Islamabad, February 03, 2023 (PPI-OT):The Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) has issued its annual report on “Human Rights Situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)”. According to Kashmir Media Service, the LFK in its report said, Indian troops martyred at least 181 freedom-fighters and 45 civilians extra-judicially during the year 2022. During the period, at least 199 Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs) and Cordon and Destroy Operations (CADOs) were conducted by the Indian military and paramilitary forces. During these CASOs, vandalism and destruction of nearly 212 civilian properties were reported.

The report said that the media continued to be at the receiving end of the pressure, intimidation, and harassment by the Indian authorities in 2022. “A blow to the freedom of the press came on the 15th of January 2022, when ‘Kashmir Press Club’ (KPC) witnessed a military-style takeover by a group of military-backed journalists who broke into the press club offices in occupied Kashmir and got hold of the official seals and letterhead as Indian police cordoned off the premises,” it said.

The report said, the freedom of the press continues to be further curtailed by the ‘revolving-door’ arrests of many journalists and editors of local media outlets. In addition, the right to access information continues to be severely restricted with more than 164 instances of internet blockades from January to December 2022, it said. The LFK report pointed out that India has been planning to revive the state-backed militia branded as ‘Village Defense Groups’ (VDG) in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This move comes despite gross human rights abuses by the members of the VDG, including charges of rape and murder, it added. The report also said that 86 Indian forces’ personnel were killed during 2022.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org