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An enforced disappearance is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization. In case of a third party, it has the authorization of another state or political organization; it is usually followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate and whereabouts with the intent of placing the victim outside the protection of the law.
The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in memory of Thorolf Rafto, a professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promotion of freedom of political expression and enterprise. The work of the foundation consists of different educational and informative projects, including the annual award of the Rafto Prize (Raftoprisen) each November. The foundation is based in Bergen, Norway and run by a small team of professionals and volunteers.
The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger geographical region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.
The International Day of the Disappeared, on August 30 of each year, is a day created to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or legal representatives. The impulse for the day came from the Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared (Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos, or FEDEFAM), a non-governmental organization founded in 1981 in Costa Rica as an association of local and regional groups actively working against secret imprisonment, forced disappearances and abduction in a number of Latin-American countries.
Bijbehara (Urdu pronunciation:[bɪd͡ʒbɪhaːɽaː], known as Vejibror in Kashmiri, is a town and a notified area committee in Anantnag district of the Indian administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located on NH 44, and jehlum bank. Bijbehara town is also known as "Town of Chinars" because of a number of Chinars there especially two Chinar gardens. Bijbehara is the home to oldest chinar tree in the region. The town is situated about 45 km from the summer capital of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar.
Parvez Imroz is a Kashmiri human rights lawyer and a civil rights activist in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir, India.
The Shopian rape and murder case, also known as Asiya, Neelofar case, is the abduction, rape and murder case of two young women allegedly by the Indian Army. In mysterious circumstances between 29 and 30 May 2009 at Bongam, Shopian district in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Two women who were sisters-in-law went missing from their orchard on the way home on 29 May 2009. The next morning, their bodies were found both one kilometer apart. Local police rejected the allegations saying that the women appeared to have drowned in a stream.
Nyla Ali Khan is an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City Community College. She is a former Visiting Professor at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and former Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She is the author of four books, and several articles that focus on the political issues and strife of her homeland, Jammu and Kashmir, India. She is the granddaughter of Sheikh Abdullah.
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.
Human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, have been a partial issue, ranging from forced disappearances, claimed torture to political repression and electoral fraud and suppression of freedom of speech. According to the human rights commission of Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) carries out extensive surveillance operations on the press and pro-independence groups, they have carried out arbitrary arrests in which people have been tortured and several have died. Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) is cited to indicate that dozens have disappeared after their arrests in Pakistan-held Kashmir. A significant number of cases point to the Inter-Services Intelligence’s involvement in these disappearances".
Human rights abuses in Kashmir have been perpetrated by various belligerents in the territories controlled by both India and Pakistan since the two countries' conflict over the region began with their first war in 1947–1948, shortly after the partition of British India. The organized breaches of fundamental human rights in Kashmir are tied to the contested territorial status of the region, over which India and Pakistan have fought multiple wars. More specifically, the issue pertains to abuses committed in Indian-administered Kashmir and in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is an international human rights organization which focuses on the issue of forced disappearance in Asia. AFAD was founded on 4 June 1998 in Manila, Philippines. The federation was awarded the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award in 2016.
International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) is a People's Tribunal formed by Indian human rights activists for the purpose of probing human right violations in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and bridging the gap between people living in Kashmir and rest of India. It was first convened in 2008 by Parvez Imroz, Angana P. Chatterji, Gautam Navlakha and Zaheer-Ud-Din. Chatterji served as convener until December 2012.
Gautam Navlakha is an Indian human rights activist, journalist, and political prisoner. He has written on left-wing extremism and is a critic of army and state atrocities in Kashmir. He is a member of People's Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly. He resides in New Delhi.
Khurram Parvez is a Kashmiri human rights activist. He is the Chairperson of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Program Coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS). Khurram is a recipient of the 2006 Reebok Human Rights Award. Parvez was included in Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2022.
Forced disappearance in Pakistan originated during the military dictator General Pervez Musharraf. The practice continued during subsequent governments. The term missing persons is sometimes used as a euphemism. According to Amina Masood Janjua, a human rights activist and chairperson of Defence of Human Rights Pakistan, there are more than 5,000 reported cases of forced disappearance in Pakistan. Human rights activists allege that the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan are responsible for the cases of forced disappearance in Pakistan. However, the law enforcement agencies in Pakistan deny this and insist that many of the missing persons have either joined militant organisations such as the TTP in Afghanistan and other conflict zones or they have fled to be an illegal immigrant in Europe and died en route.
The Kashmir conflict has been beset by large scale usage of sexual violence by multiple belligerents since its inception.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released two reports on "the situation of human rights in Indian-Administered Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir". The first report released on 14 June 2018 was the first ever issued by the United Nations on human rights in Kashmir. The second update report was released on 8 July 2019. The first report covered June 2016 to April 2018 while the second report covered the period May 2018 to April 2019. In both cases the reactions of Pakistan and India were diametrically opposite.
References
- ↑ "Parveena Ahangar, Parvez Imroz Awarded Norway's Rafto Prize for Human Rights". The Wire. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- ↑ "Parveena Ahangar & Parvez Imroz". The Rafto Foundation. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
- 1 2 "BBC 100 Women 2019". BBC News. 15 October 2019.
- ↑ Mother’s Day Special: Parveena Ahengar, Mouj of Kasheer
- ↑ "Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons | Cultures of Resistance". culturesofresistance.org. 9 April 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ↑ "Annual Report 2018" (PDF). Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. 16 October 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ↑ "Remembering those in Kashmir who exist but are missing". 6 September 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- ↑ "Parveena Ahnager speaking at University of Warwick, UK". Kashmir Life . 26 April 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ↑ Zahoor, Zubair (16 July 2021). "Parveena Ahangar: The Iron Lady Of Kashmir". Counter Currents. Retrieved 10 December 2021.