The recent report on torture in Jammu & Kashmir published by JKCCS in collaboration with APDP provides insights that torture is prevalent in the valley and 70% people who are being affected are common civilians. This report was based on 432 cases that provide the structure of violence that the state has been doing by using the method of torture. All such data is being provided in the entire report. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief introduction of torture and how it is being applied in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The term torture is a generic concept and can be defined, debated and deliberated under various conditions, in diverse contexts and claims. There is no consensus among the scholars, practitioners about the meaning of the term. It has been used as an investigative technique inflicted on a third person for extracting information or confession. According to the United Nations Convention on 10 December 1984, Torture means any kind of act which causes severe pain or sufferings whether physical or mental and is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes to obtain information or a confession. This definition does not include “pain or suffering arising only from inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions” Torture is considered a crime against humanity and is prohibited in an extensive range of human rights conventions. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states no one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Geneva Convention (1949) prohibits violence to life and person, in particular, cruel treatment and torture and outrages upon personal dignity. Torture is also prohibited by European Convention on Human Rights (1950), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1969), the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (1985), International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (1976), and Genocide Convention (1948).
1990) gives birth to massive human rights violations. The security forces carried out a ruthless campaign of terror against the people who are fighting for their freedom (Self-determination). Unrestricted arbitrary powers were given to the security forces to suppress the movement in the valley. As a result, thousands of Kashmiri were killed, injured, prosecuted or arrested. Government Of India (GoI) describes the insurgency as law and order problem and in order to deal with the situation, several oppressive laws have been put into force, which becomes a great reason for the Human Right violation in the valley. Among such laws include the Disturbed Area Act (1990), Armed Force Special Power Act (1990) and Public Safety Act, which suppress the basic liberty in Kashmir. The security forces used different forms of torture in the valley. Besides that crackdown, arson, burning of shops and houses became a custom of security forces. Custodial killing, arrest without a warrant were the tools adopted by the forces. In August 1992, an operation was carried out by security forces in the valley known as ‘Operation Tiger’. The main characteristics of this operation were to do raids and search operations intended to catch and kill. This operation was considered a brutal measure was taken by the government, in which the execution of the detainees increased to a greater extent. The other operations were carried out in the valley having code names likeShiva, Eagle and Cobra. The main goal of these operations was to create an intense fear among the people of the valley, who were demanding separation from India (Human rights watch 1993:22).The secessionist movement in the valley got support from the locals in every way. The security forces suspect every individual as a supporter of militants. In order to find out, they took anyone in the custody and tortured him.in this way torture became of a tool to get information about the militants or forced to confess militant activity (Physicians for Human Right 1993).
After insurgency, the Government took strict methods in eliminating the movement of succession in the valley. They used other groups like Ikhwan- ul- Muslimoon (Renegades), Muslim Mujahedeen, Village Defense Committees (VDC) and Special Police Officers (SPO), who played a central role in torture without any accountability. These groups are not recognized officially, and the government used them as a shield for prosecution (Imroz et: al 2012). These groups were acted like Salwa Judumof Chhattisgarh. The number of these parallel Militia groups of Kashmir valley is greater than Chhattisgarh. The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies has reported that young boys of the valley continue to be arrested and subjected to torture and harassment. In March 2011, Margaret Sekaggya, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders stated that police used to detain the people and beat them mercilessly and torture, killing and custodial deaths by police and Paramilitary forces were prevalent in the valley. The group of Interlocutors set up in October 2010 by Central Government states that the people of valley feared oppression by the hands of security forces, police, armed groups and militants (Amnesty International 2013). The coercive method of torture is used by state actors in order to crush insurgents, while as non- state actors used torture to pressurize the state machinery. The innocent civilians became targets of both state actors as well as non- state actors. In state actors there comes security forces, police and newly formed Ikhwan- ul- Muslimoon (Renegades) and militants (Terrorists) form the group of non- state actors .
The army operating in the Kashmir valley has thoroughly violated all International laws regarding human rights by torturing and killing the civilians from the 1990s. Custodial deaths, extra-judicial executions and disappearances in the valley increased to a large number. The detainees arrested by security forces in the valley are tortured in various torture centres without any arrest warrants. Various methods like prolonged beatings,electric shocks, burning with heated objects and crushing the muscles by wooden roller were used against the detainees in the valley (Human rights watch 1993:36). The most assault on civilians of the valley was in the form of sexual torture known as Rape. This method was adopted by security forces against prisoners in torture centres as well as women’s, which were considered as well-wishers of the militants (Terrorists). The practice of arresting common people particularly young people and were tortured with brutal methods in order to know the presence of militants. The detainees sometimes were threatened with death unless if they do not identify someone. The process of torture remains continue and some other violations also happened in the valley. The table below gives us the overall image of Human rights violation in the valley.
The torture was prevailing right from the 1990s in the valley. The special power ordinance (AFSPA) was legalised, which gave free hands to the state actors to arrest or detain the civilians and to use lethal force on unlawful assemblies on the ground of law and order. The crackdowns (Presently called cordon and search operation CASO) were done frequently in the valley and this leads to a large number of atrocities including mass sexual violence, illegal detentions leading to disappearances and custodial killings. In 1993, the state produced pro-government militants known as Naabid or Ikhwan, which was used as counter-insurgent force. These state militias operated with absolute impunity, openly engaging in criminal acts and terrorising neighbourhoods. These state militias succeeded in creating a reign of terror by detaining the suspects. Besides that, they took an important role in establishing political power by forcing people to vote on gunpoint. After one year, these state militants were recruited in a force called Special Task Force (STF). Various international reports like human rights watch, Amnesty International, Physician for human rights states such forces became notorious for its atrocities and it was also found that these forces have done high custodial deaths and disappearances after detention. The situation got even worse after the 2008, 2009 and 2010 mass uprising in Kashmir. The rage of stone pelting emerged in the valley. The state made mass detentions of the youth, classified them as criminals and was subjected to repeated cycles of illegal and unrecorded arrests on the basis of suspicion and profiling, prolonged detentions, inhuman treatment and securitization of these youth became the indication. Meanwhile, after the killing of Burhan Wani, the militant commander on July 08, 2016, the valley witnessed an uprising in the form of protests, stone pelting, hartals and so on. However, the period has also witnessed unprecedented cycles of violence. From 2016, the gross violation of human rights in the form of arbitrary detention, torture, rape, disappearance, arson, restriction on religious activities, and internet ban. Besides that, the ban on Jammat-i-Islami and JKLF lead to the detention of thousands of people, schools were closed, and a reign of terror was created among the people. The custodial torture by law enforcement agencies is endemic throughout India. such kind of violence occurs during criminal investigations in order to get information is a form of punitive violence that is prevalent during detention in police stations or army camps. The Kashmir valley which is considered as a sub-conventional or asymmetric war by the central government includes the elements of the insurgency, proxy war and border skirmishes. The state actors and intelligence agencies use the strategies of detention and torture for internal and national security. Besides that, these methods are common during crackdowns in which forces operate with special powers. It is remarkable that in modern warfare, detentions and torture are mostly used in counter-insurgency measures. These measures are a part of colonialism and are used to suppress the mass rebellion, establish territorial dominance and political sovereignty over the colony.
( The author is pursuing PhD at the Centre for Gandhian Thought and Peace Studies , School of Social Sciences Central University of Gujarat Gandhinagar, Sector 29. Views are exclusively his own [email protected])