Jammu
Eight prominent international human rights organizations have expressed serious concern over the prevailing grim human rights violation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir where the Indian authorities continue to impose lockdown for the past over seven months.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the concern has been articulated by Amnesty International, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists, International Federation for Human Rights Leagues, International Service for Human Rights and World Organization Against Torture in a joint statement in Geneva.
These organizations express grave concern over the human rights situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where the authorities imposed severe restrictions after a decision to revoke special status of the territory on August 5, 2019, including one of the world’s longest internet shutdowns, which the Indian Supreme Court has said violates the right to freedom of expression.
The statement said that hundreds were arbitrarily arrested, and there were some serious allegations of beatings and abusive treatment in custody, including alleged cases of torture.
It said that three former puppet chief ministers, other leading politicians, as well as Hurriyat leaders and their supporters, remained in detention under the draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA), and other abusive laws, many without charge and in undisclosed locations outside occupied Kashmir.
“This violates fair trial safeguards of the criminal justice system and undermines accountability, transparency, and respect for human rights. Journalists and human rights defenders have been threatened for criticizing the clampdown.
These violations, as those committed over the past decades, are met with chronic impunity,” it added.—KMS
