London, New Delhi: The London-based international human rights organization Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to stop human rights abuses in illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Amnesty International on Thursday released its briefing titled 3 years after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, which said that “members of civil society at large, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists have been subjected to particularly harsh interrogations”. , face forced travel bans, detentions and repressive media policies, and their appeals to courts and human rights institutions or their attempts to access justice are blocked.
In the briefing, it has been further said that the Indian government has intensified the series of human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir after the cancellation of the special status of the occupied territory.
The head of Amnesty International India, Akar Patel, said that “the Indian government has Civil society and media in Jammu and Kashmir have been subjected to severe crackdown for three years. The Indian government is suppressing dissent through black laws, strict policies and illegal methods.
The authorities are silencing all reliable and independent sources of information in Jammu and Kashmir by suppressing critical voices and targeting fear and terror. Heavy repression has created fear and uncertainty in the region.
Amnesty International said it reviewed 1,346 cases on the Jammu and Kashmir High Court’s website. The number of writ petitions filed till August 1, 2022 has increased by 32 percent, indicating an increase in cases of illegal detention over the past three years.
Amnesty International has also reviewed the data published by the National Crime Records Bureau, according to which, since 2019, the black law UAPA and the black law Public Safety Act have been misused in Jammu and Kashmir. There has been an increase of 12%.
Apart from this, Indian investigation agency NIA and Enforcement Directorate are also conducting raids to harass and scare people.
Amnesty International added that the people of Occupied Kashmir, especially the Hindu minority community, are facing extrajudicial killings by unknown persons and that these incidents have increased in recent times.
The Indian government has recently revealed that there has been an increase in the number of deaths in Occupied Kashmir police encounters between April 2020 and March 2022. Due to the continued enforcement of the black law Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the police have special powers and immunity in the occupied territory.
Amnesty International called on the Indian government to immediately release all forcibly detained Kashmiris and ensure that they are given prompt and fair trials in regular courts.
Amnesty International urged the international community to hold the Indian government accountable for serious human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure its cooperation with the United Nations and facilitate a prompt and independent investigation into the occupied territory.
Akar Patel, head of Amnesty International India, said that the Indian authorities should immediately end the long-running violence in Jammu and Kashmir.
