NEW DELHI – Laws in Indian-administered Kashmir allowing imprisonment forup to two years without charge or trial violate national and globaljustice, Amnesty International said Wednesday.
Since an anti-India Insurgency erupted in the heavily militarised territorythree decades ago, thousands of people have been detained under the PublicSafety Act (PSA).
Amnesty said in a new report that the PSA “circumvents the criminal justicesystem in Jammu and Kashmir to undermine accountability, transparency andrespect for human rights”.
It “violate(s) Indian and international human rights laws” and contributesto inflaming tensions between the state authorities and locals, said AakarPatel, Head of Amnesty International India.
The 44-page report analyses cases of 210 detainees between 2012 and 2018.
In 70 percent of the cases, imprisoned persons faced both PSA detentionsand criminal proceedings in parallel on the basis of the same or similarallegations, Amnesty said.
Prominent activist Masarat Alam remains in jail under the law despitecourts quashing 38 detention orders against him.
“The police appear to use the PSA as a safety net, using it to secure thedetention of suspects who are released, or likely to be released, on bail,”said Zahoor Wani, who led the research.
“Conversations with local lawyers suggest that the state police do notfavour criminal proceedings as they involve a higher standard of proof anda presumption of innocence.”
The PSA law was intially brought in more than four decades ago to deal withtimber smugglers, but since 1989 — when an armed rebellion against Indianrule began — its use has widened.
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Amnesty had been due to hold a press conference to publish the report inSrinagar on Wednesday, but cancelled after police, citing securityconcerns, said the group did not have permission,
Amnesty nonetheless circulated the report to journalists and put it up onits website.
Patel told AFP that copies of the report had been shared with police andthe state government ahead of its scheduled release, but they had notresponded.
On Wednesday there was no immediate comment from the authorities.
Rebel groups in Kashmir who are widely supported by residents have beenfighting some 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, seekingindependence or a merger of the former kingdom with Pakistan.
Rights groups say the fighting has left more than 70,000 people dead sofar, most of them civilians.
Pakistan separately administers a part of Kashmir, divided between therivals since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.
In June last year New Delhi rejected a UN report accusing India of usingexcessive force against residents and violating their human rights inrecent years and calling for an international inquiry. -APP/AFP
