LATEST HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

NEW DELHI, Apr 28: Amnesty International (AI) has charged authorities for deliberately silencing human rights defenders and muzzling the media to keep the public in other parts of India ill-informed about the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The world body has concluded that in the present scenario, human rights activists were unable to properly monitor the situation and even face the danger of losing the credibility as human rights defenders.

In its latest report entitled "Persecuted for challenging injustice: Human rights defenders in India," the world civil rights body has said the human rights defenders operating in the troubled state have found no room for dialogue or no peaceful dissent was possible both within the state as well as with the armed opposition. Documenting the unnatural and mysterious deaths of various human rights activists, the report said, "the deaths have been successful in silencing many voices of concern about human rights in the Valley, hence, leaving a continuing void which only serves to feed the impunity with which violations are still perpetrated in the state."

In discussion with human rights defenders working in Jammu and Kashmir during 1999, the world body has highlighted various issues and particular problems faced by them. It said that officials are quick to condemn defenders as having truck with the armed opposition and accusing them of "defending the rights of terrorists and of exaggerating facts for political ends." Even in communication with the AI the Central government has openly questioned the credibility of human rights defenders, pointing to political affiliation and implying that documented human rights violations were are result of conflicts between armed groups. Amnesty International has dismissed the official argument, saying, "such responses are not meaningful when not supported by the findings of independent and impartial investigations."

Mentioning persecution against media, the AI report believed that media has been pushed into a situation, "where reporting on human rights violations by security forces in avoided given that supporting the morale of the security forces is considered paramount." This strategy has ensured that the public at large (particularly in other parts of India) are left ill informed of ground situation and therefore the opportunity for debate on human rights issue is severely restricted.

Documenting the case of the Srinagar based AFP journalist Surinder Singh Oberoi who was beaten by police on June 27, 1997, the AI document maintains the journalists who have attempted to gather information and report on human rights abuses by either side in the conflict have become target of attacks by security forces and armed groups as well as by "renegades". Mr. Oberio, said the report, was beaten when redirected his photographer Tauseef Mustafa to take pictures of the police beating and kicking a woman demonstrator infront of the UN Observer Group office in Srinagar. Journalists who protested against the same incident were tear-gased and some 20 others were injured.

In February 2000, security forces reportedly turned their guns on journalists who attempted to find out what had happened when Ghulam Mohiuddin Najar, a political activist and teacher, released on bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, was shot dead by members of the Special Operations Group (SOG) at the gate of the court.

Claiming that no command and accountability was governing the "renegades", the report added that the members of armed groups who were encouraged to surrender their arms in exchange of rehabilitation and employment have become an unofficial arm of the security forces in absence of sufficient funds for rehabilitation or proper employment programmes. They are carrying out abuses with even more impunity than the official agencies and operate without uniform or identity badges and the fear they generate is enormous," said the report.

Mentioning the travails faced by human rights activists and media at the hands of renegades, the AI document related an incident of a senior human rights activists who had gone to a village in Badgam prior to State Assembly elections in 1996 and that of senior journalist Ghulam Nabi Khayal. The human rights activist, who has preferred to remain anonymous in the report, had gone to document an incident in which security forced had destroyed houses and beaten inhabitants. On his return to Srinagar his car was stopped by two 'renegades'. They got into the car with him and drove with him for some time. Eventually they told the driver to stop the car and got out, telling him to drive on. The human rights activist saw this as a clear warning concerning his activities and had not been out of his house to document human rights abuses since that time. He has subsequently left the state, reported the AI document. The AI report further says that it is extremely difficult for human rights activists to travel far outside Srinagar in any safety. Most of the violations are reported to the occurring outside Srinagar—outside the gaze of the international and national media and the scrutiny of human rights defenders.

Assailing the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for accepting the government report and closing a 1997 case of the rape of women in Jammu and Kashmir, the world civil rights body said the human rights defenders were unable to purse the case for redress for the victims as they were so terrorised they refused to give further testimony. "The NHRC closed the case following a report by executive and army headquarters that found there was no truth in the allegations. No independent inquiry was carried out in the very serious allegations." The report concludes that in the present scenario, human rights activists are unable to property monitor the situation and in some cases can lose their credibility as human rights defenders.

In its report, Amnesty International has acknowledged the personal sacrificed made by scores of human rights defenders in pursuing their work. Particularly mentioned the names of H. N. Wanchoo, Dr. Abdul Ahad Guru, Dr. Farooq Ashai and noted human rights activist Jalil Andrabi, the leading human rights body has said that with the killing of these leading lights, "victims of abuse remained without the advice and support that human rights defenders could have extended."

The report has also acknowledged the contribution of the Association of Parents of Displaced Persons (APDP). But, said the activities of the Association were limited by the lack of funding, support and government approval for their work. It also mentioned that in September 1998 Haleema Begum, a member of the APDP was killed apparently due to her persistence with which she sought to trace her son.

In the continuing attack on human rights defenders, on December 5, 1999 a lawyer Kisan-ul-Din Ahmed of Baramula was reportedly beaten by security forces along with his mother-in-law and son. His crime was that he had filed a case against the security forces in the High Court.

On Jalil Andrabi's case, report said despite Special Investigation Team (SIT)s finding, no perpetrator has yet been apprehended or brought to justice. The SIT had held a Major from the territorial army responsible in April 1997. The army, however, maintained that the said Major had been hired for s specific period and was not currently in employment and could not be held responsible