Amnesty International (AI) India on Wednesday urged the government of India to immediately release political leaders, journalists and activists, besides restoring 4G mobile internet and decongest prisons in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement on the first anniversary of abrogation of J&K’s special status, Avinash Kumar, Executive Director, AI India, said, “Over the last one year the government of India has been systematically dismantling all avenues for justice for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“With zero representation, protracted internet restrictions, arbitrary use of some of India’s most stringent laws, verbal orders of detention and crippling of the local media – most of this disproportionately higher in Kashmir - it’s been a complete year since we have heard the people of Jammu and Kashmir speak,” he said.
“The government’s ruthless attempts to create a public opinion of ‘normalcy’ while curbing the freedom of the independent press, imprisoning the entire political leadership, arbitrarily arresting those likely to dissent and imposing communication restrictions have usurped the voice of the region,” Kumar added.
The AI acknowledged that the government of India may have legitimate security concerns “which may merit reasonable restrictions on the right to freedom of expression in certain circumstances.”
“But these restrictions must always be limited in duration and demonstrably proportionate as set out under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party,” a statement of the AI said.
However, it said, in an ‘absolute violation’ of India’s international obligations, “the entire population of Kashmir has been deprived of their right to freedom of expression and opinion through protracted communication restrictions since the last one year.”
“This has been compounded by a censored media, continuing detention of political leaders, arbitrary restrictions due to the pandemic with little to no redressal,” the statement added.
The AI statement alleged that the government’s near-total control over the information coming out of the region was strengthened through use of repressive laws such as the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). “AI India documented physical attacks on, harassment and intimidation of at least 18 journalists since 5 August 2019.”
The AI termed the new media policy introduced by the J&K government as “draconian” which it said openly aims to create a sustained narrative on the functioning of the government in the media by checking on “anti-national activities, fake news and plagiarism.”
On the detention of political leaders in Kashmir, the AI found that at least 70 of them- cutting across a wide political spectrum - were placed under administrative detention. However, it could not find a single case of detention of a political member belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – the ruling party in India.
The AI India demands urged the government to restore 4G mobile internet, put an end to criminal investigations against journalists under PSA and UAPA and withdrawal of the new media policy.
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