpora, killing of Tajuddin and Imtiazuddin Farooqi, killing of Ashiq Hussain, torture victims with acute renal failure (rhabdomyolysis), rape in Shopian, rape in Haran, rape in Gurihakhar, assaults on journalists, preventing medical personnel from transporting the wounded, refusal by security forces to provide or permit medical care for wounded, raids on hospitals, detentions, harassment and assaults on health care workers, muder of H. N. Wanchoo, killing of Dr. Abdul Ahad Guru, Operation Tiger, Operation Shiva, “catch and kill,” Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), The Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, 1990, names of the disappeared, comments and rebuttals of the Government of India
The Asia Watch/PHR team which visited Kashmir in October 1992 traveled throughout the Kashmir valley from Srinagar to Handwara and Sopore in the northwest, and Anantnag and Shopian in the southeast. They directly investigated 44 extrajudicial killings, eight cases of torture, and fifteen rapes committed by Indian security forces. In the second mission conducted in April and May, 1993, Asia Watch and PHR-Denmark, documented an additional 22 extrajudicial killings and a case of torture and attempted summary execution by the security forces. During both research missions, Asia Watch and PHR interviewed local health professionals, journalists, teachers, human rights activists and lawyers, and reviewed habeas corpus petitions, High Court judgments, and medical documents on hundreds of incidents of abuse by the security forces. PHR inspected six health facilities. During visits to three of the major hospitals in Srinagar, the PHR researcher interviewed and examined patients who had been tortured or had suffered injuries as a result of indiscriminate shootings or assaults by government forces. Asia Watch and PHR also interviewed witnesses about incidents of abuse by militant groups. Information about 14 cases of murder, three cases of rape, seven cases of kidnapping, 16 cases of threats and seven incidents of indiscriminate attacks by militant groups are included in this report. In all, Asia Watch and PHR conducted more than 130 interviews with witnesses and other informed sources, including government officials. In most of the cases investigated, testimony was corroborated by multiple witnesses and physical evidence. While many of those interviewed had sympathies with one side or the other in the conflict, the findings contained in this report are based on Asia Watch and PHR's independent selection of cases and witnesses and analysis of eyewitness testimony, medical examinations and other documentation of the incidents described.
Select extract on applicable international law:
June 1993
Originally published
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