US report on indian human Rights abuses
www.state.gov...
Findings
CUSTODIAL KILLINGS: Among the worst of these violations have been the summary executions of hundreds of detainees in the custody of the security
forces in Kashmir. Such killings are carried out as a matter of policy. Nineteen cases are documented in detail in the report. In one case, Border
Security Force (BSF) troops detained a young man, Masroof Sultan, tortured him with electric shock, and then took him to a field where they shot him
four times and left him for dead. In another case documented in the report, four young men were all shot dead after being taken into custody on April
9, 1993, despite the fact that the Deputy Commissioner told relatives the young men were in custody but would be released.
REPRISAL ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS: Indian army soldiers and federal paramilitary troops of the BSF and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have also
engaged in frequent reprisal attacks against civilians, opening fire in crowded markets and residential areas, and burning down entire neighborhoods.
Security legislation has increased the likelihood of such abuses by authorizing the security forces to shoot to kill and to destroy civilian property.
Under these laws, the security forces are protected from prosecution for human rights violations. The report documents many such incidents, including
the burning of Lal Chowk, Srinagar, on April 10, 1993, during which BSF troops set fire to buildings and shot civilians trying to flee the flames.
TORTURE: Most detainees taken into custody by the security forces in Kashmir are tortured. Torture is practiced to coerce detainees to reveal
information about suspected militants or to confess to militant activity. It is also used to punish detainees who are believed to support or
sympathize with the militants and to create a climate of political repression. Methods of torture include severe beatings, electric shock, suspension
by the feet or hands, stretching the legs apart, burning with heated objects, and crushing the muscles with a heavy wooden roller.
RAPE: Rape most often occurs during crackdowns, cordon-and- search operations during which men are held for identification in parks or schoolyards
while security forces search their homes. In these situations, the security forces frequently engage in collective punishment against the civilian
population by assaulting residents and burning their homes.
ASSAULTS ON MEDICAL WORKERS: Health professionals in Kashmir have frequently been detained, assaulted and harassed while attempting to perform their
duties. Ambulance drivers have been deliberately prevented from transporting injured persons to hospitals for emergency care, and several have been
beaten or strafed while attempting to provide care to the wounded. Doctors and other medical staff frequently have been threatened, beaten and
detained. Several have been shot dead while on duty; others have been tortured. A prominent victim of extrajudicial execution by the security forces
was Dr. Farooq Ahmed Ashai, who was shot by CRPF troops as he passed a security force bunker near the Rambagh bridge in Srinagar on February 18,
1993.
EXECUTIONS BY MILITANT GROUPS: Armed militant organizations in Kashmir have committed grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian
law. Militant groups have threatened, assaulted and murdered Hindus residing in the Kashmir valley, forcing most of the Hindu community to flee to
refugee camps in Jammu and Delhi, where many remain in increasingly desperate conditions. Armed with sophisticated weaponry mostly procured in
Pakistan, militant groups have continued to attack civilians, including civil servants, members of political organizations opposed by the militants,
and others accused of being informers.
RAPE, TORTURE AND INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS BY MILITANTS: Militant groups have also tortured and raped persons in their custody, and have carried out
summary executions of detainees and captured security personnel as a matter of policy. They have also thrown grenades at buses and government
buildings and have detonated car bombs, killing and wounding civilians. These attacks have occurred not only in the Kashmir valley but also in
Jammu.
www.phrusa.org...
www.infopak.gov.pk...
[edit on 26-6-2005 by chinawhite]
