5 years since abrogation of statehood - Systemic repression of human rights defenders in Indian-Administered Kashmir
05 August 2024 marks five years since the unilateral abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomous status by the government of India. In the weeks and months that followed, Indian-administered Kashmir (IAK), one of the most militarized regions in the world, experienced widespread human rights violations including arrests, torture, raids, surveillance and attacks amidst an internet and communication shutdown. Human rights defenders including journalists documenting such violations were targeted, threatened with arrest, and faced intense surveillance by police and intelligence agencies.
Five years on, the violence in IAK is ongoing. Several international human rights bodies have raised serious concerns regarding the infringement of fundamental human rights in IAK but the government of India has responded with even stricter restrictions on essential freedoms and a refusal to engage with communications regarding Kashmir.
Front Line Defenders has documented reprisals against human rights defenders, including journalists, in IAK including surveillance, raids, threats, arrests, preventive detention, travel bans and threats against family members. Human rights defenders have been labelled as terrorists for simply doing regular and legitimate human rights work. They have been targeted under the regressive Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), routinely denied bail and also face the threat of preventive detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA).
The incarceration of human rights defender Khurram Parvez, coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), since November 2021 and human rights defender and journalist Irfan Mehraj since March 2023 has served as a stark warning to the human rights community in IAK, especially those associated with the human rights defender. Khurram Parvez faces two cases under the UAPA filed in 2021 and 2023 and Irfan Mehraj was arrested under the 2023 case based on his links with Khurram Parvez and JKCCS. Worryingly the National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted to court in 2023 that they were contemplating further arrests in this case.
Preventive detention under the PSA, which permits detention based on mere suspicion for a period of two years has been used to target human rights defenders, especially journalists. The PSA has been invoked in several cases including those of journalists Sajad Gul, Fahad Shah, and human rights defender Mohammad Ahsan Untoo, to prevent their release when they are granted bail in other cases including under the UAPA. Re-arrest and filing multiple cases is also a common strategy used to prolong incarceration and inflict maximum suffering. Journalist Aasif Sultan, jailed since August 2018 was released in February 2024. A day following his release, the journalist was re-arrested in a new case under the UAPA. He has since been released on bail in May 2024 under stringent bail conditions.
The crackdown on independent media is aimed at silencing critical voices speaking out about human rights violations and the discrimination and violence perpetrated in the region. The clampdown on press freedom includes successive raids by the police and NIA on homes of journalists, seizure of documents, informal exit control lists, blocking media websites, imposing strict financial and bureaucratic hurdles, and publication of a new media policy that made it easier for the authorities to censor news in IAK. The raid on the Kashmir Press Club in January 2022 and suspension of its registration is emblematic of the repression suffered by media in IAK. A 2021 circular enables the withholding of security clearance for persons engaged in anti-national activities which may have implications for HRDs and journalists in IAK, including in securing travel documents.
Front Line Defenders documentation suggests rising repression over the past five years, which is an escalation of decades long repression and persecution in IAK. Those speaking out on human rights and against violations including human rights defenders outside the region have faced legal reprisals. Despite numerous calls for accountability for systematic violations in IAK, Indian authorities have continued their persecution of human rights defenders and journalists in their effort to mask human rights abuses. Over five years since the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, authorities have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.
On the fifth anniversary of the repeal of Kashmir’s autonomous status, Front Line Defenders reiterates its demand to Indian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release imprisoned human rights defenders including Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj, quash fabricated charges against them, and to ensure that human rights defenders, including journalists, are free to carry out their peaceful work unhindered in Indian-administered Kashmir.
