Amnesty slams J&K govt on detentions
Amnesty International has accused the Jammu and Kashmir government of detaining hundreds of people in the state and keeping them in jails without charge or trial using the controversial tough law Public Safety Act (PSA) “in an arbitrary and abusive manner”.
Such detentions under the PSA, a report released here on Monday alleges, is being used by the state authorities “as a revolving door to keep people they can’t or won’t convict through proper legal channels locked up and out of the way”.
Under the PSA enacted in the late 1970s by the Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah government primarily to deal with timber smugglers, a person can be detained for up to two years without a formal trial being initiated.
Such detentions are, however, subject to periodical review by an official screening committee. The opposition accuses the Omar Abdullah government of silencing its opponents and also to overcome the recent civilian unrest by randomly using the PSA.
Terming the PSA “unlawful law”, Amnesty said it should be revoked immediately. “We strongly advocate abrogation of PSA as it provides immunity to troopers and officials involved in rights violations,” Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, researcher Asia-Pacific Programme, and Bikramjeet Batra, campaigner India, Asia-Pacific Programme, said.
Amnesty also sought an end to what it alleged is practices of illegal and incommunicado detention and immediately put in place safeguards to ensure that those detained are brought promptly before a magistrate. It also demanded that an independent investigation into all allegations of abuses against those detained be carried out.
The Amnesty team, they said, had visited J&K in May last year and studied at least 600 people booked under the PSA. The report, they added, is based on the research conducted then and subsequent analysis of government and legal documents relating to these individuals detained under the PSA between 2003 and 2010.
“Estimates of the number detained under the PSA over the past two decades range from 8,000-20,000... By using the PSA to incarcerate suspects without adequate evidence, India has not only gravely violated their human rights, but also failed in its duty to charge and try such individuals and to punish them if found guilty in a fair trial,” the report says.
Post new comment