This brief summarizes what the British colonial Treaty of Amritsar (1846) is, why it is critical to Kashmiri political and legal history, why it is void or invalid as a matter of law and why understanding what it is, and whether it is valid, remain critically important today.

"They Should Be Beaten and Skinned Alive": The Final Phase of India's War on Kashmiri Civil Society describes Indian authorities’ escalating efforts to silence Kashmiris during the period from October 2020 to October 2022, specifically targeting Kashmiri human rights defenders, including journalists, human rights activists, scholars and other Kashmiris who attempt to hold India to account for its ongoing human rights violations. (NB: Report updated March 20 to resolve broken hyperlinks.)

In January 2024, Indian authorities continued to commit grave human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir (IAK). Indian forces killed at least one individual and continued their ongoing campaigns of mass arbitrary detention and property expropriation. Indian authorities continued to target any form of dissent, including through arresting or criminally pursing at least five people (including at least one minor) for social media posts. Indian authorities continued to escalate forced demographic change in the region, including through the expansion of militarized settlements for the families of dead Indian armed forces personnel.

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In 2023, the already dire humanitarian and human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir (IAK) continued to deteriorate. This report enumerates select incidents illustrating longstanding, systematic violations in the region and emerging trends in the human rights crisis in IAK, including:
▪ Denial of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and belief and the right to work through the termination of employment.
▪ Denial of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and belief and collective punishment through the expropriation of homes and property.
▪ Denial of the rights to freedom of expression, opinion and belief through the criminalization of online speech.
▪ Denial of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly and the right to privacy through enhanced physical and electronic surveillance.
▪ Denial of the right to free expression and free movement through the cancellation of travel documents.
▪ Denial of social and political rights through the manipulation of nominally representative structures.
▪ Denial of economic rights, including through the systematic expropriation of land and related private investments.
▪ The acceleration of settler colonialism and forced demographic change.
▪ Denial of cultural rights, including through the Indianization of local names and systematic promotion of Hindi.

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In December 2023, Indian authorities continued to commit grave human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir (IAK). Indian forces killed at least five individuals, including three civilians who were killed in army custody. Indian authorities also continued to arbitrarily detain people and expropriate property based on purported links to terrorism. Indian authorities continued to target social media dissent through criminal charges, expand their digital surveillance capabilities including through AI-based facial recognition technology, and deny fundamental political rights in IAK, including through banning of two more pro-self-determination political parties.

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