MIRPUR (Kashmir English): Veteran Kashmir freedom struggle leader and Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR) Altaf Hussain Wani has emphasized the critical need for accountability and justice for victims of state-sponsored violence in occupied Kashmir.
Taking part in a general debate of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Altaf Hussain Wani sought the Council’s urgent attention towards enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Indian-occupied Kashmir, according to a message released to the media here on Tuesday.
“The discovery of the bodies of Shokat Ahmad Bajad and Riyaz Ahmad Bajad, who went missing last month along with their companion Mukhtar Ahmad from Qazigund, serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing violence and human rights abuses in the occupied territoty,” Wani said.
While speaking on behalf of the World Muslim Congress, he said that Human Rights abuses have plagued the restive region for decades.
Disappearances a norm in Kashmir
He said that since the early 1990s, enforced disappearances have tragically become a norm in Kashmir amid the uprising against Indian occupation.
Citing the findings from the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), he noted that since 1990, there have been more than 10,000 cases of enforced disappearances and approximately 8,000 custodial deaths linked to torture.
The KIIR chairman cited the case of Abdul Rashid Dar, who, he said, was found dead in Zurhama forests in March 2023 after being arrested. He said the same exemplifies the brutal state violence in Kashmir.
Wani identified the impunity granted to Indian security forces under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act as a significant factor contributing to severe human rights violations in the region.
He said that the Special Powers Act enables the Indian occupation forces to act without the fear of legal repercussions.
While describing the Act as draconian and fostering a culture of violence and abuse, Wani emphasized the urgent need to hold India accountable for the actions of its forces against the people of Kashmir.
