The Humanitarian Law Project/International Educational Development (HLP/IED) and the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers have been concerned for many years about the Kashmiri war and the serious violations of humanitarian law and human rights in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. With grants from the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers we have undertaken 7 confidential missions to Kashmir, including one each in 1991 and 1992, two in 1993, and one in the Fall of 1994 of several months duration each and two in 1995 of shorter duration.

At the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and its Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities we have presented extensive written and oral statements on the Kashmiri war. In October 1995 we co-hosted a reception at UN Headquarters in New York for leaders of the Kashmiri people, with funds also provided by the Association of Humanitarian Lawyers. This report is our fourth on Kashmir. 

India seized much of Kashmir in 1947 during the break-up of British colonial rule in the region. In 1949, the United Nations Security Council and its Commission for India and Pakistan decided that Kashmiris themselves should determine their future rule, and authorized a UN-administered plebiscite of Kashmiris to determine their status. This plebiscite has not yet been held.

Kashmiris have resisted Indian rule all along, and there have been many periods of upheaval since 1947. The current crisis dates from 1988 and over its nearly 8 years has steadily escalated. At the present time, India has an occupation army of at least 600,000 military and paramilitary troops in Indian- occupied Kashmir. The Indian troops in turn face growing organized political and armed resistance by Kashmiri forces and a wide-spread popular uprising. A steadily escalating cycle of repression and resistance to repression has engulfed the area and there are rampant and widespread violations of the Geneva Conventions and human rights.

This report presents a background to the current crisis, including a summary of United Nations action on the Kashmir question. It then shows that the Kashmiri people have a right to self-determination, including the right to decide their political affiliation and concludes that India's claim to Kashmir is undefendable. The report then sets out violations of humanitarian law and human rights in the area. It concludes by recommending a course of action by the United Nations and the international community to restore full human rights to Kashmir, including the right to self-determination. Annexed to the report are citations to all major UN documents and a list of recent reports on Kashmir.

Select extracts:

• “India objected to the truce plan proposed by the Commission for India and Pakistan. The Commission proposed arbitration over the truce plan with Admiral Nimitz as arbitrator. Pakistan accepted this plan. However, even with strong appeals for this arbitration made by U.S. President Truman and United Kingdom Prime Minister Attlee, India refused to accept arbitration over the truce.”
• “In exercise of his good offices, Security Council President General McNaughton (Canada) issued a proposal (the McNaughton Proposal) in which the first of four principal considerations was the need for determination "of the future of Jammu and Kashmir by the democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite, to take place as early as possible." The proposal then sets out a plan called "Demilitarization Preparatory to the Plebiscite." In accordance with the McNaughton Proposal the Security Council, in its resolution 80/1950, noted the appointment of Admiral Chester Nimitz of the United States Plebiscite Administrator, appointed a United Nations Representative whose mandate was "to supervise the implementation of the programme of demilitarization" and set out other steps "for the expeditious determination of the future of the State [of Jammu and Kashmir] in accordance with the freely expressed will of the inhabitants."” 
• The two important United Nations studies on the right to self-determination set out factors of a people that give rise to possession of right to self-determination: a history of independence or self-rule in an identifiable territory, a distinct culture, and a will and capability to regain self- governance. The Kashmiri claim to the right to self-determination is exceptionally strong. The area had a long history of self- governance pre-dating the colonial period. The territory of Kashmir has been clearly defined for centuries. Kashmiri people speak Kashmiri, which, while enjoying Sanskrit as a root language as do all Indo-European languages, is clearly a separate language from either Hindi or Urdu. The Kashmiri culture is similarly distinct from other cultures in the area in all respects -- folk-lore, dress, traditions, cuisine. Even every day artifacts such as cooking pots, jewelry have the unique Kashmiri style.  Most important to a claim to self-determination, Kashmiris have a current strong common aspiration for re-establishment of self rule. The Kashmiri people resisted the British, and maintained a degree of autonomy throughout British rule. In 1931 a major uprising of Kashmiris against the British and the British-imposed maharajah was brutally put down. But the "Quit Kashmir" campaign against the maharajah continued into 1946, when the Azad Kashmir movement gained momentum. During the breakup of British India, the Azad military forces began armed attacks against the forces of the maharajah -- prompting the accession to India in exchange for Indian military protection. Resistance to India has continued unabated throughout Indian occupation, with major uprisings in 1953, 1964 and since 1988.
• In 1996 the people of Kashmir are still under colonial or alien domination, and have not yet had the promised right to decide their governance. They will hold the right to self- determination until such time as they (1) indicate by way of plebiscite their wishes and (2) are afforded their wishes in fact.
• Because the people of Kashmir have not yet exercised their right to choose their political status, the government of India does not presently have a permanent legal right to Kashmir. There has been no finding in the international community that grants India the legal right to Jammu and Kashmir currently occupied by Indian forces. On the contrary, the above-cited resolutions of various bodies of the United Nations deny any Indian claim to Jammu and Kashmir, and grant the Kashmiri people the right to decide their own status. Jammu and Kashmir must be considered a non-self-governing territory; India must be viewed in violation of Article 1 (3) of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Political Rights in its refusal to "promote the realization of the right to self-determination" of Jammu and Kashmir. 
• The war in Kashmir between the Indian armed forces and Kashmiri resistance fighters automatically invokes humanitarian law. Humanitarian law will remain in effect for the duration of an armed conflict or as long as India occupies Kashmir -- a territory to which it has no legitimate claim. Humanitarian law became applicable in Kashmir in 1947 with the first military actions of the Azad Kashmir forces. The Kashmiri War is a war of national liberation in defense of the right to self-determination. It is legally invalid to refer to this war as a civil war. Such a characterization would assume that India's occupation of Kashmir is legitimate and the Kashmiri resistance is composed of dissident or opposition groups within the meanings set out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 Article 3 or Protocol Additional II to the Geneva Conventions. It is also legally incorrect to refer to resistance groups as "terrorists", given their status as military resistors to foreign occupation in a war of national liberation. 
• The Charar-i-Sharief incident took place in May, 1995. Investigations have shown that the Indian forces burned about 3000 houses and 600 shops in ten neighborhoods of the town of Charar-i-Sharief. The Shrine of a highly revered Sufi saint, Shiekh Noor-ud-Din Noorani, was also destroyed, along with the adjoining mosque and religious compound. More than 15 civilians also died, some burned to death and others killed after having been used as human shields by the Indian forces. Fortunately, only about 300 persons were left in the area at the time of the burning, the rest having escaped at the beginning of the siege by Indian forces. An investigation of this incident was carried out by the Kashmir Commission of Jurists Joint Human Rights Committee for Charar-i-Sharief Incident.
• Also on March 8, 1996 the Indian Rashtriya Rifles abducted Jalil Andrabi, Chair of the Kashmir Commission of Jurists and one of our delegates to the 1995 session of the United Nations Sub- Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. We hoped that he would be able to attend the 1996 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to present current events to that body. At the time of writing, India denies any knowledge of Mr. Andrabi's whereabouts, in spite of the fact that his abduction by the Rashtriya Rifles was witnessed. However, we are deeply saddened to have just learned that Mr. Andrabi's body was found on March 27 floating in the Jehlem River in Srinagar with his hands and feet bound up and his eyes gouged out. This was the second attack on Mr. Andrabi in one month: on February 14, 1996 Mr. Andrabi's home was attacked and he barely managed to escape. However, he did manage to photograph the assailants. We view this appalling event as yet one more example of the gross violations of international standards committed by the Indian occupiers of Kashmir.
• Grave breaches of humanitarian law continued unabated in 1996. Civilian casualties mount and estimates now indicate over 25000 killed since January of 1990. Casualties include women, children (from infants to young boys and girls). Most of these deaths have direct humanitarian law implications: (1) they were perpetrated by military forces of India in the course of the conflict in Kashmir; (2) they are not "incidental civilian casualties" and must be viewed as violations of the right to life under humanitarian law. 
• Our investigations indicate no normalized treatment of POWs. There appears to be no known facility, and no international or national monitoring of such facilities that may exist clandestinely. All Kashmiris interviewed report that if the Indian Army captures a "militant" that militant will probably never be seen again alive -- only as a mutilated body found along a roadside. 
• Our investigations also indicate serious violations of the Geneva Conventions regarding protection of hospitals, medical personnel, sick or wounded persons and medical aid. Our investigations indicate that many hospitals and clinics are routinely raided. The Indian forces have entered operating rooms during operations, have abducted patients and seized medicines. 
• Humanitarian Law Project/International Educational Development is gravely concerned about the consistent pattern of violations of humanitarian law. In addition to our own clandestine monitoring of humanitarian law violations, we have also received information from a number of other credible reports and observers who shared their information with us. A list of some of our resources is annexed to this report. The information we provide is meant to be illustrative and does not pretend to set out all instances of these violations. 
• murder and torture of captured combatants -- POWs. POWs have none of their rights under Geneva Convention and customary rules. 
• As we set out above, the Indian forces do not comply at all with humanitarian law provisions regarding treatment of prisoners-of-war. To our best knowledge, there are no publicly- acknowledged POW camps. No human rights investigator has ever found a POW camp. International monitoring in this area is non- existent. However, it is clear that the Indian forces are able to capture some opposition combatants, and it must be assumed that these POWs are tortured and killed in violation of the Geneva Conventions and customary standards. 
• rape of Kashmiri women carried out on a large scale. 
• In our past reports, we set out examples of war-time rape of Kashmiri women. Since our last report, we have verified more than 200 such rapes in Doda and the valley in January 1994 alone. In some of the outlying areas, during the same period 5 women were found dead after dying under rape. Rape continues to be a major means of Indian oppression against Kashmiri people. 
• constant and continuing armed attacks against the civilian population in Kashmir. 
• Our investigators consistently verify that the vast majority of casualties in the Kashmiri war are civilians, caught up in "crackdowns", "sweeps" or just gunned down or tortured to death. Other human rights investigations have also verified the same pattern of civilian casualties and large numbers of custodial deaths. 
• the refusal by Indian authorities to allow public, independent, unfettered monitoring of the situation. 
• The Indian authorities have consistently refused permission for independent, international monitoring of the situation in Kashmir. Human rights organizations such as ours are routinely denied permission to investigate openly. Although India has permitted one assessment visit by the International Committee of the Red Cross and one by the International Commission of Jurists in recent years, apparently other organizations have had difficulty arranging open investigation. The International Federation of Human Rights and Amnesty International have been recently denied permission to visit. 
• attacks on hospitals and medical personnel. 
• Our investigators have reported on the poor conditions in hospitals and clinics, in part because of forays by Indian troops into medical facilities. Some hospitals have noticeable bullet holes. A 1994 report by a British doctor contains eyewitnesses accounts that are similar to our investigators findings: there have been raids on Lal Ded Women's Hospital and doctors and medical personnel are "threatened beaten and detained." A colleague of that doctor told how Indian forces had beaten him, fracturing his arm. 
• interference with communications and humanitarian assistance. 
• In 1995 there were numerous attacks on journalists and on communication in general. Journalist Mushtaq Ali (Agence France-Presse) was killed on September 7, 1995. Other journalists have been harassed, attacked and arrested. The media is severely restricted. Humanitarian aid is severely limited as outside groups are not allowed to provide medicine and other relief materials. 
• destruction of Kashmiri villages, cultural artifacts, etc.. 
• This report sets out several of the many incidents of the destruction of revered places, shrines and cultural places by Indian forces. Whole villages have been burned to the ground in the course of the long war. Srinagar and other manor cities clearly show the effects of repeated military operations. 
• torture of POWs and civilians.
• At time of writing there are approximately 60 interrogation centers of the Indian forces in Kashmir where torture is an every-day occurrence. The International Federation of Human Rights has been meticulous in its own clandestine investigations and in its interviews with people outside of Kashmir who spent time in the various centers to verify the existence and practices of these centers. While our delegates have seen much evidence of torture, we also point out that many of the reports of non-governmental organizations listed in the bibliography provide detailed evidence of the practice of torture in Kashmir. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture also documents incidence of torture in India-occupied Kashmir. The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (Copenhagen) have also verified torture of Kashmiris by Indian forces. 
• serious violations of the rights of civilian and military detainees.
• Other reports on the situation on Kashmir (listed in the bibliography) provide compelling evidence of severe abuse of civilians and combatants while in custody, including prolonged arbitrary detention, torture and killings. Most detention in Kashmir India is a result of the conflict and as India invokes certain legislative acts to justify that detention this report next analyses this legislation in light of human rights and humanitarian law