 |
|
Kashmiris Recount Their Torture at The Hands of Indian
Forces
|
SRINAGAR,
India, September 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – An
independence supporter , a human rights activist and a former
guerrilla, Farooq, Ibn and Manzour all share similar stories - torture
at the hands of India's security agencies that are putting down
Islamic independence claiming activists in Kashmir.
Farooq,
43, remembers the nightmare that began in February 1987. A supporter
of the pro-independence party Jamaat-i-Islami, he was snatched by the
Indian-backed militia Ikhwani and brought to a military camp in the
central district of Anantnag, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
He
was blindfolded, handcuffed and had his feet chained - he can still
show the marks - and Indian forces wasted no time in torturing him, he
said.
"They
asked me, 'Are you affiliated with the rebels?' I denied it, saying I
was simply a supporter. Then they hung me by my hands, tied behind my
back."
Half
an hour later they let him down.
"They
asked again, 'Are you affiliated with the rebels?' I denied it and
they hung me back up."
The
session lasted two hours. Farooq said the torture went on each day for
several hours.
He
listed the litany of horrors inflicted on him.
"They
dunked my head in water for more than a minute, they inflicted
electric shocks, they rolled heavy wood or steel cylinders over my
legs, they beat me mercilessly."
Nearly
two months later, an officer told him he was being transferred to a
police camp. His family was paid 100,000 rupees, or about 2,000
dollars.
"They
told me not to tell anyone I was tortured," Farooq said. He then
spent two more years in custody before being released.
Out
of concern for their safety, Farooq, Ibn and Manzour all asked that
their real names not be used.
For
their part, Indian security forces deny any torture in Kashmir.
However, according to human rights groups, torture is rampant in the
province, where the insurgency erupted in 1989 and has claimed at
least 36,500 lives - or more than twice that number, according to
separatists.
The
first of four rounds of polling to the Kashmir assembly will be held
Monday, September 16.
Ibn,
33, was a member of a non-governmental organization that studies
Kashmir. He was arrested at his home in the summer capital Srinagar in
May 1998 by police and paramilitary troops.
"They
told me, 'You're the military chief of a rebel organization, give up
your arms.' I denied it, explaining that I was part of a reputable
human rights group. Then a high-ranking police officer ordered that I
be beaten."
He
was taken to the Cargo Complex, the headquarters of the Special
Operations Group, reputed to be the most violent force putting down
the rebellion.
Ibn
said he suffered the same sort of torture as Farooq, "hangings,
electric shocks, the cylinders, beatings," all done by or in the
presence of about 15 people, "members of the local and federal
police, federal intelligence agents, paramilitary men."
"There
were 41 young people with me at the complex. One of them, 26 years
old, was killed before my eyes," he said.
At
one point, Ibn said he admitted that he had arms and explosives.
"It
was untrue, and they didn't believe me anyway."
He
said he was tortured for eight days. He was released after one month
in custody, "time enough for the traces of the wounds to
disappear."
His
release, he said, was secured by a human rights group in New Delhi -
in exchange for a promise not to press charges.
Ahmed,
a 30-year-old who fought with the main rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin,
lost an eye, had his tongue burned and his right arm and left leg
paralyzed.
He
said that, in 1994, he was detained three times and released because
the security forces lacked evidence he belonged to a rebel group.
But
then he was taken away a fourth time - by the Special Operations
Group, which caught him with weapons. He no longer remembers when or
where it happened, having lost all memory. His brother explained what
he heard was done to him.
"They
said that Ahmed confessed he was a militant, that he was tortured and
that his body and tongue were burned. Then he was thrown out of the
second-floor window and left for dead."
Also,
in the Kashmiri village of Handwara, everyone is scared. The family of
a candidate assassinated by suspected militants is terrified, while
other residents live in fear of harassment by the security forces.
Behind
two checkpoints and rice paddies lined with barbed wire, the family of
Sheikh Abdul Rehman are cut off and in mourning.
The
60-year-old was an independent Muslim candidate for state elections
being held in Indian Kashmir in four phases between September 16 and
October 8.
Handwara,
in the northern district of Kupwara, goes to the polls Monday.
Rebels
threatened to disrupt the election and last week they struck near the
village.
Rehman
was killed while traveling in a convoy, accompanied by nine guards
assigned by the government to ensure his safety.
"Five
men in military uniforms armed with Kalashnikovs stopped the cars in
the middle of the road," said Rehman's son, 18-year-old Mohammed
Ramzan.
"They
made us get out, asked us to line up and fired immediately before
escaping."
Four
people died. Security forces blamed the killings on Muslim rebels who
have been waging a separatist insurrection in Indian Kashmir since
1989.
Since
August 2, when the Indian government announced the dates of the
elections, 21 political activists have been killed in Kashmir,
including two candidates.
Rehman's
family is furious both at the rebels and at the government.
"The
rebels have made (death) threats to those taking part in the polls and
the government is unable to ensure the safety of the people,"
said the murdered candidate's angry son-in-law, Abdul Rashid Sheikh.
"We
are terrified and people cannot take part in the elections
freely."
Villagers
are also afraid - of "daily harassment" by the Indian
security forces.
"Every
time the rebels carry out an attack, the army takes its revenge on
innocent civilians," said Ahmed Farooq, 25, whose name has been
changed for his safety.
Several
people told AFP that shortly after the assassination, the army rushed
to search and detain several residents and took them to one of their
camps.
Altogether
around 30 people were questioned.
Zahoor
Ahmed said he was thrown from his cart to the ground and beaten in the
middle of the road.
"They
asked where the militants came from, where they had gone to,"
said another.
The
practice is normal, according to Firdous Asime, founder of human
rights group, the Institute of Kashmir Studies.
"Whenever
there is any protest, security forces are particularly violent and
immediately cordon off the area and search and beat people."
Civilians
are then taken away to a camp for an "identification period"
which can last up three days during which they are paraded in front of
masked advisors.
"Young people who are bearded and well-built
are particularly suspected. They are beaten, sometimes tortured,"
Asime added.
Mustafa
Tariq, 20, not his real name, was held for three days and tortured
after rebel shootings two weeks ago and still has scars on his arms.
"They
hit me, burned me and gave me electric shocks. They asked me where the
rebels came from," he said.
