Srinagar: Calls for the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the extrajudicial killings in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir have intensified following renewed reports of violence and brutality by Indian troops in the region. The proposed commission aims to address ongoing human rights violations, including staged encounters leading to deaths of local youths.
According to Kashmir Media Service, recent events have underscored the urgency of the situation. On September 9, 2024, Indian forces allegedly killed two young men in what was described as a staged encounter in the Nowshera area of Rajouri district. This incident followed closely on the heels of another troubling case, where Mohammad Manzoor from Surankot in Poonch reportedly died on September 6, 2024, due to injuries inflicted during torture by Indian troops.
The report provides a grim overview of the tactics employed by the Indian military in the region, which include detaining young locals under the suspicion of affiliations with resistance groups, subjecting them to extreme torture, and executing them without judicial proceedings. The case of Manzoor, who was abducted and tortured over the night of August 10-11, 2024, highlights the severe methods used, including threats to the families of the detained.
Furthermore, the Kashmir Media Service report mentions the plight of Pakistani prisoners in Indian custody, illustrating a pattern of staged encounters and falsified combat deaths. Notable cases include Muhammad Ali Hussain, who was killed in Arnia, Jammu on August 17, 2022, and Zia Mustafa, who died in a similar encounter in the Poonch forests in October 2021.
The report also provides a historical context, citing that since 1989, there have been 96,347 killings in the region, including 7,348 deaths attributed to fake encounters and custodial violence. It criticizes the extensive powers granted to the Indian military by the Modi government, which have facilitated widespread violence and bloodshed against the Kashmiri population.
The call for international intervention by the UN Human Rights Council seeks to bring global attention to these ongoing human rights abuses and to initiate a formal investigation into the extrajudicial killings and torture in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.