These remarks delivered by Ahmed Adam at the 51st regular session of the UN Human Rights Council addressthe deteriorating human rights situation in India and the assault on fundamental freedoms in IAJK.

Topics: rise of authoritarianism, systemic erosion of rule of law, abuse of counter-terrorism laws, assault on fundamental freedoms, promotion of hate and violence against minorities (especially Muslims)

Terms: Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), violation of freedom of expression, violation of right to media, violation of right to peaceful assembly, association and movement, detention of human rights defender Khurram Parvez, detention of journalist Fahad Shah

This briefing summarizes the Indian government's intensification of repression since 5 August 2019, focusing on restrictions on rights to freedom of opinion and expression, to liberty and security of person, to movement, to privacy, and to remedy and access to justice and violations suffered by journalists and human rights defenders by subjecting them to multiple human rights violations.

Topics: assault on freedom of expression, interrogation, abuse of security laws, travel bans, closure of press club, arbitrary detention, unlawful killings, right to remedy and access to justice

Terms: denial of right to free expression, denial of right to freedom of opinion and belief, denial of right to life, extrajudicial killing, denial of right to free movement, denial of right to privacy, denial of access to justice, Article 370, legalized impunity, Media Policy 2020, Film Policy 2021, censorship, National Investigation Agency, Income Tax Department, 2022 closure of Kashmir Press Club, travel bans, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), police killings, police encounters, civillian killings, right to information, termination of State Human Rights Commission, violation of right to habeas corpus, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Criminal Investigation Department (CID), State Investigation Agency (SIA), surveillance, profiling, police interrogations, 2021 arrest of Khurram Parvez, 2021 interrogation of Irfan Amin Malik, Public Safety Act (PSA)

This report examines the relationship between internet shutdowns and challenges to the work of human rights defenders in India. The first case study looks to the 213-day shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, then goes on to examine other shutdowns in India (particularly those put in place in response to public protests or unrest). The analysis for this report is based on desk with human rights defenders from across 11 states in India. Internet shutdowns have turned into an often-used tool that the government relies upon in order to silence dissent and limit the rights to freedom of press and expression under the guise of “maintaining law and order.”

Topics: background and context, legal framework for internet shutdowns, Jammu and Kashmir: India's longest internet shutdown, analyzing the trend of internet shutdowns during protests, impact of internet shutdowns on various HRDs, is a "sensible" internet shutdown policy possible?, conclusions and recommendations

Terms: internet shutdowns, violations of right to free expression, violations of right to free press, violations of access to justice

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This is communication from the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the situation of human rights defenders, the independence of judges and lawyers, minority issues, freedom of religion or belief, the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism and the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, among other things, concerns the continued lack of identification and preservation of unmarked single and mass burial sites in
IAJK, including the failure to adequately protect such sites and to conduct forensic investigations, in accordance with international standards, to identify the remains of individuals buried in these graves and to establish the cause, manner and circumstances of their deaths, as required for the search processes of the forcibly disappeared.

Topics: unmarked graves, mass burial sites, failure to protect, failure to investigate, enforced and involuntary disappearances

Terms: 2019 closure of State Human Rights Commission, Indian impunity, Indian failure to reply, failure to conduct independent forensic investigations, grave sites in Bramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara, Rajouri and Poonch, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), Jammu and Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), discrimination against Kashmiri Muslims, denial fothe right to mourn, denial of the right to seek redress, intimidation of human rights defenders, harrassment of human rights defenders, systemic restrictions of fundamental rights of Kashmiri Muslims

This report by a panel of international experts, Sonja Biserko (Serbia), Marzuki Darusman (Indonesia) and Stephen Rapp (USA), investigates allegations of serious human rights violations against Muslims in India since 2019 in order to determine whether there is sufficient credible information to require that an independent international investigation be mandated in order to fulfil the victims’ and survivors’ rights under international human rights law. The panel found that acts constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity appeared to have occurred in IAK since August 2019. The authors believe that the credible information we received justifies the initiation of formal investigations by a competent, independent and impartial body, mandated by the UN, which would conduct in-depth investigations into the allegations we uncovered in this report.

Topics: the historical context, findings on violations of international human rights law, findings on violations of international criminal law, the right to an effective remedy, recommendations, subjugation, exclusion and gross human rights violations against Kashmiri Muslims

Terms: arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary detentions, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, gender based violence and discrimination, incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence, violations of prohibition of discrimination, violations of freedom of religion, violations of freedom of expression, association and assembly, violations of the right to a fair trial, discrimination in access to econmic, social and cultural rights, violations of the right to effective remedy, crimes against humanity, war crimes, direct and public incitement to genocide, failure of international accountability, habeas corpus, failure of Indian judiciary, failure of rule of law, abuse and death in custody, deaths during protests, use of pellet guns, communication shutdown, restrictionson civic space, abuse in detention, killings, lack of investigations and prosecutions, closure of state human rights commission, case lists