Human Rights Reports

http://www.derechos.org/human-rights/kashmir/peace2010.pdf

Peace and Processes of Violence

An observation on situation
in Jammu and Kashmir from 2002 to 2009

"India responded transition to non-violence with brute force"

Srinagar: Claiming that more than 14,000 people have lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir from January 2002 to December 2009, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS), Tuesday said that transition to non-violence by Kashmir was disregarded and met with brute force by New Delhi.

A report titled “Peace and Processes of Violence: An Observation on Situation in Jammu and Kashmir from 2002 to 2009” giving details about killings, disappearances, suicides, fratricides, etc. in Jammu & Kashmir was released here on Tuesday by JKCCS.

“From January 2002 to December 2009 around 14,033 people lost their lives which depict Jammu and Kashmir more as a war zone. These people include militants, troopers, civilians, political activists and others,” the report said.

As per report 3404 civilians, 7504 militants (claimed by government), 2451 troopers and 674 others were killed in Kashmir from 2002 to 2009.

“According to media reports there were 225 custodial killings and 360 persons were subjected to enforced disappearances from 2002 to 2009,” the report claims.

The report also says that government ordered 140 probes on different cases of human rights abuses from 2002 to 2009. “Out of which only 16 enquiries have been concluded. In just one case an army personnel who was accused of rape has been punished for misbehavior and sent to 1 year rigorous imprisonment,” it said.

“From 2004 to 2009, 157 troopers committed suicide while as 55 personnel were killed in fratricidal incidents”, quoting newspapers the report said adding that “From the available data for the year 2008 and 2009, mysterious killings by unidentified gunmen have resulted in the killings of 47 persons in 2008 and 26 people in 2009.”

The report also make mention of the children killed in the period. Since January 2002 to December 2009, the conflict has consumed the lives of 258 children (under the age of 18). In the first two months of 2010, 3 boys, Inayat Khan of Dalgate, Wamiq Farooq of Rainawari and Zahid Farooq of Brein Nishat have become prey to the indiscriminate use of violence.

The report which deplores the want of any impact of peace process, between India and Pakistan, on the ground situation in Jammu and Kashmir says that Kashmir residents looked continuously besieged within the uncertainties of long-drawn conflict.

“The situation on ground presents an image that runs contrary to impressions of normalcy created by the superficial discourses of peace,” it said.

“The initiation of the peace process should have with time factored in the ground itself with the cessation of hostilities from all sides coupled with respectful and meaningful engagement with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” it said.

The report says that instead of being people-centric, the peace process has remained state-centric.

“The process itself was privileged over the peace which clearly reveals its outlook as State-centric rather than people-centric in its intent and approach,” it stated.

“Unfortunately, 6588 people were killed from January 2004 to November 2008 (till the attacks in Mumbai), the period during which both the states trumpeted peace process”, the report reads.

The report which presents the data collected JKCCS from 2002 to 2009 is based on the daily reportage in newspapers published from Jammu and Kashmir. The report apprehends that there might be killings which were not reported.

“All these newspapers are primarily fed by the reports of daily killing by the Jammu and Kashmir Police department,” the report mentions adding that “there might be killings which are not shared with journalists in official records and may have remained unreported.”

The report hints that a false impression of normalcy was created by media hype to cover the unabated conflict.

Just a cursory glance at the graph of killings demonstrates a real quantitative decline that registers the fact that an attempt at creating an enabling atmosphere was made that could have carried forward the media-hyped processes of peace.

The 27 page report also censures India for not responding appropriately to Kashmir’s transition from violence to non-violence.

“Transition to non-violence, as the data of civilian killings (and bullet injuries) of last two years suggests, has been disregarded by the Indian state and met with brutal response, which is also reflective of the state’s approach towards conflict transformation.” (PBI)

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/01/25/skin-cable

“Skin on the Cable”
The Illegal Arrest, Arbitrary Detention and Torture of People Who Use Drugs in Cambodia
January 25, 2010

In this 93-page report Human Rights Watch documents detainees being beaten, raped, forced to donate blood, and subjected to painful physical punishments such as "rolling like a barrel" and being chained while standing in the sun. Human Rights Watch also reported that a large number of detainees told of receiving rotten or insect-ridden food and symptoms of diseases consistent with nutritional deficiencies.

http://www.hrdag.org/about/downloads/State-Violence-in-Chad.pdf

(Dakar, January 29, 2010) – A new study shows that Hissène Habré, the former dictator of Chad, was well-informed of the hundreds of deaths in prisons operated by his political police, a coalition of human rights organizations said today. The announcement came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of his indictment in Senegal.

The study by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) is based on thousands of documents generated by the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS) – the state security force that pursued opponents and operated notorious prisons during the Habré regime. The files were discovered by chance by Human Rights Watch in 2001 at the abandoned Security Directorate's headquarters in N'Djamena, the Chadian capital.

"The evidence shows that Habré was not a distant ruler who knew nothing about these crimes," said Jacqueline Moudeina, president of the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, who is also a lawyer for the victims. "Habré directed and controlled the police force, which tortured those who opposed him or who simply belonged to the wrong ethnic group."

This information could be critical in the long-delayed prosecution of Habré, who has been accused of killing and systematically torturing thousands of political opponents during his rule in Chad, from 1982 to 1990, the groups said. The announcement came from the Chadian Association for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (ATPDH), the Chadian Association of Victims of Political Repression and Crime (AVCRP), the Chadian League for Human Rights, the African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights (RADDHO-Senegal), the National Organization for Human Rights (ONDH-Senegal), Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme.

Habré was first indicted on February 3, 2000 by a Senegalese judge, but the charges were thrown out on a technicality. In 2006, Senegal agreed to an African Union (AU) mandate to prosecute Habré, but it has refused to act until it receives €27.4 million from the international community, its estimate of the cost of the trial.

"It's been 10 years since Senegal first indicted Habré, but in these 10 years, thousands of my fellow survivors have perished and we are no closer to Habré's trial," said Souleymane Guengueng, 59, who almost died of dengue fever during two years of mistreatment in Chadian prisons. "Unless Senegal acts soon, there won't be any victims left at the trial."

The analysis of prison documents reveals that there was a direct superior-subordinate relationship between Habré and his appointed Security Directorate leadership and that Habré was well-informed of its operations. This analysis shows that Habré received 1,265 direct communications from the agency about the status of 898 detainees. A total of 12,321 victims are mentioned in the documents, including 1,208 who died in detention.

"Our analysis of document flow encompasses more than 2,700 administrative records, which together illustrate a clear communication and command link between President Habré and his political police," said Romesh Silva, senior demographer for HRDAG and lead author of the report. "Our findings also confirm earlier qualitative accounts of prisoner conditions and high mortality within the DDS. Perhaps most compelling is the fact that the information gathered by the DDS and Habré to document their own abuses can now be used to hold them responsible for their actions."

Under international law, individuals can be found criminally responsible for serious human rights violations if they knew or should have known that forces under their authority or control were committing crimes and failed to act to prevent the crimes or punish those responsible.

Senegal has said that it will not move forward with the case until it receives full international funding for all the costs of the trial. Senegal's estimate of €27.4 million includes €8 million to reconstruct a courthouse. The European Union, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have publicly or privately agreed to help finance the trial, but are waiting for a "credible" budget. Chad has offered €3 million as an "initial" contribution. In December 2009, a joint team from the European Union and the AU visited Senegal and is expected to propose a revised budget for finally bringing Habré to trial.

In July 2006, the AU mandated Senegal to prosecute Habré "on behalf of Africa." The upcoming AU summit of heads of state and government in Addis Ababa from January 31 to February 2 will consider a progress report on Senegal's preparations for the case. Habré's victims, and their supporters, called on the AU to press Senegal to move forward.

"The failure to prosecute Habré is a shame on Africa," said Dobian Assingar of FIDH and honorary president of the Chadian League for Human Rights. "This case is a golden opportunity for Africa to show that is capable of fighting against impunity. Instead Africa is failing its victims."

Habré's victims will mark the 10th anniversary of the indictment with a series of activities in N'Djaména.

About HRDAG

The Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis Group develops database software, data collection strategies, and statistical techniques to analyze large-scale human rights violations. Based in Palo Alto, California, HRDAG has worked with nine truth commissions, international criminal tribunals, and non-governmental human rights organizations around the world. HRDAG incorporates information technology and scientific methods to create an accurate historical record of past conflicts and provide evidence to hold perpetrators accountable. See http://www.hrdag.org.

New report: Russian society under control - Abuses in the fight against extremism and terrorism

by the FIDH

http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/Russian_society_under_control.pdf