Human rights situation in Kashmir

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HR groups file petition for re-probe into unmarked graves

Srinagar, June 02 : In  Kashmir, two human rights Groups filed a petition in State Human Rights Commission seeking re-investigation in 2,683 FIRs related to unidentified dead bodies buried in different unmarked graves in Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipora in North Kashmir.

In the petition filed by International Peoples Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) and Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), it has been submitted that the HRC should re-investigate these 2,683 FIRs to ascertain how many bodies are buried in the graves as per these FIRS.

“Besides, we have asked that the HRC direct for identifying the places of burial of these unidentified people registered in these 2,683 FIRs registered in 28 different police stations. Ascertain what procedures have been followed for the burial of these unidentified persons and also investigate what identification profile has been maintained for these unidentified persons registered in these 2683 FIRs by the concerned police’, Convener, IPTK, Khurram Parvez, told media men.

He said: “In the report from the inquiry conducted by the Police Investigation Wing of SHRC, the Police have stated that there are only 464 unidentified graves in north Kashmir. However, the records recently acquired through the RTI procedure suggests that there are 2,683 FIRs filed in various Police Stations of Baramulla, Kupwara, and Bandipora.”

It merits mentioning here that, the HRC of  Kashmir, which is also hearing a petition related to unmarked mass graves in occupied Kashmir including Poonch and Rajouri on May 28, gave final opportunity to the authorities to file their reports within a month about the presence of such graves in Poonch and Rajouri areas of the  Kashmir, failing which the Commission shall order an independent and impartial enquiry into the issue by next date.

I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead: Agya Kour

By: Sheikh Gulzaar
Srinagar: Family of a youth is awaiting justice for the past 11 years, demanding the whereabouts of their son, they say, was picked up by Special Operations Group of  Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Ichpal’s mother, Agya Kour, said her son left home on March 20, 1999 to get sugar from market, but never returned. “All I remember is that the incident took place one year after the Chittisingpora massacre,” she said, adding, “My son was on way to the market when the SOG picked him up. Since then, I have been moving from pillar to post for justice. I want my son.”

The family resides at Sanat Nagar on the city outskirts after migrating from Arina village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Ichpal, son of Karan Singh, was 13-year-old at the time of his arrest. “An SOG man would demand money from us after we sold a cow. But we refused,” she said.

In 2000, Kour said she filed a report about the case in police station, Saddar, and later moved the JK Human Rights Commission in 2001 when police did nothing.  In its judgment in 2003, the Commission recommended to the government that an amount of Rs 1 lakh be paid to Kour as ex-gratia relief and sent the order to chief secretary for implementation. “The Government shall inform the Commission about its action within one month,” the JKHRC said.

The 2-page report mentioned that the boy’s antecedents were “not shady” and the “police has not stated that he was involved in any anti-national or any illegal action.” Even the senior superintendent of police, Srinagar, in his report said that the youth was not involved in any militancy-related activity.

“The then government didn’t respect the JKHRC verdict. For three years, I was not given the ex-gratia even as I am very poor lady, working as peon and having an  ailing husband,” Kour said.

The ex-gratia was sanctioned to Kour on 10 July, 2006, by the then deputy commissioner, Budgam. But, Kour said, the amount could not compensate her son’s loss. “I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead, I want the killers behind bars,” she told me .(Writer-South Asia)

Kunan-Poshpora gang rape

Kashmir Human Rights asks Govt to reinvestigate Kunan-Poshpora gang rape case

Srinagar, Nov 6: : The JK Human Rights Commission (JKHRC) Wednesday asked the State government to start a fresh probe into the case relating to the alleged mass gang rape of women by army personnel in Kunan and Poshpora villages of Kupwara district 20 ago.

Announcing its recommendations on the case, a division bench of JKHRC asked the state government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the alleged mass gang rape of at least 31 women by army personnel in 1991.

Dozens of women from Kunan and Poshpora villages, around 110 km from here, had claimed that they were gang raped by army troopers during the intervening night of February 23 and 24 in 1991, leading to outrage across Kashmir.

"The SIT should be headed by an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police," the bench comprising JKHRC Chairman Justice (retd) Syed Bashiruddin Ahmad and Javaid Kawoos said.

It also asked the state government to prosecute the the then Director Prosecution who had sought closure of the case as the perpetrators were "untraceable".

"The then Director Prosecution had overstepped his brief...prosecution proceedings should be initiated against him and those officers who had approved his report," the JKHRC bench recommended.

Reading out from the report of the then district magistrate, Kawoos said 31 women, who claimed to have been victims of gangrape, had been sent for medical examination, which confirmed that they were subjected to atrocities.

"In the course of hearing the case, statements of 18 women were recorded and during which they testified that they were subjected to the atrocity," he said.

The Commission asked the state government to pay compensation of Rs two lakh each to the victims of the incident.

The then Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Wajahat Habibullah, who visited the villages following the allegations, had filed a confidential report in the same year about the incident.

"While the veracity of the complaint is highly doubtful, it still needs to be determined why such complaint was made at all. The people of the village are simple folk and by the army's own admission have been generally helpful and even careful of security of the army's officers," a part of Habibullah's report, released later, read.

"Unlike Brig Sharma, I found many of the village women genuinely angry... It is recommended that the level of investigation be upgraded to that of a gazetted police officer," it said.

In response to the criticism of the government's handling of the investigation, the army had requested the Press Council of India to investigate the incident.

The Press Council team, which visited Kashmir in June that year, claimed that "such a delayed medical examination proves nothing" and that the medical findings were typical among villagers.

The team concluded that the charges against the army were "well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies" and "a massive hoax orchestrated by militant groups and their sympathisers and mentors in Kashmir and abroad".

Sikh Mother awaits son, justice

Sikh Mother awaits son, justice
I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead

Srinagar, August 23: Family of a youth is awaiting justice for the past 11 years, demanding the whereabouts of their son, they say, was picked up by Special Operations Group of  Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Ichpal’s mother, Agya Kour, said her son left home on March 20, 1999 to get sugar from market, but never returned. “All I remember is that the incident took place one year after the Chittisingpora massacre,” she said, adding, “My son was on way to the market when the SOG picked him up. Since then, I have been moving from pillar to post for justice. I want my son.”

The family resides at Sanat Nagar on the city outskirts after migrating from Arina village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Ichpal, son of Karan Singh, was 13-year-old at the time of his arrest. “An SOG man would demand money from us after we sold a cow. But we refused,” she said.

In 2000, Kour said she filed a report about the case in police station, Saddar, and later moved the State Human Rights Commission in 2001 when police did nothing.  In its judgment in 2003, the Commission recommended to the government that an amount of Rs 1 lakh be paid to Kour as ex-gratia relief and sent the order to chief secretary for implementation. “The Government shall inform the Commission about its action within one month,” the SHRC said.

The 2-page report mentioned that the boy’s antecedents were “not shady” and the “police has not stated that he was involved in any anti-national or any illegal action.” Even the senior superintendent of police, Srinagar, in his report said that the youth was not involved in any militancy-related activity.

“The then government didn’t respect the SHRC verdict. For three years, I was not given the ex-gratia even as I am very poor lady, working as peon and having an  ailing husband,” Kour said.

The ex-gratia was sanctioned to Kour on 10 July, 2006, by the then deputy commissioner, Budgam. But, Kour said, the amount could not compensate her son’s loss. “I want justice. I want to see my son. I want him if he is alive, and if dead, I want the killers behind bars,” she told me .

सिख माँ बेटे को, न्याय इंतजार कर रहा है
मैं न्याय चाहते हैं. मैं अपने बेटे को देखना चाहते हैं. मैं उसे चाहता हूँ अगर वह जीवित है, और मृत अगर

By: Sheikh Gulzaar
श्रीनगर, 23 अगस्त: एक युवा परिवार पिछले 11 वर्षों के लिए न्याय का इंतजार है, उनके बेटे के ठिकाने की मांग की, वे कहते हैं, था जम्मू और कश्मीर पुलिस के विशेष अभियान दल द्वारा उठाया.

Ichpal है माँ, आज्ञा Kour ने कहा उसका बेटा 20 मार्च, 1999 पर घर छोड़ दिया करने के लिए बाजार से चीनी मिल, लेकिन कभी नहीं लौटे. उन्होंने कहा सब मुझे याद है कि घटना जगह ले ली एक वर्ष Chittisingpora नरसंहार के बाद ", जोड़ने," मेरे बेटे को बाजार के लिए अपने रास्ते पर था जब एसओजी उसे उठाया. तब से, मैं खम्भे से चलती है न्याय के लिए पोस्ट. मैं अपने बेटे को चाहते हैं. "

परिवार शहर के बाहरी इलाके में सनत नगर में मध्य कश्मीर के बड़गाम जिले में Arina गांव से पलायन के बाद रहता है. Ichpal, करन सिंह का बेटा है, उसकी गिरफ्तारी के समय 13 साल का था. "एक आदमी हमें एसओजी से पैसे की मांग के बाद हम एक गाय बेचा जाएगा. लेकिन हम इनकार कर दिया, "उसने कहा.

2000 में, Kour कहा कि वह पुलिस स्टेशन, Saddar में मामले के बारे में एक रिपोर्ट दायर की है, और बाद में 2001 में राज्य मानवाधिकार आयोग ले जाया गया, जब पुलिस ने कुछ नहीं किया. 2003 में अपने फैसले में आयोग ने 1 लाख रुपये की राशि अनुग्रह राशि राहत के रूप में Kour के लिए भुगतान किया जा सकता है कि सरकार को सिफारिश की है और मुख्य सचिव को लागू करने के लिए आदेश भेजा है. , SHRC ने कहा कि सरकार एक महीने के भीतर अपनी कार्रवाई के बारे में आयोग को सूचित करेगा ".

2-पन्ने की रिपोर्ट में उल्लेख किया है कि लड़के के पूर्ववृत्त "थे नहीं छायादार" और "पुलिस को नहीं कहा है कि वह किसी भी राष्ट्र विरोधी या किसी भी अवैध कार्य". यहां तक कि पुलिस ने अपनी रिपोर्ट में श्रीनगर के वरिष्ठ अधीक्षक में शामिल किया गया कहा कि किसी भी युवा आतंकवाद से संबंधित गतिविधियों में शामिल नहीं था.

"तत्कालीन सरकार SHRC फैसले का सम्मान नहीं किया. , Kour ने कहा कि तीन वर्षों के लिए, मैं अनुग्रह राशि के रूप में भी मैं बहुत गरीब औरत हूँ नहीं दिया था, चपरासी के रूप में काम और एक बीमार पति होने ".

अनुग्रह जुलाई 10, 2006 पर, तो उपायुक्त, बड़गाम द्वारा Kour को मंजूर किया गया था. लेकिन, Kour कहा, राशि अपने बेटे नुकसान भरपाई नहीं कर सके. "मैं न्याय चाहते हैं. मैं अपने बेटे को देखना चाहते हैं. मैं उसे चाहता हूँ अगर वह जीवित है, और मृत अगर, मैं चाहता हूँ सलाखों के पीछे हत्यारों, "उसने मुझे बताया.