*NEW DELHI – **Indian government gets an international diplomatic snub overOccupied Kashmir.*
*The human rights group Amnesty International has said the Indiangovernment is widely misusing a law allowing for detention without trial inOccupied Kashmir, Radio Pakistan reported.*
Head of Amnesty International India Aakar Patel said the Public Safety Actis a “lawless law” under which the authorities hold children, old peopleand the disabled.
He said this act is contributing to inflaming tensions between the stateauthorities and local populace and must be immediately repealed.
According to the statement, the Public Safety Act circumvents the criminaljustice system in Kashmir to undermine accountability, transparency andrespect for human rights.
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It said, the text of the PSA violates several of India’s obligations underinternational human rights law, including respecting detainees’ fair trialrights.
The Amnesty added that examining several government and legal documents ofthe detainees, it found a pattern of abuse by the authorities includingdetaining children, passing PSA orders on vague and general grounds,ignoring the limited safeguards under the Act, subjecting individuals torevolving-door detentions and using the PSA to prevent release on bail andundermine the criminal justice system.
Speakers at a welcome get-together in Brussels while opposing the Indiangovernment’s de-limitation plan said that the move is aimed at abrogatingKashmir-specific Articles 370 and 35-A to change the demographiccomposition of occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
