The first ‘comprehensive report’ on torture in J&K by APDP & JKCCS recommend UN-led probe
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 20
“Till I am alive, I will continue to fight for justice and speak truth to power” - A Kashmiri torture survivor
Qalander Khatana, from Kupwara in Kashmir, features on the cover page of a report released today; it is enough to curl your toes. Khatana’s legs had to be amputated as a result of torture allegedly perpetrated by the Indian State. He is case number 350 in a list of 432 case studies published as part of the report titled ‘Torture: Indian State’s Instrument of Control in Indian Administered Jammu and Kashmir’ released today by Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).
This is the first comprehensive report on torture in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and is available to download on https://www.jkccs.net
The report focuses on the “torture perpetrated in J&K by the Indian State since 1990 and provides a contextual understanding of various phases of torture being perpetrated in J&K since 1947. Using 432 case studies, the report charts out trends and patterns, targets, perpetrators, sites, contexts and impacts of torture in J&K,” stated a press statement from APDP and JKCCS today.
The report has recommended an international investigation into the matter, led by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, besides urging India to ratify the UN Convention Against Torture and end the phenomenon of torture.
Impunity
The report added, “Due to legal, political and moral impunity extended to the armed forces, not a single prosecution has taken place in any case of human rights violations in J&K.”
Torture is used, the two organizations noted, “as a matter of policy by the Indian State in J&K in a systematic and institutional manner, as all the institutions of the State be it legislature, executive, judiciary and armed forces form a part.”
A scanning of the case studies that form part of the 550-page report point at all shades of state agencies allegedly involved in torture, including the Indian Army, the Border Security Force, Rashtriya Rifles, Ikhwanis (pro-government militia of surrendered militants), the police, the Central Reserve Police Force, Village Defence Committees and other unknown entities.
The forms of torture that have been documented in this report - which Naga people may be familiar with - include stripping the detainees naked (190 out of 432 cases studied for the report), beating with sticks, iron rods or leather belts (326 cases), roller treatment (169 cases), water-boarding (24 cases), dunking detainees’ head in water (101 cases), electrocution including in genitals (231 cases), hanging from the ceiling, mostly upside down (121 cases), burning of the body with hot objects (35 cases), solitary confinement (11 cases), sleep deprivation (21 cases), sexual torture (238 cases) including rape and sodomy, among others.
The tortured include men, women, juveniles, human rights activists and journalists; 301 of the 432 victims documented were civilians. These may be individual cases but each of their families as well as communities were affected by the torture and “collective punishments” in the form of cordon and search operations.
“Apart from the physical ailments, people who have been tortured or even witnessed it, have suffered from psychological issues like post-traumatic stress disorder,” stated the organizations.
Case no. 350 as documented by APDP & JKCCS as part of their report on Torture:
Name: Mohammad Qalander Khatana (Male)
Parentage: Chana Khatana
Residence: Hori Kalaroos, Kupwara
Affiliation: Civilian
Alleged Perpetrators/Agency:
1. Border Security Force (BSF)
2. Special Operations Group (SOG)
Case Information
In 1992, Qalander Khatana was arrested by BSF personnel and taken to their camp in Mori. They accused him of acting as a guide to the militants who crossed the LoC. In custody, they allegedly tortured him, beat him and hanged him upside down from the ceiling.
"During detention, Khatana was transferred to many camps across the state and tortured continuously. He was tortured by BSF and SOG personnel. He was thrown down the hill many times. He was held in solitary confinement. But the worst happened in PAPA 2 torture centre. Flesh was cut from his buttocks and other soft tissues and he was forced to eat it.
He was beaten so ruthlessly that his legs broke. He fell unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, his legs were covered by blood stained pieces of cloth. The fellow detainees had covered his wounds with their shirts.
He was then shifted to Kot Bhalwal jail, Jammu. He stayed there for about four years. As he was not given any proper medical treatment for his wounds, they got infected with maggots. His legs were finally amputated in Badami Bagh Cantonment, Hospital in Srinagar. He was released in 1996 and got himself proper treatment in Bone and Joint Hospital Barzulla, Srinagar.
Khatana’s wife was also tortured. She had been kicked on the chest, which resulted in broken ribs. She died a few years later due to the injuries."
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
