Pak v India - Media Conspiracy?, page 1

Here's some REALLY shocking stuff from Part III;

(1) murder and torture of captured combatants -- POWs. POWs have none of their rights under Geneva Convention and customary rules.

As we set out above, the Indian forces do not comply at all with humanitarian law provisions regarding treatment of prisoners-of-war. To our best knowledge, there are no publicly- acknowledged POW camps. No human rights investigator has ever found a POW camp. International monitoring in this area is non- existent. However, it is clear that the Indian forces are able to capture some opposition combatants, and it must be assumed that these POWs are tortured and killed in violation of the Geneva Conventions and customary standards.

(2) rape of Kashmiri women carried out on a large scale.

In our past reports, we set out examples of war-time rape of Kashmiri women. Since our last report, we have verified more than 200 such rapes in Doda and the valley in January 1994 alone. In some of the outlying areas, during the same period 5 women were found dead after dying under rape. Rape continues to be a major means of Indian oppression against Kashmiri people.

(3) constant and continuing armed attacks against the civilian population in Kashmir.

Our investigators consistently verify that the vast majority of casualties in the Kashmiri war are civilians, caught up in "crackdowns", "sweeps" or just gunned down or tortured to death. Other human rights investigations have also verified the same pattern of civilian casualties and large numbers of custodial deaths.

(4) the refusal by Indian authorities to allow public, independent, unfettered monitoring of the situation.

The Indian authorities have consistently refused permission for independent, international monitoring of the situation in Kashmir. Human rights organizations such as ours are routinely denied permission to investigate openly. Although India has permitted one assessment visit by the International Committee of the Red Cross and one by the International Commission of Jurists in recent years, apparently other organizations have had difficulty arranging open investigation. The International Federation of Human Rights and Amnesty International have been recently denied permission to visit.

(5) attacks on hospitals and medical personnel.

Our investigators have reported on the poor conditions in hospitals and clinics, in part because of forays by Indian troops into medical facilities. Some hospitals have noticeable bullet holes. A 1994 report by a British doctor contains eyewitnesses accounts that are similar to our investigators findings: there have been raids on Lal Ded Women's Hospital and doctors and medical personnel are "threatened beaten and detained." A colleague of that doctor told how Indian forces had beaten him, fracturing his arm.

(6) interference with communications and humanitarian assistance.

In 1995 there were numerous attacks on journalists and oncommunication in general. Journalist Mushtaq Ali (Agence France-Presse) was killed on September 7, 1995. Other journalists havebeen harassed, attacked and arrested. The media is severelyrestricted. Humanitarian aid is severely limited as outsidegroups are not allowed to provide medicine and other reliefmaterials.

(7) destruction of Kashmiri villages, cultural artifacts, etc..

This report sets out several of the many incidents of thedestruction of revered places, shrines and cultural places byIndian forces. Whole villages have been burned to the ground inthe course of the long war. Srinagar and other manor citiesclearly show the effects of repeated military operations.

(8) torture of POWs and civilians.

At time of writing there are approximately 60 interrogationcenters of the Indian forces in Kashmir where torture is anevery-day occurrence. The International Federation of HumanRights has been meticulous in its own clandestine investigationsand in its interviews with people outside of Kashmir who spenttime in the various centers to verify the existence and practicesof these centers. While our delegates have seen much evidenceof torture, we also point out that many of the reports of non-governmental organizations listed in the bibliography providedetained evidence of the practice of torture in Kashmir. TheUnited Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture also documentsincidence of torture in India-occupied Kashmir. The InternationalRehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (Copenhagen) have alsoverified torture of kashmiris by Indian forces.

(9) serious violations of the rights of civilian and military detainees.

Kashmir is still under Indian rule so is the media silence on these issues to be considered as part of some 'conspiracy'?

[edit on 18-12-2008 by Jinni]