BATTLE OF PATIENCE AND RIGHTS: TORTURE CONTINUES IN THE KASHMIR VALLEY UNDER “UNLAWFUL” DRACONIAN LAWS (PSA, AFSPA, UAPA)

The brutal detention of Kashmiri victims under India’s unlawful draconian laws indicates the kind of torture, trauma, and immense dangers such detainees face. Do you know how it feels to be blinded for life thrown on a pair of crushed dreams and perpetual darkness? No, you don’t know what it’s like to see hundreds of people each day, coming with their eyeballs out, heavily beaten, unbearably tortured, severely degraded, and ultimately bleeding to death.

Ms. Fatima Waheed

The occupied valley is the only such unfortunate region in the world where nearly one million Indian army is constantly testing the patience of the unarmed Kashmiris. Military cantonment has been set up outside every Kashmiri’s house, and the lives of Kashmiris are under constant siege. They have to go through check post to go from one place to another. Thousands of Kashmiris have so far been injured by bullets, shrapnel, and tear-gas shelling on peaceful protesters by the Indian forces, while dozens of young school boys and girls lost their eyesight completely due to the pellet injuries.

Brutality Of The Indian Security Forces

In IOJK, the game of brutality of the Indian security forces is still going on and so far more than 95,728 innocent Kashmiris, including 7,155 in custody since January 1989 to date, have sacrificed their lives for the freedom struggle. These killings have rendered 22,924 women widowed and 107,811 children orphaned, and more than 8,000 Kashmiris have been subjected to custodial disappearance in the period. The honor and dignity of the Kashmiri women are also not safe from the hands of brutal Indian forces. More than 11,231 Muslim women have been disgraced or molested. Regarding the recent status of imprisonments, approximately 37,469 Kashmiri civilians have been arrested by the Indian army under draconian laws.

Every day, a new story of grief, a new voice of pain, a new encounter of torture, trauma, and brutal murder marks the continuation of human rights abuses in the IOJK. The Indian security forces deployed in Kashmir have a unique license to kill countless Kashmiris under the black “draconian laws “such as PSA, UAPA, and AFSPA, there is no retribution from them for this crime. Although these laws have been marked as ‘unlawful’ by Amnesty International, these laws continue to be used by authorities for preventive detentions in Jammu & Kashmir.

Detained Under The Unlawful Draconian Laws

In one of the most recent cases, Muzammil Manzoor War, a 25years Kashmiri resident of Baramulla’s Dangerpora village, was arrested on February 22, 2020, by the J&K security forces and was taken to Sopore police station in north Kashmir in a false accusation of possessing a grenade. While the High Court quashed the PSA order against War and directed that he will be released from detention, highlighted by two of the court rulings for his release (first ruling on February 11, 2022, and second ruling on August 30, 2022) he continued to languish in jail because of the UAPA case against him and was detained under the so-called Public Safety Act (PSA) in accusation of posing a threat to the “security and sovereignty of the country.” under sections 20 (punishment for being a member of a terrorist organization) and 23 (intent to aid terrorist organization), and section 7/25 of Arms Act, by Sopore police station in north Kashmir.

The arrest and unlawful detention of War shows an alarming level of reprisals faced by the hapless. War has spent 3 years, and 5 months in incarceration already, out of which nearly one and a half years were under PSA. It is indeed not just a single case of unlawfulness, thousands of Kashmiris have so far been detained under the unlawful draconian laws. There are cases where people have been detained under the UAPA for nearly two years and later they were acquitted by the courts, saying the charges are not made out. The case of War reflects a similar nature of court charges in which he has suffered from detention and torture for more than a year but has been finally released after the high court’s third intervention.

Violate The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 43/173

Although the case of War has been disclosed (as he got released from jail on June 5, 2023, following the high court's third intervention), who will pay for leaving him emotionally unstable for the rest of his life? Who can assure that he’ll recover soon from those untold traumatic events that he has patiently suffered?, WHO WILL ADDRESS THE SILENT RESILIENCE OF ALL KASHMIRI MOTHERS, SISTERS, BROTHERS, AND CHILDREN? “My son has lost precious time away from home. I am glad that the court order has finally been implemented but who will now return these 15 months? "Father of the victim, Manzoor Ahmed War

The inhumane dimensions of these draconian laws are so immense that they openly neglect and violate the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 43/173 “Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment” improvised by the OHCH Regarding the treatment of detainees and prisoners in detention and imprisonment procedures. Moreover, Amnesty International in its report titled “India Punitive use of preventive detention legislation in Jammu and Kashmir,” repeatedly mentioned that the draconian laws clearly violate Article 9(2) of the ICCPR which states that; “Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him.”

False Narratives By The Indian Authorities

In India, the right to habeas corpus (a fundamental right given to the subject in light of the constitution that guarantees protection against unlawful and indefinite protection) is guaranteed under the constitution; yet, in reality, petitioning the state’s High Court to determine the legality of a detention order under the PSA is a drawn-out process that rarely yields satisfactory results. Interestingly, the Indian authorities frequently refuse to comply with court demands for attendance in court or requests for documentary proof, and it doesn’t always follow the court’s rulings.

It is this clear that the Indian authorities and the security forces deployed in IOJK, justify the cruel, inhumane detention activities under draconian laws by promoting vague and ambiguous notions of “security and sovereignty of the state. "Nevertheless, these false narratives by the Indian authorities continue to manipulate and misguide the world, their nature and status remain “ unlawful” and “contrary” to the general principles of International law.

The Writer Ms. Fatima Waheed is a student of International Relations at the National Defence University and an Intern at the Kashmir Institue of International Relations.

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