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The '''human rights abuses in Kashmir''' date back to 1558 with the arrest and imprisonment of the last independent ruler of Kashmir, ] and the end of the independence of Kashmir under the ].<ref name="Last ruler of Kashmir">{{cite book | authors=Pran Nath Chopra, B. N. Puri, M. N. Das | title=Medieval India: A Comprehensive History of India | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Y7fUHMEDAyEC&pg=PA83&dq=Last+independeant+ruler+of+kashmir+yousuf+shah+chak&output=htdml_text&cd=2 | accessdate=24 December, 2012 |year=2003 | publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2003| isbn=9788120725089 | page=83}}</ref><ref name="Last ruler of Independent Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Mohan C. Bhandari | title=Solving Kashmir | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ChbvL5i0O7YC&pg=PA44&dq=Last+independeant+ruler+of+kashmir+yousuf+shah+chak&output=html_text&cd=1 | accessdate=24 December, 2012 |year=2006 | publisher=Lancer Publishers, 2006| isbn=9788170621256 | page=44}}</ref> Since the ], Kashmir has been a disputed and divided territory with human rights abuses in both the section administered by India (]) and that administered by Pakistan (] and ]).
'''Human rights abuses''' in all the administered areas areas of ] have been reported by non governmental agency's such as ]


==Background==
⚫ ==Jammu and Kashmir==
===Durrani Empire===
The Mughal rule was followed by the ] of ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/>
===Sikh and Dogra rule===
In 1819, Kashmir was conquered by the armies of the ] under ] of ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh>''Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15''. 1908. "Kashmir: History." pp. 94-95.</ref> As the Kashmiris had suffered under the Afghans, they initially welcomed the new Sikh rulers.<ref name=schofield_p5-6>{{Harvnb|Schofield|2010|pp=5&ndash;6}}</ref> However, the Sikh governors turned out to be hard taskmasters, and Sikh rule was generally considered oppressive,<ref name=madan2008-p15>{{Harvnb|Madan|2008|p=15}}</ref> due to the remoteness of Kashmir from the capital of the Sikh empire in Lahore;<ref name=zutshi_p39-41>{{Harvnb|Zutshi|2003|pp=39&ndash;41}}</ref> ] was appointed governor of Kashmir in 1820. With the help of his officer, ], an autocratic ] rule was established which lasted till the ].<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/> The Sikhs enacted a number of anti-Muslim laws,<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> which included handing out death sentences for cow slaughter,<ref name=schofield_p5-6/> closing down the ] in Srinagar,<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> and banning the '']'', the public Muslim call to prayer.<ref name=zutshi_p39-41/> Kashmir had also now begun to attract European visitors, several of whom wrote of the abject poverty of the large Muslim peasantry and of the exorbitant taxes under the Sikhs.<ref name=schofield_p5-6/> According to some contemporary accounts, high taxes had depopulated large tracts of the countryside, allowing only one-sixteenth of the cultivable land to be cultivated.<ref name=schofield_p5-6/>

In 1845, the ] awarded Kashmir to the Dogra ruler ] for 75 lakhs.<ref name=imperialgazet-gulabsingh/> The area included Ladakh in the east, Jammu in the south, central Kashmir valley, ] in the northeast, the ] in the north, and ] in the west.<ref name=bowers>Bowers, Paul. 2004. , International Affairs and Defence, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom.</ref> ]'s 1895 book '']'' reflects the oppression of the people under the autocratic rule of dogras: {{quote|“The peasants were overworked, half-starved, treated with hard words and hard blows, subjected to unceasing exactions and every species of petty tyranny... While in the cities a number of unwholesome and useless professions, and a crowd of lazy menials, pampered the vices or administered to the pride and luxury of the great."<ref name="Sir Walter Lawrence">{{cite book | author=Sir Walter Roper Lawrence | title=The Valley of Kashmir | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DqAHweWRUs0C&pg=PA2&lpg=PP1&dq=the+valley+of+kashmir&lr=&output=html_text | accessdate=24 December 2012 |year=1895 | publisher=Asian Educational Services | isbn=9788120616301 | page=2–}}</ref>}}

In the British census of India of 1941, Kashmir registered a Muslim majority population of 77%, a Hindu population of 20%, and a sparse population of Buddhists and Sikhs comprising the remaining 3%.<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17>{{Harvnb|Bose|2005|pp=15&ndash;17}}</ref> That same year, Prem Nath Bazaz, a ] journalist wrote: “The poverty of the Muslim masses is appalling. ... Most are landless laborers, working as serfs for absentee landlords ... Almost the whole brunt of official corruption is borne by the Muslim masses.”<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Bose|2005|pp=15&ndash;17}}</ref> For almost a century until the census, a small Hindu elite had ruled over a vast and impoverished Muslim peasantry.<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17/><ref name=talbot-singh-p54>{{Harvnb|Talbot|Singh|2009|p=54}}</ref> Chronically indebted to landords and moneylenders, having no education or awareness of rights,<ref name=bose-sumantra-2005-p15-17/> the Muslim peasants had no political representation until the 1930s.<ref name=talbot-singh-p54/> In 1947, at the conclusion of ] in the subcontinent, Kashmir saw invasion and occupation at the hands of ] and ].<ref name="division of Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Arthur Mark Weisburd | title=Use of Force: The Practice of States, 1945-1991 | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ASPds6gT1CsC&pg=PA98&dq=kashmir+was+invaded+by+india+and+pakistan+1947&output=html_text&cd=10 | accessdate=24 December, 2012 |year=1997 | publisher=Penn State Press, 1997| isbn=9780271016801 | page=98}}</ref>

==Post-partition==
===Line of Control===
The ] (LOC) is a military control line between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The line does not constitute a legally international boundry but it is a ] border, designated in 1948 as a cease-fire line, it divided Kashmir ito two parts and closed the Jehlum valley route, the only entrance of the ]. This territorial division which, to this day still exists severed many villages and separated family members from each other. <ref>Ranjan Kumar Singh, '''Sarhad: Zero Mile''', (Hindi), ''Parijat Prakashan'', ISBN 81-903561-0-0</ref><ref name="loc kashmir">{{cite book | author=Women in Security, Conflict Management, a Peace (Program) | title=Closer to ourselves: stories from the journ towards peace in South Asia | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?q=line+of+control+separated+villages+families+relatives+in+kashmir&btnG=Search+Books | accessdate=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=WISCOMP, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lam 2008 | isbn= | page=75}}</ref> The ] planted by the ] alongsides of the line have killed scores of innocent people and left thousands as disabled. Without compensation, these disabled persons in the Indian Kashmir are fighting for the survival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tehelka.com/mines-of-war-maim-innocents/|title=Mines of war maim innocents|publisher=tehelka.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref>

During ], the ] and the supporters of ] blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National highway (]). The only national highway which connects ] to the rest of India remained closed for several days and stopped the supply of essential commodities.<ref>{{cite news|last=Masoodi|first=Nazir|coauthors=Razdan, Nidhi|url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080054234&ch=6/24/2008%209:54:00%20PM|title=J&K tense over land transfer to Amarnath shrine|publisher=NDTV|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2012-11-27}}</ref><ref name="hindustantimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/special-news-report/News-Feed/It-s-not-Jammu-or-Kashmir/Article1-329067.aspx|title=It‘s not Jammu or Kashmir|publisher=hindustantimes.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/protests-in-delhi-over-amarnath-land-row_10065628.html|title=Protests in Delhi over Amarnath land transfer row|publisher=thaindia.com|accessdate=2012-12-27}}</ref> In response to the blockade, on 11 August 2008, under the leadership of ], 50,000 to 2,50,000 Kashmiri protesters attempted to cross the Line of Control to ]. The protesters were stopped at ] which resulted in killing of fifteen people and hundreds injured when police and Indian paramilitary forces fired on them.<ref></ref><ref></ref><ref name="times_tensions"></ref> A slogan raised by the protesters was, ''Khooni lakir tod do aar paar jod do'' (Break down the blood-soaked Line of Control let Kashmir be united again).<ref name="Aazadi Kashmir">{{cite book | author=Arundhati Roy | title=Aazadi for Kashmir | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=QDEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23&dq=line+of+control+in+kashmir+most+inhumane&output=html_text&cd=3 | accessdate=27 December 2012 |year=2008 | publisher=Outlook publishing | isbn= | page=23}}</ref>

⚫ ===Jammu and Kashmir===
{{main|Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}} {{main|Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir}}
'''Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir''', a ] administered by ], are an ongoing issue, ranging from mass killings, ], rape, ], torture and the use of ] by insurgents to political repression and suppression of ]. The Indian central reserve police force and border security personal<ref name=Hindwan>{{cite journal|last=Hindwan|first=Sudhir|title=Policing the police|journal=Indian Defence Review|year=1998|volume=13|issue=2|editor1-first=Bharat|editor1-last=Verma|page=95|publisher=Lancer|issn=0970-2512}}</ref> and various ] groups have been accused,<ref name=Hartjen>{{cite book|last=Hartjen|first=Clayton|title=The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions|year=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1461421788|edition=2012|author2=S. Priyadarsini|page=106}}</ref> of committing systematic human rights abuses against the Muslim majority and Hindu minority population.<ref name=Soman>{{cite book|last=Soman|first=Zakia|title=Peace and Justice|year=2010|publisher=Pearson Education|isbn=9788131729441|author2=Jimmy Dabh|page=9}}</ref> '''Human rights abuses in ]''', a ] administered by ], are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, ], torture, ]<ref name=Hartjen /> to political repression and suppression of ]. The Indian army, central reserve police force, border security personnel and various ] groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against ].<ref name=Rnews>{{cite news|title=23 years on, Kashmiri Pandits remain refugees in their own nation|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/kashmiri-pandits-remain-refugees-in-their-own-nation/20120119.htm|accessdate=25 December 2012|newspaper=Rediff News}}</ref><ref name=Hindwan>{{cite journal|last=Hindwan|first=Sudhir|title=Policing the police|journal=Indian Defence Review|year=1998|volume=13|issue=2|editor1-first=Bharat|editor1-last=Verma|page=95|publisher=Lancer|issn=0970-2512}}</ref><ref name=Hartjen>{{cite book|last=Hartjen|first=Clayton|title=The Global Victimization of Children: Problems and Solutions|year=2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-2178-8|edition=2012|coauthors=S. Priyadarsini|page=106}}</ref> A ] issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent wide spread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/wikileaks-cables-indian-torture-kashmir | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Jason | last=Burke | title=WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir | date=25 December 2012}}</ref>

⚫ ====Paramilitary groups====
⚫ During the eruption of armed rebellion the insurgency has claimed to have specifically targeted the Hindu ]s minority and violated their human rights.<ref name=BBCuk>. BBC news.</ref> Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 1,40,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm |title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |publisher=The Hindu |date=2010-03-24 |accessdate=2012-08-03 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=731448 |title=219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989 |publisher=news.outlookindia.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref> Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref>


According to a report published by ''Asia Watch'': {{quote|In Kashmir, the militant forces do not control territory and their military operations are generally characterised by ambushes of government forces and hit-and-run attacks for which ther rely on weapons such as AK-47s, grenades, mines and other small arms. However, the guerrillas command considerable support throughout the valley and may take refuge among local civilians following these operations. Unable to locate or identify the militants, government forces routinely respond to the attacks by retaliating against entire villages, killing and assaulting civilians and destroying their property.<ref name="Cashmere">{{cite book | authors=James Goldston, Patricia Gossman | title=Human Rights in India: Kashmir Under Siege | url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=jrGwSsSchRUC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA17&dq=indian+troops+in+jammu+and+kashmir&lr=&output=html_text | accessdate=25 December 2012 |year=2000 | publisher=Asia Watch Committee (U.S.), Human Rights Watch (Organization) | isbn=9780300056143 | page=19}}</ref>}}
⚫ ===Paramilitary groups===
{{Rquote|right|"Our people were killed. I saw a girl tortured with cigarette butts. Another man had his eyes pulled out and his body hung on a tree. The armed separatists used a chainsaw to cut our bodies into pieces. It wasn't just the killing but the way they tortured and killed."|A crying old Kashmiri Hindu in refugee camps of Jammu told BBC news reporter<ref name=BBCuk/>}}
⚫ During the eruption of armed rebellion the Islamic insurgency has claimed to have specifically targeted the Hindu ]s minority and violated their human rights.<ref name=BBCuk>. BBC news.</ref> Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 1,40,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/24/stories/2010032461230900.htm |title=Front Page : "219 Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants since 1989" |publisher=The Hindu |date=2010-03-24 |accessdate=2012-08-03 |location=Chennai, India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=731448 |title=219 Pandits Killed in J&K Since 1989 |publisher=news.outlookindia.com |accessdate=2012-08-03}}</ref> Reports from ], Human Rights Watch and the ] confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref>


According to a resolution passed by the ] in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes.<ref name=USHR>{{cite web|title=Pallone introduces resolution condemning human rights violations against kashmiri pandits|url=http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj06_pallone/pr_feb15_kashmir.html|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref> According to a resolution passed by the ] in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes.<ref name=USHR>{{cite web|title=Pallone introduces resolution condemning human rights violations against kashmiri pandits|url=http://www.house.gov/list/press/nj06_pallone/pr_feb15_kashmir.html|publisher=U.S. House of Representatives|accessdate=30 August 2012}}</ref>


These groups which received weapons and other support from ] targeted the ] forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee and an estimated 350,000 are displaced since 1990.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|edition=1st|author2=Leslie Alan Horvitz|page=260}}</ref> The ] which was founded in 1980's as a militant wing of ] in conjunction with ] carried out a massacre of 23 people including women and children in Wandhamaforces and two years later in another joint operation they massacred 35 Sikh men in Chattisinghpora.<ref name=Kushner>{{cite book|last=Kushner|first=Harvey W.|title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism|year=2003|publisher=Sage|isbn=0-7619-2408-6|pages=171–172}}</ref> These groups targeted the ] forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee and an estimated 350,000 are displaced since 1990.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|edition=1st|coauthors=Leslie Alan Horvitz|page=260}}</ref>


On 25 January 1998, 23 ]s, including nine women and four young children living in the village of ], were killed by unknown persons wearing the uniforms of Indian Army soldiers, who had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Pandit families in the village had been covered. Thereafter, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with ] rifles<ref>{{cite web|author=IBTL |url=http://www.ibtl.in/news/states/1705/the-massacre-at-wandhama--kashmir-:-25-january-1998/ |title=The Massacre at Wandhama, Kashmir : 25 January 1998 |publisher=Ibtl.in |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name="subcontinent.com">"23 Kashmiri Hindus Gunned Down on Republic Day Eve". Retrieved 2009-11-25.</ref><ref name="rediff.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/jan/27kash.htm |title='I heard the cries of my mother and sisters','&#39;rediff.com'&#39; |publisher=Rediff.com |date=1998-01-27 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name="Indian Express">{{cite web|author=PRADEEP DUTTA Posted: Jul 28, 2002 at 0000 hrs IST JAMMU |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/archive_full_story.php?content_id=6689 |title=I saw them kill my entire family '&#39;IndianExpress.com'&#39; |publisher=Indianexpress.com |date=2002-07-28 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref>
Pakistan-backed paramilitary groups have also been accused of using children as young as 10 to act as messengers and spies. They have also used children to throw grenades at security forces and to plant explosive devices.<ref name=Hartjen /> Militant groups have also kidnapped journalists, tortured and killed them and have intimidated newspapers into not publishing story's on human rights abuses.<ref name=Karatnycky />


===Indian security forces === ====Indian security forces ====
In July 1990 the Indian military was given special powers under ](AFSPA), which human rights groups claim gives the security force virtual immunity for crimes committed.<ref name=Egyesült>{{cite book|last=Egyesült|first=Államok|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007|year=2008|publisher=House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations|isbn=9780160813993|page=2195}}</ref> On the 26 of February 2009 the chief minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral.<ref name=Chatterji>{{cite book|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|title=South Asian Feminisms|year=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822351795|page=195|editor=Ania Loomba, Ritty A. Lukose}}</ref> In 1992 the ] has described the abuses carried out as having "reached a staggering proportion" and that they were "unprecedented in it's brutality".<ref name=ILO>{{cite book|title=Record of proceedings|year=1992|publisher=International Labour Organization|isbn=92-2-107530-3|page=88}}</ref> International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented human rights abuses carried out during India's counter terrorism operations, disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions have all been carried out with impunity.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref> In July 1990 the Indian military was given special powers under ](AFSPA), which human rights groups claim gives the security force virtual immunity for crimes committed.<ref name="Egyesült">{{cite book|last=Egyesült|first=Államok|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007|year=2008|publisher=House, Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations|isbn=9780160813993|page=2195}}</ref> The law provides them a shield, when committing human rights violations and has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as being wrongly used by the forces.<ref> ] retrieved 11 September 2012</ref> This law is widely condemned by human rights groups.<ref name="AI Press Release Feb 2012">{{cite web|title=INDIA: SECURITY FORCES CANNOT CLAIM IMMUNITY UNDER AFSPA, MUST FACE TRIAL FOR VIOLATIONS|url=http://www.amnesty.org/zh-hant/node/29591|publisher=Amnesty International|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=TrustLaw>{{cite web|title=Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir|url=http://www.trust.org/trustlaw/news/mass-rape-survivors-still-wait-for-justice-in-kashmir|publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref> United Nations ] ] has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.<ref name="Navi Pillay">{{cite web|title=India has duty to use global influence to speak out on human rights|url=http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30280&Cr=india&Cr1=human+rights|publisher=United Nations News Service|accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref>


{{quote|“All three special laws in force in the state assist the government in shielding the perpetrators of human rights violations from prosecution, and encourage them to act with impunity. Provisions of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act clearly contravene international human rights standards laid down in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as members of the UN Human Rights Committee have pointed out. One Committee member felt that provisions of the act – including imunity from prosecution – were highly dangerous and encouraged violations of the right to life“.|A clipping from a report published by the Amnesty International, 1995.<ref name="amnesty.org">http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/002/1995/en/42cb86f1-1ffe-4b90-a12d-c3f6f03b164d/asa200021995en.pdf</ref>
Human rights watch has also accused the ] of using ],<ref>{{cite web|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,CSCOAL,,IND,,498805f12d,0.html |title=Refworld &#124; Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - India |publisher=UNHCR |date=1997-02-19 |accessdate=2013-02-23}}</ref><ref group=note>The Indian Government claims that even though children can join the armed forces, they are not formally enrolled into regular service before the age of 18. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian army has armed local Village Defence Committees (VDC) – primarily Hindus – in Doda, Udhampur and the border districts to assist security forces in anti-insurgency operations.(HRW, Behind the Kashmir Conflict: Abuses by Indian Security Forces and Militant Groups Continue, op. cit.; Bukhari, S., "Militants kill 19 in Jammu", The Hindu, 21/7/99.) So far more than 15,000 inhabitants, reportedly including teenagers, have joined these self-defence groups.("Jammu & Kashmir: the new vigilantes: despite lack of proper training and sophisticated arms, Village Defence Committees are proving invaluable in the fight against militancy in the state", India Today, 11/10/99.) <p>At the Asia-Pacific Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers in May 2000 the representative of the state government of Jammu and Kashmir denied the involvement of children in VDCs. He acknowledged that there may have been some instances of young boys taking up arms to defend themselves under attack, but that there was "no policy to encourage young boys to become members of the Village Defence Committees."</ref> although the Indian government denies this allegation.<ref name="Hartjen"/> India has also created auxiliaries made up from captured or surrendered militants. These groups have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|year=2006|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|author2=Leslie Alan Horvitz|page=260}}</ref><ref name=Karatnycky>{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties|year=2001|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765801012|page=616}}</ref>
}}
{{quotation|According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has powers to:<ref name=afspa> Indian Ministry of Law and Justice Published by the Authority of New Delhi</ref>
*Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning.
<p>
*Destroy any arms dump, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence
<p>
*To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.
<p>
*To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.
<p>
*Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.
<p>
*Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.
<p>
*Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.
<p>
*Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.<ref name=afspa/>}}
On the 26 of February 2009 the chief minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral, though the millitancy has declined the act is still in force<ref name=Chatterji>{{cite book|last=Chatterji|first=Angana P.|title=South Asian Feminisms|year=2012|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822351795|page=195|editor=Ania Loomba, Ritty A. Lukose}}</ref> In 1992 the ] has described the abuses carried out as having "reached a staggering proportion" and that they were "unprecedented in it's brutality".<ref name=ILO>{{cite book|title=Record of proceedings|year=1992|publisher=International Labour Organization|isbn=92-2-107530-3|page=88}}</ref> International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented human rights abuses carried out during India's counter terrorism operations, disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions have all been carried out with impunity.<ref name=Forsythe>{{cite book|last=Forsythe|first=David P.|title=Encyclopedia of human rights, Volume 1|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195334029|page=306}}</ref>


The Indian Armed Forces which include Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Boder Security Force are accused of the following massacres in Jammu and Kashmir.
⚫ The security forces have also recruited ex service personal to set up village defense committees, these groups have carried out extra judicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations.<ref name=Karatnycky /> An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state ] has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people, though the government had previously stated the graves held only militants they had been unable to identify and that most had been Pakistani.<ref name=HRW>{{cite book|last=Watch|first=Human Rights|title=World Report 2012: Events of 2011|year=2012|publisher=Seven Stories|isbn=978-1-60980-389-6|page=329}}</ref>
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
*]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
⚫ * ]
* ]


Human rights watch has also accused the ] of using children as spy's and messengers,<ref name=Hartjen /> India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population.<ref name=Catherwood>{{cite book|last=Catherwood|first=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|year=2006|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-8130903637|coauthors=Leslie Alan Horvitz|page=260}}</ref><ref name=Karatnycky>{{cite book|last=Karatnycky|first=Adrian|title=Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties|year=2001|publisher=Transaction|isbn=978-0765801012|page=616}}</ref>
In October 2010, ] stated in an interview that over 95% of the allegations of human rights violations proved to be false and had apparently been levelled with the "ulterior motive of maligning the armed forces".<ref name="zeenews.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.zeenews.com/news663426.html|work=zeenews|title=95% HR violation cases against Army in J&K false}}</ref> Giving details, he said 988 allegations against the Army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir had been received since 1994; out of these, 965 cases were investigated and 940 were found false, accounting for 95.2 percent<ref name="zeenews.com"/> (although the investigation of these allegations was not open to scrutiny under the ]). Brigadier General Staff (BGS), Northern Command, Sanjay Verma also asserted that "As many as 1,514 FIRs have been registered against army personnel for alleged human rights violations in the last 20 years of militancy ..As many as 1,473 complaints - nearly 97 per cent of the cases-- were found false and baseless."<ref>{{cite news|title=J&K: 1,514 FIRs against Army, 97% cases false|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/jammu-and-kashmir/jandk-1-514-firs-against-army-97-cases-false_662525.html|accessdate=25 March 2013|newspaper=ZEE NEWS}}</ref>


⚫ The security forces have have carried out extra judicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations.<ref name=Karatnycky /> An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state ] has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people.<ref name=HRW>{{cite book|last=Watch|first=Human Rights|title=World Report 2012: Events of 2011|year=2012|publisher=Seven Stories|isbn=978-1-60980-389-6|page=329}}</ref>
==Pakistan administered Kashmir==


===Azad Kashmir=== ===Pakistan-administered Kashmir===
====Azad Kashmir====
{{main|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}} {{main|Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir}}
Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom.<ref name= UNHCRpak>, ], 2008-07-02</ref> Religious minorities also face unofficial economic and societal discrimination and have been targets of ].<ref name= UNHCRpak/> Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom.<ref name= UNHCRpak>, ], 2008-07-02</ref> Religious minorities also face unofficial economic and societal discrimination and have been targets of ].<ref name= UNHCRpak/>
Line 34: Line 86:
A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the ] by ], was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly.<ref>, ], 2006-12-08</ref> According to the ], Pakistan's ] operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is involved in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> Generally this is done with impunity and perpetrators go unpunished.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that ] was 'Not free'.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> According to Shaukat Ali, chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".<ref Name =GIC>, German Information Center, New Delhi, 2008-04-12</ref> A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the ] by ], was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly.<ref>, ], 2006-12-08</ref> According to the ], Pakistan's ] operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is involved in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> Generally this is done with impunity and perpetrators go unpunished.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that ] was 'Not free'.<ref name= UNHCRpak/> According to Shaukat Ali, chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".<ref Name =GIC>, German Information Center, New Delhi, 2008-04-12</ref>


===Gilgit-Baltistan=== ====Gilgit-Baltistan====
The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan.<ref name = indian_express>{{cite web|author=Nadeem |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gilgitbaltistan-a-question-of-autonomy/519428/1 |title=Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy |publisher=Indian Express |date=2009-09-21 |accessdate=2013-02-20}}</ref><ref name = gilgit_polls /> However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution.<ref name=gilgit_polls></ref><ref name = dawn_gilgit>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/30198 |title=DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy |publisher=Archives.dawn.com |date=2009-09-09 |accessdate=2013-02-20}}</ref> In 2007, ] stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives, and a nationalist movement, which seeks independence, is gaining ground. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights".<ref name=DAWN20090726>, '']'', 2009-07-26</ref> A two-day conference on Gilgit-Baltistan was held on 8–9 April 2008 at the European Parliament in ] under the auspices of the International Kashmir Alliance.<ref name=thaindian10037588>, ''Thaindian News'', 2008-04-13</ref> Several members of the ] expressed concern over the human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan and urged the government of Pakistan to establish democratic institutions and rule of law in the area.<ref name=thaindian10037588/><ref name=indianexpress556767>, '']'', 2009-12-20</ref> The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan.<ref name = indian_express>{{cite web|author=Nadeem | 21-Sep-2009 |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gilgitbaltistan-a-question-of-autonomy/519428/1 |title=Gilgit-Baltistan: A question of autonomy |publisher=Indian Express |date=2009-09-21 |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref><ref name = gilgit_polls /> However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution.<ref name=gilgit_polls></ref><ref name = dawn_gilgit>{{cite web|url=http://archives.dawn.com/archives/30198 |title=DAWN: Gilgit-Baltistan autonomy |publisher=Archives.dawn.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref> In 2007, ] stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives, and a nationalist movement, which seeks independence, is gaining ground. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights".<ref name=DAWN20090726>, '']'', 2009-07-26</ref> A two-day conference on Gilgit-Baltistan was held on 8–9 April 2008 at the European Parliament in ] under the auspices of the International Kashmir Alliance.<ref name=thaindian10037588>, ''Thaindian News'', 2008-04-13</ref> Several members of the ] expressed concern over the human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan and urged the government of Pakistan to establish democratic institutions and rule of law in the area.<ref name=thaindian10037588/><ref name=indianexpress556767>, '']'', 2009-12-20</ref>
In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan’s other provinces.<ref name = indian_express/> Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such a status constitutionally.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/> The direct rule by Islamabad is replaced by an elected legislative assembly and its chief minister.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/> In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan’s other provinces.<ref name = indian_express/> Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such a status constitutionally.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/> The direct rule by Islamabad is replaced by an elected legislative assembly and its chief minister.<ref name = indian_express/><ref name = dawn_gilgit/>
There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir.<ref name=DAWN20090830>, ], 2009-08-30</ref> The move has been dubbed as an eyewash to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government.<ref name=dailytimes2112010>, ], 2010-04-21</ref> The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India.<ref name = gilgit_polls>{{cite web|last=Shigri |first=Manzar |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/12/us-pakistan-election-idUSTRE5AB1ZE20091112 |title=Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls |publisher=Reuters.com |accessdate=2013-02-20}}</ref> 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable"<ref name = gilgit_polls/> There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir.<ref name=DAWN20090830>, ], 2009-08-30</ref> The move has been dubbed as an eyewash to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government.<ref name=dailytimes2112010>, ], 2010-04-21</ref> The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India.<ref name = gilgit_polls>{{cite web|last=Shigri |first=Manzar |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/12/us-pakistan-election-idUSTRE5AB1ZE20091112 |title=Pakistan's disputed Northern Areas go to polls |publisher=Reuters.com |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25}}</ref> 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable"<ref name = gilgit_polls/>


In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in ] to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of an 18-year old student.<ref>, '']'', 2009-12-27</ref> In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in ] to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of a 18-year old student.<ref>, '']'', 2009-12-27</ref>


Large protests erupted during the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12854-Tension-prevails-in-GB-after-Kohistan-killings |title=Tension prevails in GB after Kohistan killings |publisher=Thenews.com.pk |accessdate=2012-10-04}}</ref> Large protests erupted during the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-12854-Tension-prevails-in-GB-after-Kohistan-killings |title=Tension prevails in GB after Kohistan killings |publisher=Thenews.com.pk |date= |accessdate=2012-10-04}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Div col}}
* ]
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==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}


==References== ==References==

Revision as of 13:04, 25 May 2014

The human rights abuses in Kashmir date back to 1558 with the arrest and imprisonment of the last independent ruler of Kashmir, Yousuf Shah Chak and the end of the independence of Kashmir under the Mughals. Since the partition of India and Pakistan, Kashmir has been a disputed and divided territory with human rights abuses in both the section administered by India (Jammu and Kashmir) and that administered by Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan).

Background

Durrani Empire

The Mughal rule was followed by the Durrani Empire of Afghanistan.

Sikh and Dogra rule

In 1819, Kashmir was conquered by the armies of the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh of Lahore. As the Kashmiris had suffered under the Afghans, they initially welcomed the new Sikh rulers. However, the Sikh governors turned out to be hard taskmasters, and Sikh rule was generally considered oppressive, due to the remoteness of Kashmir from the capital of the Sikh empire in Lahore; Gulab Singh was appointed governor of Kashmir in 1820. With the help of his officer, Zorawar Singh, an autocratic Dogra rule was established which lasted till the Partition of India and Pakistan. The Sikhs enacted a number of anti-Muslim laws, which included handing out death sentences for cow slaughter, closing down the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, and banning the azaan, the public Muslim call to prayer. Kashmir had also now begun to attract European visitors, several of whom wrote of the abject poverty of the large Muslim peasantry and of the exorbitant taxes under the Sikhs. According to some contemporary accounts, high taxes had depopulated large tracts of the countryside, allowing only one-sixteenth of the cultivable land to be cultivated.

In 1845, the British awarded Kashmir to the Dogra ruler Gulab Singh for 75 lakhs. The area included Ladakh in the east, Jammu in the south, central Kashmir valley, Baltistan in the northeast, the Gilgit Agency in the north, and Punch in the west. Sir Walter Roper Lawrence's 1895 book The Valley of Kashmir reflects the oppression of the people under the autocratic rule of dogras:

“The peasants were overworked, half-starved, treated with hard words and hard blows, subjected to unceasing exactions and every species of petty tyranny... While in the cities a number of unwholesome and useless professions, and a crowd of lazy menials, pampered the vices or administered to the pride and luxury of the great."

In the British census of India of 1941, Kashmir registered a Muslim majority population of 77%, a Hindu population of 20%, and a sparse population of Buddhists and Sikhs comprising the remaining 3%. That same year, Prem Nath Bazaz, a Kashmiri Pandit journalist wrote: “The poverty of the Muslim masses is appalling. ... Most are landless laborers, working as serfs for absentee landlords ... Almost the whole brunt of official corruption is borne by the Muslim masses.” For almost a century until the census, a small Hindu elite had ruled over a vast and impoverished Muslim peasantry. Chronically indebted to landords and moneylenders, having no education or awareness of rights, the Muslim peasants had no political representation until the 1930s. In 1947, at the conclusion of British rule in the subcontinent, Kashmir saw invasion and occupation at the hands of India and Pakistan.

Post-partition

Line of Control

The Line of Control (LOC) is a military control line between Indian and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. The line does not constitute a legally international boundry but it is a de facto border, designated in 1948 as a cease-fire line, it divided Kashmir ito two parts and closed the Jehlum valley route, the only entrance of the Kashmir Valley. This territorial division which, to this day still exists severed many villages and separated family members from each other. The landmines planted by the Army alongsides of the line have killed scores of innocent people and left thousands as disabled. Without compensation, these disabled persons in the Indian Kashmir are fighting for the survival.

During 2008 Kashmir unrest, the Hindu extremist groups and the supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party blocked the Srinagar-Jammu National highway (NH 1A). The only national highway which connects Kashmir Valley to the rest of India remained closed for several days and stopped the supply of essential commodities. In response to the blockade, on 11 August 2008, under the leadership of Sheikh Abdul Aziz, 50,000 to 2,50,000 Kashmiri protesters attempted to cross the Line of Control to Muzaffarabad. The protesters were stopped at Uri which resulted in killing of fifteen people and hundreds injured when police and Indian paramilitary forces fired on them. A slogan raised by the protesters was, Khooni lakir tod do aar paar jod do (Break down the blood-soaked Line of Control let Kashmir be united again).

Jammu and Kashmir

Main article: Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir

Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir, a disputed territory administered by India, are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian army, central reserve police force, border security personnel and various militant groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. A WikiLeaks issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses, it stated that US diplomats possessed evidence of the apparent wide spread use of torture by Indian police and security forces.

Paramilitary groups

During the eruption of armed rebellion the insurgency has claimed to have specifically targeted the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits minority and violated their human rights. Reports by Indian government state 219 Kashmiri pandits were killed and around 1,40,000 migrated due to millitancy while over 3000 stayed in the valley. Reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists confirmed Indian reports of systematic human rights violations by Pakistan-backed militants.

According to a report published by Asia Watch:

In Kashmir, the militant forces do not control territory and their military operations are generally characterised by ambushes of government forces and hit-and-run attacks for which ther rely on weapons such as AK-47s, grenades, mines and other small arms. However, the guerrillas command considerable support throughout the valley and may take refuge among local civilians following these operations. Unable to locate or identify the militants, government forces routinely respond to the attacks by retaliating against entire villages, killing and assaulting civilians and destroying their property.

According to a resolution passed by the United States Congress in 2006, Islamic terrorists infiltrated the region in 1989 and since then nearly 400,000 Pandits were either murdered or forced to leave their ancestral homes.

These groups targeted the Hindus in the Kashmir valley forcing an estimated 100,000 to flee and an estimated 350,000 are displaced since 1990.

On 25 January 1998, 23 Kashmiri Pandits, including nine women and four young children living in the village of Wandhama, were killed by unknown persons wearing the uniforms of Indian Army soldiers, who had tea with them, waiting for a radio message indicating that all Pandit families in the village had been covered. Thereafter, they rounded up all the members of the Hindu households and then summarily gunned them down with Kalashnikov rifles

Indian security forces

In July 1990 the Indian military was given special powers under Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958(AFSPA), which human rights groups claim gives the security force virtual immunity for crimes committed. The law provides them a shield, when committing human rights violations and has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as being wrongly used by the forces. This law is widely condemned by human rights groups. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay has urged India to repeal AFSPA and to investigate the disappearances in Kashmir.

“All three special laws in force in the state assist the government in shielding the perpetrators of human rights violations from prosecution, and encourage them to act with impunity. Provisions of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act clearly contravene international human rights standards laid down in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as members of the UN Human Rights Committee have pointed out. One Committee member felt that provisions of the act – including imunity from prosecution – were highly dangerous and encouraged violations of the right to life“.

— A clipping from a report published by the Amnesty International, 1995.

According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an area that is proclaimed as "disturbed", an officer of the armed forces has powers to:

  • Fire upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order, after giving such due warning.

  • Destroy any arms dump, prepared or fortified position or shelter or training camp from which armed attacks are made by the armed volunteers or armed gangs or absconders wanted for any offence

  • To arrest without a warrant anyone who has committed cognizable offences or is reasonably suspected of having done so and may use force if needed for the arrest.

  • To enter and search any premise in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.

  • Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons.

  • Any person arrested and taken into custody under this Act shall be made over to the officer in charge of the nearest police station with the least possible delay, together with a report of the circumstances occasioning the arrest.

  • Army officers have legal immunity for their actions. There can be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against anyone acting under that law. Nor is the government's judgment on why an area is found to be disturbed subject to judicial review.

  • Protection of persons acting in good faith under this Act from prosecution, suit or other legal proceedings, except with the sanction of the Central Government, in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act.

On the 26 of February 2009 the chief minister stated the act should be repealed, the security forces however said that revoking the act would be detrimental to security and help terrorist moral, though the millitancy has declined the act is still in force In 1992 the International Labour Organization has described the abuses carried out as having "reached a staggering proportion" and that they were "unprecedented in it's brutality". International NGO's as well as the US state department have documented human rights abuses carried out during India's counter terrorism operations, disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions have all been carried out with impunity. The Indian Armed Forces which include Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Boder Security Force are accused of the following massacres in Jammu and Kashmir.

Human rights watch has also accused the Indian security forces of using children as spy's and messengers, India army have targeted reporters and human rights activists, they have also been accused of committing over 200 rapes in an attempt to intimidate the local population. The security forces have have carried out extra judicial killings, assaults and other human rights violations. An investigation by the Jammu and Kashmir state human rights commission has found 2730 bodies in unmarked graves at 38 sites in northern Kashmir. At least 574 of these were identified as being local people.

Pakistan-administered Kashmir

Azad Kashmir

Main article: Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir

Pakistan, an Islamic Republic, imposes multiple restrictions on peoples' religious freedom. Religious minorities also face unofficial economic and societal discrimination and have been targets of sectarian violence.

The constitution of Azad Kashmir specifically prohibits activities that may be prejudicial to the state's accession to Pakistan, and as such regularly suppresses demonstrations against the government. A number of Islamist militant groups operate in this area including Al-Qaeda, with tacit permission from Pakistan's intelligence. As in Indian administered Kashmir, there have been allegations of human rights abuse.

A report titled "Kashmir: Present Situation and Future Prospects", which was submitted to the European Parliament by Emma Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, was critical of the lack of human rights, justice, democracy, and Kashmiri representation in the Pakistan National Assembly. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence operates in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and is involved in extensive surveillance, arbitrary arrests, torture, and murder. Generally this is done with impunity and perpetrators go unpunished. The 2008 report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees determined that Pakistan-administered Kashmir was 'Not free'. According to Shaukat Ali, chairman of the International Kashmir Alliance, "On one hand Pakistan claims to be the champion of the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people, but she has denied the same rights under its controlled parts of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan".

Gilgit-Baltistan

The main demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is a constitutional status to the region as a fifth province of Pakistan. However, Pakistan claims that Gilgit-Baltistan cannot be given constitutional status due to Pakistan's commitment to the 1948 UN resolution. In 2007, International Crisis Group stated that "Almost six decades after Pakistan's independence, the constitutional status of the Federally Administered Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan), once part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and now under Pakistani control, remains undetermined, with political autonomy a distant dream. The region's inhabitants are embittered by Islamabad's unwillingness to devolve powers in real terms to its elected representatives, and a nationalist movement, which seeks independence, is gaining ground. The rise of sectarian extremism is an alarming consequence of this denial of basic political rights". A two-day conference on Gilgit-Baltistan was held on 8–9 April 2008 at the European Parliament in Brussels under the auspices of the International Kashmir Alliance. Several members of the European Parliament expressed concern over the human rights violation in Gilgit-Baltistan and urged the government of Pakistan to establish democratic institutions and rule of law in the area.

In 2009, the Pakistan government implemented an autonomy package for Gilgit-Baltistan which entails rights similar to those of Pakistan’s other provinces. Gilgit-Baltistan thus gains province-like status without actually being conferred such a status constitutionally. The direct rule by Islamabad is replaced by an elected legislative assembly and its chief minister.

There has been criticism and opposition to this move in Pakistan, India, and Pakistan administrated Kashmir. The move has been dubbed as an eyewash to hide the real mechanics of power, which allegedly are under the direct control of the Pakistani federal government. The package was opposed by Pakistani Kashmiri politicians who claimed that the integration of Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan would undermine their case for the independence of Kashmir from India. 300 activists from Kashmiri groups protested during the first Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly elections, with some carrying banners reading "Pakistan's expansionist designs in Gilgit-Baltistan are unacceptable"

In December 2009, activists of nationalist Kashmiri groups staged a protest in Muzaffarabad to condemn the alleged rigging of elections and killing of a 18-year old student.

Large protests erupted during the February 2012 Kohistan Killings.

See also

References

  1. Medieval India: A Comprehensive History of India. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 2003. 2003. p. 83. ISBN 9788120725089. Retrieved 24 December, 2012. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  2. Mohan C. Bhandari (2006). Solving Kashmir. Lancer Publishers, 2006. p. 44. ISBN 9788170621256. Retrieved 24 December, 2012. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Imperial Gazetteer of India, volume 15. 1908. "Kashmir: History." pp. 94-95.
  4. ^ Schofield 2010, pp. 5–6 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSchofield2010 (help)
  5. Madan 2008, p. 15 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFMadan2008 (help)
  6. ^ Zutshi 2003, pp. 39–41 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFZutshi2003 (help)
  7. Bowers, Paul. 2004. "Kashmir." Research Paper 4/28, International Affairs and Defence, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom.
  8. Sir Walter Roper Lawrence (1895). The Valley of Kashmir. Asian Educational Services. p. 2–. ISBN 9788120616301. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  9. ^ Bose 2005, pp. 15–17 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBose2005 (help)
  10. Quoted in Bose 2005, pp. 15–17 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBose2005 (help)
  11. ^ Talbot & Singh 2009, p. 54 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFTalbotSingh2009 (help)
  12. Arthur Mark Weisburd (1997). Use of Force: The Practice of States, 1945-1991. Penn State Press, 1997. p. 98. ISBN 9780271016801. Retrieved 24 December, 2012. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. Ranjan Kumar Singh, Sarhad: Zero Mile, (Hindi), Parijat Prakashan, ISBN 81-903561-0-0
  14. Women in Security, Conflict Management, a Peace (Program) (2008). Closer to ourselves: stories from the journ towards peace in South Asia. WISCOMP, Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lam 2008. p. 75. Retrieved 27 December 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. "Mines of war maim innocents". tehelka.com. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
  16. Masoodi, Nazir (2008-06-24). "J&K tense over land transfer to Amarnath shrine". NDTV. Retrieved 2012-11-27. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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