By Ariel Lin
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
SRINAGAR, India – Amnesty International, an international human rights group, urged the Indian government to launch an immediate investigation into nearly 1,000 unidentified graves found in the remote-hit region of Kashmir during the past two years. Amnesty International wants the government to determine if any of the graves contain the bodies of those listed as missing by local rights groups. Human Rights Watch also released a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), indicating that HRC should insist that the Indian government take strong steps to hold accountable members of its security forces responsible for torture, arbitrary detentions, killings, and “disappearances”.
The plea from Amnesty International comes after a local rights group, the Association of Parents of Disappeared People, said it discovered nearly 1,000 unidentified graves scattered in cemeteries around the town of Uri. Uri is one of the most violent parts of Kashmir and neighbors the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir.
“The grave sites are believed to contain the remains of victims of unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other abuses which occurred in the context of armed conflict persisting in the state since 1989,” Amnesty International said in a statement.
Last week police in Indian-administered Kashmir rejected a demand for action to identify the bodies. At least 200 demonstrators led by senior leaders of Hurriyat held a protest in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir, against what they called gross human rights violations by security forces. The protestors carried placards reading “Stop human rights violations” and pictures of “missing persons”.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed by both in its entirety. Many Islamic groups have been fighting mainly Hindu India in Kashmir since 1989, demanding independence or a union with mostly Muslim Pakistan. The insurgency has left more than 43,000 people dead by official counts while rights groups put the toll at 70,000 dead and disappeared.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Amnesty urges Kashmir grave probe – 07 April 2008
Human Rights Watch – India: UN Rights Council Should Tackle Impunity – 07 April 2008
International Herald Tribune – International rights group urges India to probe unidentified graves in Kashmir – 07 April 1008
Reuters – Amnesty urges India to probe unmarked Kashmir graves – 07 April 2008
