16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

WASHINGTON, May 15: "Torture, rape, deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions and disappearances have been perpetrated by agents of the state with impunity," says Amnesty International in its latest report on the Indian occupied Kashmir.

The AI complains that human rights abuses in the Kashmir valley are facilitated by laws, which provide the security forces with virtual immunity from prosecution for acts "done in good faith."

Such laws include the Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act. "They also allow the security forces to shoot to kill," AI says.

It points out that Indian soldiers can only be prosecuted for human rights violations with permission from the home ministry in New Delhi but such permissions are "rarely forthcoming."

"Authorities use preventive detention to stifle political dissent. Many detainees have not committed any recognizable criminal offence and have not used or advocated violence," AI notes.

"Under the provision of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act people may be detained for up to two years without charge or trial on broadly defined grounds of state security."

The civilian population of Jammu and Kashmir, the AI report observes, has paid a high price for the conflict. "The total casualties since 1989 are believed to be around 38,000. In 2001, an average of 100 civilians died every month since 1990 some 700 to 800 people have disappeared after being arrested by police or armed or paramilitary forces."

The AI report also includes recent examples of excessive use of state power against peaceful demonstrators in the Kashmir valley. On March 20, 2004, the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons arranged a march in Srinagar. They were planning to present a memorandum to the UN Military Observers Group but police attacked the rally before they could reach the UN office.

The report says that "armed opposition groups" known as Mujahideen also have committed widespread human rights violations, including "torture, hostage-taking, killing of unarmed civilians, beatings and rape to intimidate the civilian population or to punish those accused of providing information to Indian security forces."

During the recent elections, the report says, armed opposition groups threatened "dire consequences" for those who exercised their right to vote. "Violent attacks during recent elections reportedly have left scores of people dead and hundreds injured."

The report also blames Mujahideen for killing "several prominent members" of Kashmir's Pundit community, noting that in 1991 about 150,000 Pundits migrated from the valley.

In Azad Kashmir, the report says, preventive detention may be ordered without disclosure of grounds or the right to be brought before a magistrate.