M A I N   N E W S

USA takes note of J&K killings

Washington, April 1
The Bush administration has taken serious note of "the concerted campaign of execution-style killings of civilians by Kashmiri and foreign-based militant groups" in Jammu and Kashmir.

The US State Department's annual report released here yesterday also notes that the victims include several political leaders and party workers.

"Separatist militants were responsible for numerous, serious (human rights) abuses, including killing of armed forces personnel, police, government officials, and civilians; torture; rape; and other forms of brutality," it says.

Separatist militants were also responsible for kidnapping and extortion in Kashmir and the northeastern states, it says.

The report, which devotes 83 pages to the situation in India, also notes New Delhi's accusation that the Pakistan-based terrorist groups Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed were responsible for carrying out many of the attacks on civilians and military personnel.

The document notes that India "generally" respects the human rights of its citizens, but that numerous serious problems remain.

It contains a list of "significant" human rights abuses in India. These include extra-judicial killings like faked encounter killings, deaths of suspects in police custody throughout the country, and excessive use of force by security forces combating active insurgencies in Kashmir and several north-eastern states.

It says these problems are acute in Kashmir, where judicial tolerance of the government's heavy-handed counter-insurgency tactics, the refusal of security forces to obey court orders, and terrorist threats have disrupted the judicial system.

It puts on record the observation of international monitors that the elections to the Kashmir Assembly in September-October last year took place in a somewhat fair and transparent manner.

However, it says, some NGOs alleged that there were flaws in the elections, including that all major separatist groups boycotted the poll and there was a widespread fear of attacks by militants.

Referring to Pakistan, the report says its government's human rights record remained poor, although there were some improvements in a few areas.

It makes an identical observation about Bangladesh. "Its government continued to commit numerous serious human rights abuses," the report says.

It says Sri Lanka generally respected the human rights of its citizens, though there were problems in some areas.

"There is some discrimination and occasional violence against religious minorities and institutionalised ethnic discrimination against Tamils remains a problem (in Sri Lanka)," it says. IANS