‘JK denying separatist rallies, making arbitrary detentions under PSA’ US State Department Report Paints Grim Scenario Of Human Rights Situation In State GK MONITORING DESK Srinagar, Feb 28: A report commissioned by the US Congress and published by the State Department this week has painted a grim scenario of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. It has especially referred to the failure of the Government to hold an inquiry into the issue of unmarked graves in Jammu and Kashmir, its continuation of “arbitrary detentions” under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and denying permission to separatists to hold public rallies. The report titled ‘India 2013 Human Rights Report” is spread over 68 pages and was released by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to mark the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY: The report says the law provides for freedom of assembly. “Authorities normally required permits and notification before parades or demonstrations, and local governments generally respected the right to protest peacefully, except in Jammu and Kashmir. In this State the local government sometimes denied permits to separatist parties for public gatherings, and security forces sometimes detained and assaulted separatists engaged in peaceful protest. During periods of civil tension, authorities used the criminal procedure code to ban public assemblies or impose a curfew,” the report says. It says, “There were restrictions on the organization of international conferences. NGOs were required to secure approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs before organizing international conferences. Authorities typically granted permission, but the process was lengthy. Human rights groups contended that this practice provided the government with political control over the work of NGOs and restricted their freedom of assembly and association.” MOVEMENT: Security forces often searched and questioned vehicle occupants at checkpoints, mostly in troubled areas in the Kashmir Valley, before public events in New Delhi, or after major militant attacks, the report reads. FOREIGN TRAVEL: The reports says the government legally may deny a passport to any applicant who it believes may engage in activities outside the country “prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation.” “Citizens from Jammu and Kashmir continued to face extended delays, often as long as two years, before the Ministry of External Affairs would issue or renew their passports. The government subjected applicants born in Jammu and Kashmir –including children born to military officers during their deployment in the state–to additional scrutiny, requests for bribes, and police clearances before issuing them passports,” it reads. Based on the state criminal investigation department records of her uncle, a former militant who surrendered in 1995, the Jammu and Kashmir state government did not initially grant a passport to Kashmiri teenager Sufaira Jan, who was selected for a one-year scholarship overseas. “Following media pressure and further security clearance reviews, the government granted her a passport,” the report reads. GOVT ATTITUDE: The report says the NHRC worked cooperatively with numerous NGOs, and NGOs had representation on several NHRC committees. “Human rights monitors in Jammu and Kashmir were able to document human rights violations, but security forces, police, and counterinsurgents at times, restrained or harassed them,” the report adds. The Jammu and Kashmir commission did not have the authority to investigate alleged human rights violations committed by members of paramilitary security forces. “The NHRC has jurisdiction over all human rights violations, except in certain cases in which the army is involved. In those cases the state of Jammu and Kashmir is covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Since the Ministry of Home Affairs controls paramilitary forces, the NHRC has full authority to investigate the cases of human rights violations committed by the paramilitary forces in the Northeast States and Jammu and Kashmir,” the report adds. WOMEN IN CONFLICT: Women in conflict situations, such as in Jammu and Kashmir, and vulnerable women, including lower-caste or tribal women, were often victims of rape or threats of rape. “National crime statistics indicated that, compared with other caste affiliations, rape was most highly reported among Dalit women,” the report adds. The report says that separatist insurgents and militants in Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt “committed numerous serious abuses, including killings of elected political leaders, armed forces personnel, police, government officials and civilians.” ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE: The report says there were reports that the government and its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and insurgents, especially in areas of conflict such as Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt. “Citing official statistics, news organizations reported 127 fake encounter cases in India during the 2012-13 Indian fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) , mostly in conflict areas. There were 555 fake encounter cases registered across the country during the past four years, with the most reported in Uttar Pradesh (138), followed by Manipur (62), Assam (52), West Bengal (35), Jharkhand (30), Chhattisgarh (29), Odisha (27), Jammu and Kashmir (26), Tamil Nadu (23), and Madhya Pradesh (20). Only 144 of 555 cases were solved as of July,” the report reads. The report makes a mention of Ramban and Shopian killings as well. “On July 18 last year, Border Security Force (BSF) personnel killed four persons in Ramban, Jammu, during a demonstration. Following an investigation, a special investigative tribunal of the Jammu and Kashmir police filed charges of “indiscriminate firing” against six personnel, including two officers of the 76th Battalion. The Ramban court reportedly allowed the BSF to try the personnel by court-martial instead of in civilian court. The Central Reserve Police Force killed four persons on September 7 and one on September 11 in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. At year’s end a judicial commission appointed to review the deaths was taking testimony from witnesses, the report reads. In January, the report said, the Supreme Court appointed an independent panel to investigate six alleged unlawful killings by security forces. “The panel concluded that in all six cases, the “encounters” were “not genuine” and that police had tried to make the killings appear defensible under the law,” the report added. UNMARKED GRAVES: It says the UN Special Rapporteur Christof Heyns released a report in April which stated that unmarked graves found in Jammu and Kashmir contained more than 2,943 bodies of victims of extrajudicial executions from 1990 to 2009. While the government expressed its intention to conduct investigations into unmarked graves, no investigation was initiated by year’s end. THE AFSPA: The report said the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) remained in effect in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, and parts of Tripura, and a version of the law was in effect in Jammu and Kashmir. “Under the AFSPA the government may declare any state or union territory a “disturbed area,” a declaration that allows security forces to fire on any person to “maintain law and order” and to arrest any person “against whom reasonable suspicion exists” without informing the detainee of the grounds for arrest. The law also gives security forces immunity from civilian prosecution for acts committed in regions under the AFSPA. There were no public records available of acts committed under the AFSPA,” the report said. KILLINGS: The report said the nongovernmental forces, including organized insurgents, reportedly committed numerous killings, especially in areas of conflict such as Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeastern States, and the Naxalite belt. THE PSA: The Public Safety Act, which applies only in Jammu and Kashmir, permits State authorities to detain persons without charge or judicial review for as long as two years. During this time family members do not have access to detainees. “Detainees are allowed access to a lawyer during interrogation, but police in Jammu and Kashmir routinely employed arbitrary detention and denied detainees, particularly the destitute, access to lawyers and medical attention,” the report said. “NGOs reported that the Jammu and Kashmir government held political prisoners and temporarily detained more than 600 persons characterized as militants, insurgents, and separatists under the Public Safety Act between 2005 and 2012,” the report reads. PROSECUTION SCENARIO: The report says the police or paramilitary forces were subject to prosecution for human rights violations. “In December the army opened a court-martial of two officers and four enlisted men involved in a 2010 fake encounter case in Kashmir. The accused allegedly killed three civilians in Machil along the Line of Control and falsely claimed that the victims were Pakistani infiltrators,” the report said. It said the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society reported eight extrajudicial killings by the armed forces in 2012. “The government failed to prosecute or conduct impartial investigations of these deaths by year’s end. The CBI did start an investigation into the killing of 19 persons in Poonch District on the border with Pakistan in August 1998, in response to a petition filed by the victims’ families in 2011. The high court ordered the CBI to prosecute the allegedly guilty police and army personnel,” the report said. “The NGOs reported that the armed forces continued to kill civilians with impunity provided under the AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir.” About the fatalities, it said The Institute for Conflict Management reported 181 fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir during the year, including 61 security forces persons, 20 civilians, and 100 militants. ABDUCTIONS: “Human rights groups maintained that military, paramilitary, and insurgent forces abducted numerous persons in Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Jharkhand, and the Naxalite belt. Human rights activists feared that some of the unacknowledged prisoners were tortured and/ or killed during detention,” it said. CENSORSHIP: The reports said activists disrupted a September 7-12 film festival in Hyderabad, “Kashmir Before Our Eyes.” “On September 7, Hindu activists vandalized a film studio that was scheduled to screen the movie, while police allegedly prohibited the screening of another movie at a cultural center in the city on September 10. The Censor Board had previously cleared all the films,” the report said.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Mar 2014 03:24:22 +0000
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