The Informative Missive
Published by
 PUBLIC COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

October 2003

Editorial
Peace In Pieces IKV Partners Conference

    It was for the first time that Inter Church Peace Council (IKV) had organized a conference, which was attended by all its partners. Four peace activists from Kashmir attended the conference, which commenced on October 6 to 11th at Hague, Netherlands. There were delegates from Southeast Asia, Middle East and the Caucasus. The issues discussed were fundamentalism, terrorism, militarism and humanitarian intervention, threats to international security and peace management by alliance building networking.

    All the activists expressed their opinions and ideas in free atmosphere. The activists from Iraq, mostly Kurdish Sunni Muslims were supportive of American military intervention in Iraq. However, they had no answer to America’s imperialistic designs in Iraq. Ironically, a peace activist from Iraq, Mr. Osos, a staunch supporter of America, was allowed by the then Saddam regime to attend the last years meeting, however this year he was debarred by the American authorities to attend the conference.

    One of the interesting aspects of the conference was the comradeship between Palestinian peace activist Mr. Waleed Salem and Israeli peace activist Mr. Izhak Schneil, both of whom are from Bethlehem. Both are nationalists. But both being bonded together in their partnership with the IKV on a common mission of restoring peace. Their comradeship was exemplary to other civil society groups of hostile countries. Although, viewed with suspicion and distress within their own communities, both of them agreed, nonetheless that their efforts proved effective. Non-violent methods like demonstrations, civil disobedience and cooperation have proven more effective popularly known as Intifida. But, according to Dr. Waleed Salem, violent means of struggle has hampered the Palestinian cause. Kashmir imbroglio was discussed and even the organizers at the end observed that Kashmir had dominated the entire conference. Participants, least knowing about the history of Kashmir dispute, were of the opinion that it was a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. The issue of military, political, humanitarian intervention was discussed amongst the participants. Participants presented their views –

    when military and humanitarian intervention was required in conflict regions and whether it was really needed or not. Delegates from Kosovo and other conflict areas observed military intervention has created further problems for the area.

    One of the highlights of the conference was the farewell speech of the outgoing Sec-General of IKV, Mient Jan Faber who worked as a peace activist for nearly 60 years. In his speech Mient Jan Faber, emphasized that people are the most important aspect for a peace. “Not ideologies, movements, books, institutions but people in general are the most important. Politics is about the people I know,” said Faber. He further added that, “peace as such is an empty concept, we need to speak about peace and justice, peace and human rights, because when you speak about peace alone you can be left without anything but peace”. Mr. Faber was unceremoniously dropped from his position in IKV, as he had supported the US invasion on Iraq. In his speech Mr. Faber pleaded for the case of Kashmiri people who for years have been confronting excess of violations.

    The issue of terrorism was discussed at the conference and it was felt that after 9/11, Muslims all over the west are viewed with suspicion and Islam is intrinsically dubbed as anti-democracy, anti-modernism, and anti-westernism. It was felt by the participants that lot of these misconceptions could be cleared by way of interactions and discussions between civilisations.

    During the conference, the Dwarsliggers (dissidents) from Kashmir, Turkey, Armenia and Palestine discussed the common strategies with their counterparts in Netherlands. Apart from the conference at De Glind, a debate on “What’s in it for Kashmir?, was organized in the Amsterdam University in the Department of ASIA (Asian Studies in Amsterdam).
 
    The debate was to be initially chaired by Ton Lansink (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs) but later he refused to chair it. Citing Kashmir a very sensitive issue, Lansink said that he being a `government employee` couldn’t take part in the debate. Participants at the conference were amused by his attitude and felt Ministry of Foreign Affairs had pressurized Lansink not to chair the debate. The debate turned out to be lively and highlight of the conference, but at the end some participants from India accused editor as well as the organizers for giving only one side of the story. They argued that organizers were not making available information to the participants from the other side, which they meant from Pakistani Administrative Kashmir (PAK), the Gilgit and Baltistan. Laying stress on the formation of a Global Civil Society, the conference described it as need of hour as global peace movements around the world are in pieces.

VILLAGERS EXILED IN THEIR OWN HOME TOWN, DOGS HAVE A RIGHT TO LIVE BUT NOT HUMANS NOT AT LEAST IN YATIPURA, PALHALAN PATTAN

    Yatipura, Palhalan is a village about 35 kms away from Srinagar situated in Pattan Tehsil, which falls on the National Highway. The village comprises 200 families. The entrance to this village is from two extremes of the army camp. One road, which is from the upper extreme, is about 1 Km from the main road and the other one is shorter about half a km. The entrance to this village is guarded by heavily armed troops. The village falls in between huge concentration of army camps, to enter this village, it is necessary to pass through the camps. The troops have been stationed there since 1947. The houses in the village are made of brick and mud and are clustered together. The village has some apple orchids and most people depend on it for a livelihood. Apparently, this village wears a calm look but things are not as calm as they seem to appear. Yatipura, Palhalan shot into news when reports about killing of 16-year-old student by troops for a dog came into limelight. The killing sends shock waves and despair in the adjoining villages and in Srinagar city. The killing of sixteen-year-old Reyaz was nothing new to Kashmir but the motive behind the killing was weird. Reyaz had to die because the 29 RR placed in the area had lost a sniffer dog and when the youth of the area who were assigned the task of finding the lost dog, were unable to find the dog, the irked personnel of 29 RR shot Reyaz dead and as usual gave the version that he was killed in an encounter between militants and army.

    A five member team from Public Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) visited the bereaved family and was shocked to know that killing of Reyaz was one aspect of the suffering of people in the village as other kinds of human right violations like forced labor, harassment and humiliation had become part of their daily lives.

    The villagers of Yatipura are living virtually under a siege. Although, the troops were stationed there since 1947, but from the last 14 years there has never been a moment of respite and things have become more and more difficult. Reyaz’s killing is just one of the reflections of their helplessness.

    The PCHR team spoke to Reyaz’s father Ghulam Nabi Dar and the grief stricken father recalled his tragic story. “Early at 7:00 pm in the morning the 29 RR called all the people in the compound and at least put 80 young men aside and took their identity cards. They told them that the regiment had lost a dog the previous day and ordered them to find the dog before 5:00 pm and till then the ID cards of all the boys would not be returned. They were also told that 7 boys would go in a unit and search for the dog and in case they were not able to find it, they had to get it written from the Numberdar. My sons Mushtaq and Shabir were also taken for the search. A day before there was an encounter between militants, and forces, in an adjoining village, and the forces had taken villagers as shield and forced the militants to surrender, but they had refused to do so. May be the dog had been lost in that encounter. At about 4:00 pm the boys came back and told the RR men that they were not able to find the dog. They were infuriated by this. Around the same time we heard gunshots in the air. Soon the news spread that our son had been shot dead. There was panic and we rushed to the camp with all the villagers. We asked for his body but they refused to accept the fact that they had killed the boy and fired heavily in air for long time. We staged a protest on the main road and soon police also came on the scene. The police officer Dilavar Mir assured us that he would get the body back. Meanwhile, the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Shaheen Beig also came on the spot and talked to DIG. After a long wait I and my another son were allowed inside the camp. There we saw his body. He had been fired on his chest and his body was lying on bed and was covered by a dupatta (scarf). The security personnel told us not to take a procession, but as we brought the body back, the youth in our area were filled with anger and rage took out a procession. Later we buried him. The D.C. and the Minister for Finance and Law, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh also came and met us and promised justice,” says a shaken father of Reyaz. But his mother Misra does not believe in the system of justice, “But we do not believe in justice. We will not fight the case, as we are poor people, who will listen to our pleas? My son was a student of 10th class, we educated him so that at least one from our six children would be able to read and write, see his books (and she brings all her son’s text books and shows them off, on one of the books it was written “Hindustan tarqi ki aur” (India on its way to development) but of what use are these books he is no more, he was killed. What is the point in gong to court and fighting, where is justice? We are poor people and want to live in peace. We fear for our and the rest of villagers lives. Army on all sides covers us; we are sandwiched between these camps. We have been always suppressed by them, they make us to do all their odd jobs, we have to pass through this camp as it is the way to this village and every time the villagers are forced to work as bonded laborers. We cannot dare to refuse to obey their orders. If we fight this case our lives will be threatened and insecure”. Some of the villagers alleged that the army officials are influencing the village headman to persuade the family members to hush up the matter and it may be the reason behind the family’s refusal to fight the case in the court of law. The irony is that this village is in isolation and all the atrocities committed on the people go unnoticed and unreported. It was only after Reyaz’s killing that this hapless village came into prominence and human rights violation committed into village caught attention of the outside world. The unfortunate people of Palhalan are subjected to inhuman treatment in their own homeland by outsiders.

    One of the villagers a middle-aged woman Raja, has been one of the victims of atrocities committed by forces. Her son-in-law who was teacher was killed ten years back. He was arrested and brutally tortured and after that the security forces told him to him to jump from the window. While doing so he was shot at and died instantly leaving behind his wife and three daughters. Before this incident his brother was forced by the army to persuade the militants to surrender in holed up house. He was rebuked by militants and in the cross firing between militants and security forces he was killed. He is survived by seven daughters. But in spite of this entire episode Raja is very candid in her comments and says, “we are living a life of misery. It is most unfortunate that we live in this village, we are virtual prisoners in our own houses, after 5:00 pm, we cannot move out of the houses and they RR people always look for means to harass us, forced labour is one of the means. They have a training camp here and after 5:00 pm they go for shelling and heavy firing during the training, which has caused deafness to many people here. Even the newborn babies are suffering from deafness due to this continuous shelling. The children cannot study due to this nuisance and at times when the students are on way to school they are stopped and forced to work as bonded laborers, owing to which their studies are suffering enormously. If this is not enough, women especially the pregnant women have to bear a lot. Recently, when a woman was delivering her child and needed medical care at Lal Ded hospital, Srinagar, the security personnel had the audacity to enter the room to see if the woman was actually delivering or not. This is our plight. Here babies are not born after 9 months, at times due to the incessant pressure from the noise coming from shelling, pregnant women deliver pre maturely. The villagers say that they have to give the troops a share from apples at regular basis, it affects our trade but out of fear we do so and also do it as a gesture of goodwill to be in the good books of these troops. Our social life is also affected because of these troops nobody wants to visit our village. Relatives and friends fear harassment and prefer not to stroll in this village. You won’t believe it that nobody wants to get their son’s married in this village, when our sons-in-law from other villages come they have to face the same harassment. Many people say that because of huge deployment of forces in the area, a girl’s dignity is always in danger. The boys of other villages do not want to marry girls of this village and cast aspersions on the chastity of our girls, because of the presence of huge army contingent

    Another villager Farooq adds, “Muzaffar Beigh had to wait for half an hour to enter this village, if it can happen to him what will be our plight. Recently, on Diwali, the forces intercepted two men on bike and asked them to bring sweets and commodities for them, while coming back both men met with an accident and are now in hospital at Srinagar. This is our sorry state of affairs. How can we fight them? Reyaz went his way, he is dead but we are alive if we dare to annoy the forces here, our lives will be traumatized more. They killed a man for a dog, see the value of our lives”.

    In a place where a dog’s life is more precious than humans, one can only imagine how things must be otherwise. Reyaz’s killing is just another killing. The people of Palhalan are living a miserable life but their sufferings go unnoticed. Their geographic position is the cause of their worries and they have been pleading to the DC to relocate them in some other place. “The VIPs come and make hollow promises which after sometime vanish in thin proverbial air” laments a villager.


AN INTERVIEW WITH MARY AILEEN BACALSO, SECRETARY GENERAL- AFAD

    In the mid of October Ms. Mary Aileen Bacalso was in Kashmir for a brief visit to assess the human rights situation in Kashmir and to interact with the victims and relatives of the disappeared persons. Aileen spoke to The Informative Missive about her visit and her evaluation of Kashmir situation.

Q: Say something about AFAD and its work?
Mary: AFAD is the acronym for Asian Federation Against involuntary Disappearances and was established on 4th June 1998 in Manila, Philippines through the initiative of three organizations; Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) Kashmir, Families of the Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND), Philippines and Organization of Parents and Family Members of Disappeared (OPFMD), Srilanka. The federation was organized for the purpose of ensuring mutual cooperation among the organizations of the family members of the disappeared in different Asian countries. The enforced disappearances is not an isolated phenomenon in one country, it is a regional phenomenon here in Asia and in other regions of the world. It is an international problem, so for that reason we have to have a regional and international response to this glaring phenomenon of involuntary disappearances.
We have three components of work.

• International Solidarity

• International Lobbying

• And International Campaign

    In International Solidarity we learn from each other’s experiences in terms of situation and in terms of response. We conduct activities in different countries where AFAD members are based in order for us to affect a greater impact in relation to the government.

    In terms of International Lobbying we are working for the ratification of the U.N draft Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Together with all the members of the AFAD now from seven Asian countries. We conduct a regular lobbying at the UN during sessions of the human rights.

    We are working together with Latin American Federation of the Associations of the Relatives of the Disappeared Detainees (FEDEFAM), in a working for a creation of legally binding instrument for the protection of all persons from the enforced or involuntary disappearances. Recently we are also in cooperation with the recently established African network against involuntary disappearances (RADIFF).
In terms of International Campaign, we hope to have some breakthrough in the campaign for justice, we want to make this issue of disappearances known all over world, so that the people could give us the moral, political and material support that we need to combat impunity and to end this phenomenon of disappearances which is not only in Asia but also in other parts of the world.

Q: Is there any difference in your perception before and after visiting Kashmir?
Mary: My perception before visiting Kashmir was that it is a very difficult place. We had heard that Kashmir is a beautiful place but the people are suffering. It is different because if I just see and read these things in the reports of APDP than it s very different because we just see the cold statistics. I had met some people from Kashmir who attended some activities of AFAD in the past, through them we came to know about the situation in Kashmir but it is very different and more concrete when I saw personally the situation here and met a number of families of the victims almost 70 of them.

    I have heard their stories of pain and of struggle. Hopefully and eventually they will have some victories in the future. I have seen their situation in some of their houses and I have also met some other families of the disappeared in other parts of Asia but then I could see the situation, here is worst then any other part of the world. It is more difficult here than in years of martial law in Philippines during the regime of Marcos. There is no explicit declaration of martial law here in Kashmir but this is a very militarized area and this is the worst place I have ever seen in terms of the suffering of the people. It is ironic that compared to the beauty of the place, people are suffering here. It is a place rich in natural resources but it is ironic that the people who are supposed to enjoy the natural resources are suffering a lot. Why do people have to disappear? Why do people have to suffer? Why do families have to wait and wait and wait? And they don’t know until when they will have to wait for their loved ones to return. There is no certainty whether their loved ones will return or not but most probably their loved ones will not return. They have knocked at the doors of the authorities but have not got any lead or clues as to what happened to their loved ones. It has created a lot of negative effects emotionally, psychologically and economically for the survivors and the wives of the victims here are actually helpless, because they don’t have jobs, they have to take care of their young children. We feel quite helpless but we will try our best to project this issue and let the world know that here in Kashmir, people are suffering and they need a lot of support.

Q: What do you think about the role of International media on Kashmir Conflict?
Mary: We don’t hear much news from the international media about Kashmir. Actually I came to know about Kashmir only during the process of the formation of AFAD but before this we had heard about the disappearances in South America, about other countries in Asia but not about Kashmir. So we think that projection is very important for the problem here to be known internationally. And in the international level it is important for the United Nations people to know that this conflict here should be solved and eventually the people should be given their basic right to self-determination.

Q: What was your feeling after meeting the APDP?
Mary: I was so happy to meet the families and able to hear their stories with help of translator. There were about 68 families that I met but by the time I interviewed 30th person I felt depressed, their stories were so painful, I felt that I could not hear any more but then I was only able to interview until the 32nd person. It was really painful listening to all their stories, the stories about the disappearances of their loved ones. Some even mentioned that they lost four or five children in their families. It is so difficult but on the other hand we should turn all this pain into courage in the struggle for justice or else we cannot do anything if we feel so depressed.

    When I go out on the streets I see the soldiers carrying guns, I really feel so scared. Yesterday my friend, who is a journalist, survived miraculously as a grenade hit him at the site of the encounter, when he had gone there to cover the story. Fortunately the grenade did not explode.

    The situation here is very dangerous. I was also depressed after the series of meetings with the families of the relatives, as I felt helpless that we could not do anything for the benefit of these families.

Q: You have met many women (Widows &half widows) in the last few days, what do you think is the situation of such women in Kashmir?
Mary: Women here are in extremely vulnerable position. They don’t have jobs, it is very difficult for them to live a normal life here in society and it is difficult for them to marry again. Practically they (half widows or widows) need to re-marry but remarriage has other implications; children usually suffer in these cases. I think the women and the children bear the brunt of effects of the disappearances because of the fact that the most of the disappeared here were men, Women have to take care of the children and have to shoulder the responsibility and to take care of financial, economical and emotional needs of their children. I think there is no easy solution to the problem it is a long process. People have to know that there is this kind of problem so that they could collectively find a solution to this. Because of the loss of their bread winners they need to have a livelihood programme that could answer their immediate and as well as their family needs. The government of India is not doing anything to solve their problems; so I think there should be alternative means for them to survive and to live normal lives. We hope that the organizations here in Kashmir and other organizations outside Kashmir would be able to help them so that they could make their lives whole again because I think that the family lives of the people who have disappeared not just here in Kashmir but anywhere in the world have been disintegrated, they just have to pick the broken pieces of their lives and then go on with life. It is very difficult but they need a lot of help and moral, material and political support from the International civil society.

Q: Has lobbying with U.N group on disappearances been of help to AFAD.
Mary: The most that we were able to do was to submit the general situations and individual cases on the phenomenon of disappearances in each of the countries, which is a member of AFAD. What is important is that on our part we were able to do something to tell the world through this working group on disappearances that this is a reality in our country so that this UN group on disappearances would pressure the different governments to do something about disappearances, hopefully to prevent the disappearances. But realistically speaking most of those cases that we reported we think victims are not with us, although the families don’t want to believe that they are dead but we think that majority of them have been killed. These cases of disappearances submitted to the UN in relation to the general phenomenon of the disappearances have been published in their annual reports. I think the most important thing that this working group was able to do for the members of AFAD is to embarrass the governments concerned that they have been the signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the other human rights instruments. But in terms of implementation they are not protecting human rights and they are not defending the human rights and that could be manifested among many other things through these cases of disappearances. It is very important for the governments to be embarrassed before the international community.

Q: AFAD had suggested UN working group on disappearances to visit Kashmir
Mary: We have been asking the U.N. working group on disappearances to visit Kashmir as we had been asking them to visit Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Philippines again. But personally, I think we did not have the positive response from the UN working group on disappearances. They did not say anything about it. They just asked about the statistics but in terms of concrete things they did not do anything and even the Chairman, of the U.N. working group on disappearances, Mr. Diego, said that the working group on disappearances is also helpless because it lacks resources, it only has the secretariat of two persons with 90,000 cases from different countries all over the world. They also feel helpless and even said that if there is no solution that could be found to beef up the resources of the working group than this working group would stop functioning. This will really be a disaster to the movement against disappearances because they are one of our sources of hope to resolve cases of the past and to prevent these cases from happening again in the future.

Q: After leaving Kashmir what will be the priority of your work regarding Kashmir?
Mary: Priority work is to tell people that this situation is worst than any other place. It is different really for the people who have been here like we could tell people in many different ways; in speeches, in reports, through our publications, through the video presentations the situation here. I think it is very important. And internationally also the voice of the families of the victims here in Kashmir should be brought to the United Nations. We go to the UN from time to time whenever there are official sessions of the working group on disappearances and Commission on Human Rights. It would be very good if possible a family member of a disappeared would be able to go to UN and speak about her/his case and bring forth the voice of the other families of the victims. Another thing since people here believe are isolated from the outside world for example families of the disappeared persons here in Kashmir could also get strength from the other families of the disappeared in other countries so that they could feel that they are not alone in pain and in struggle and in the hope for victory. So we hope that we can organize a conference of families of the disappeared for example here in South Asian countries and facilitate the meeting of the families for them to be able to share their pain and for them to be able to collectively work and think together how they could as the group of families of the victims resolve their problems and how they could make their lives whole again.

Q: India as a democracy…
Mary: India is perceived as very democratic country but it is ironic how could a country be democratic when it is not respecting the basic right to life. They claim jurisdiction over Kashmir whose people are thinking of independence and for self-determination. How could India say that they are democratic when they isolate the basic rights of Kashmiris, many people have been killed here, many disappeared, there is a lot of repression going on and it is difficult to come up with collective protests to the situation. So how can a country be called democratic when it is not respecting the very democratic rights of a citizen. Therefore I think democracy is not the right adjective to describe India. In Philippines people are engrossed in their own situation; there is poverty and many other problems. They are not keen in seeing the situation of other countries. Although India is a neigbouring country of Philippines but majority of the people are not concerned with what is happening here but the NGO community believes as they have been to UN and have observed how government of India is violating human rights.

Q: Any suggestions for Human Rights groups working here
Mary: Based on my own experiences, the support of different organizations concerned on human rights from the different sections of the society was a very important factor for us to be able to topple the Marcos dictatorship. So I think that the unity of the different organizations is most important. Unfortunately we don’t have the same unity as we had before. We just hope that here in Kashmir you could start the unity now and the cooperation, work together with the different sections of society who are most affected by the human right violations, by the poverty which is going on in this supposedly rich place.

    Another important thing is that we in Philippines had collective protests during the martial law but I know it is difficult here, but we just have to do something concrete and to come up with protests actions and to ensure the support of the international community.

    From our experiences we were able to topple the dictatorship because of the support of the religious groups and churches. We hope that you have same support system within Kashmir and outside Kashmir for your struggle to be successful and to attain the eventual victory.

Q: What can be the role of civil society in Kashmir?
Mary: Here society needs to be mobilized. After years of struggle we were able to achieve democracy. Although there are still problems but we believe that civil society be mobilized here to give the people of Kashmir the much-needed Independence. In the Philippines during our years of martial law the unity and the solidarity of international community helped us a lot.

Bandipora Diary

* CIVILIANS BEATEN
Oct 11: At about 1:30 am, militants reportedly attacked 14 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) camp at Sonawari, Bandipora. In retaliation in the wee hours of the morning when people especially children were still sleeping, the 14 RR personnel started a search operation in Khayar, Shah Mohalla in which the civilians were beaten.

    The civilians who were beaten were identified as Altaf Hussain Shah (employee Finance department), Mohammed Latif Shah (UEED employee), Shakil Ahmed Shah and Zahoor Ahmed Shah both teachers, Mohammed Yousuf Shah (forest guard), Abdul Majid Shah (college student), Mohammed Ashraf Shah (agriculture department employee). Later around 7:30 am the officer reached the spot and the rest of the people heaved a sigh of relief.

* PROTEST AT SONAWARI
Oct 19: The people of Sonawari area protested against the atrocities of 14 RR camp, stationed at the same village. People alleged that during the night of Oct 19th militants fired on the camp from the side of the famous Ziayarat, Ahm Sharief at Bandipora following by the cordon of security forces during which civilians were beaten.

    Sources said, the 14 RR personnel cordoned off the Malik Mohalla and Ganie Mohalla during which the civilians were beaten and arrested. The persons arrested were Abdul Majid Malik son of Abdul Ahad Malik, Mohammed Amin Wani s/o Mohd Shahbaz Wani (shopkeeper by profession) and Ghulam

    Nabi Malik, a Congress worker and contractor of the area. While Abdul Ahad Malik (Medical assistant), Ghulam Hassan Malik, (ex-medical assistant), Manzoor Ahmed Malik, Altaf Ganie, Abdul Majid Malik and their family members were allegedly beaten. Most of the injured were admitted to Sher Kashmir Institution of Medical Science (SKIMS) for treatment.

    According to the residents, Abdul Majid Malik s/o Abdul Ahad Malik was held for fake recovery of weapons and sent to JIC Baramulla. The residents staged a massive protest against the arrests and atrocities. They protested in front of the camp, which led to the release of Ghulam Nabi Malik, and Mohd Amin Shah who according to the locals had been arrested under a ‘pre-planned and made up scheme’. Abdul Majid Malik was not released.

* MARRIAGE PARTY HELD FOR NIGHT
    On 19th October, in Bandipora, bharat (marriage party) of Mushtaq Ahmed Sheikh along with fifty to sixty guests proceeded to Baramulla at noon in connection of the marriage ceremony were held by the troops for a night. Due to long distance and Nikaah khani (marriage rituals) it took a bit long and the bharat left back for Bandipora a little later then the scheduled time. At about 8:00 p.m., they reached Aloosa where the security camp of 15 RR, did not permit them to proceed onwards. The bharat party was held up for the night. Though, the guests had enjoyed a lot at bride’s house but the subsequent night they suffered to the extent, that one of the groom’s family member observed that it is better to wed each other in their own locality instead far away places.

HIGH COURT INDICTS POLICE IN ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF A YOUTH

    Fayaz Ahmed Beig, working as cameraman in the University of Kashmir in the Department of Central Asian Studies was whisked away by the STF/SOG personnel of Lathaura, Awantipora of district Pulwama personnel from the university campus.

    The officials admitted that Fayaz Ahmed was with them but refused to release him. The relatives of Fayaz filed complaint before State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on 6-9-1997. Simultaneously, a Habeas Corpus petition was filed by Fayaz’s mother Maryam before the High Court. The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) during its course of inquiry summoned the concerned STF operations and SP Awantipura. The SHRC did not buy the contention made by officers that Fayaz had escaped en route during the recovery of arms & ammunition during the search operations at Nowhatta, Srinagar.

    The commission on April 3, 2003 held that Fayaz was arrested by SPO operations of Awantipura and made to disappear in custody and the disappearance of Beig was being given a shape of escape while in custody allegedly during the proceedings of recovery of arms and ammunitions. The commission held that is was a baseless and concocted story put forward by them. Having reached the conclusion SHRC recommended to the State government to pay Rs 5 lac to family and also recommended registering case against culpable police officers. Since the commission is recommendatory body, the recommendations made to the State Government were not implemented notwithstanding the fact that the order was to be implemented within one month’s time. Finally, they filed a petition 263/2001 in the High Court for implementing the order and for registering the case of murder and conspiracy against the officials and for payment of compensation ordered by the SHRC. In the writ petition the version of the government officials was the same that after arrest Beig was taken to a place of recovery of arms and ammunitions & during that search they came under fire of militants, given this attack, Beig made a escape from police custody The police had filed FIR in 239/97 in Soura police station against this escape. The High Court has accepted the enquiry conducted by SHRC and has lamented that the government has swept over the matter and has further observed that FIR lodged by police over the disappearance of Fayaz is one sided cooked up ploy, an camouflage exercise. The High Court has directed the state to register a case against culpable officers as recommended by SHRC and to conduct the investigation by the rank of SSP. The investigation shall be taken as conclusion and be completed within 4 months. The High Court has directed that Rs 2 lac be paid for the wrong of custodial disappearance and breach of public duty by the police officers. The Court has left it to the government whether to recover amount of compensation or part with the police personnel responsible in this case.

    The court said it was painful to note that the government has shown no response to the commission’s report. The court observed that the police and the state government were under duty and a legal obligation to register the case and investigate the version of writ petitioner, which was upheld by the SHRC.

HIGH COURT INDICTS BSF IN DISAPPEARANCE CASE

Oct 27: In a landmark decision the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has held the Border Security Forces (BSF) responsible for the custodial disappearance of Ghulam Nabi Bhat resident of Hawal Srinagar. The court also blamed the government of negligence in protecting the life of the disappeared person and directed it to pay the compensation of Rs. 1 lac to the family of the disappeared.

    In the year 1992, the personnel of BSF picked up Ghulam Nabi Bhat and his whereabouts were concealed. Appearing in response to the direction passed by the court to disclose his whereabouts, the respondent denied to have caused the disappearance. On the direction of the High Court, an enquiry was conducted by District Judge Bank Cases and it was reported in the enquiry vide order dated May 12, 1998 that Bhat was arrested by the BSF and his whereabouts are not known. Subsequently, an FIR 126/98 under section 343 was registered in police station Nowhatta.

    The BSF, the decision further reads admitted to have arrested him on 8-6-1992 and it was done by constabulary 107 BN. He was handed over to Constable Labhour Singh No. 90191378 and guard commander NK Raina during intervening night of June 9 and 10, 1992. According to the BSF version, Ghulam Nabi escaped from the custody on the pretext of "answering the call of nature." Furthermore, it was stated that the BSF conducted a departmental enquiry but claimed that two constables had died in separate encounters so no action could be taken against them. The BSF prayed for dismissal of petition. However, Justice Muzaffar Jan held that the BSF admitted Ghulam Nabi was taken into custody and his custody was not shifted to police or any other agency. The court rejected the BSF version and said it is aimed at "avoiding legal consequences and in the facts and circumstances as reflected from the record and appears to be highly improbable".

    Even the enquiry by the district Judge, Bank Cases shows that Bhat was visited by his relations and was found in good health but afterwards his whereabouts were not disclosed to the petitioner. The court blamed the state to have failed in protecting life of an "innocent civilian" or to account for his disappearance in custody.

    Terming it a rarest of rare cases, the court said the relief has to be moulded by "allowing compensation in the facts and circumstances of present case". The court allowed the writ petition and directed the state to pay him Rs. 1 Lac as compensation in the facts and circumstances to the affected family.

CUSTODIAL KILLING IN CM'S HOME TOWN GOVT. ORDERS ENQUIRY

Oct 21: Thousands of people held demonstration at Bijbehara in south Kashmir and blocked the traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway for several hours against the alleged custodial killing of a physically incapacitated youth. In police action dozens of protestors received injuries.

    The soldiers of 58 bn Border Security Force (BSF) on the night of 20th October raided the house of Ghulam Muhammad Khatana s/o Juma Khatana r/o Lehandajan, Pahalgam. The troops allegedly brought Khatana, who had lost his arm in an accident, out of his house and shot him dead at some distance from the locality.

    The residents of Lehandajan staged a dharna on Pahalgam road in the morning and later brought the body of Khatana to Bijbehara. The mourners took out a procession from Padshahi Bagh on the highway on which traffic movement was halted for several hours.

    The villagers in an FIR registered against BSF said that the deceased was killed, as he had not raised his hands since he had lost his arm due to an electric shock. The villagers alleged Khatana was not even remotely related with the ongoing militancy, he was killed due to reasons best known to the troops. On the other hand the BSF has also registered a counter FIR in which it has been mentioned that Mohammad Khatana was killed in cross firing between the BSF patrolling party and the militants.
 
    However, the daily police bulletin on militant activities reported the incident thus “on Oct 21, during cordon operation by BSF at village Lehandajan, Pahalgam, one person namely Muhammad Khatana, 35, r/o Bugnar Lehandajan sustained injuries in an exchange of fire between militants and forces and later succumbed to his injuries”.

    The state government ordered an enquiry into the alleged extra judicial execution and appointed Additional Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, Latief-ul-Zaman Deva as an enquiry officer and asked him to submit his finding within a week's time.

BOY'S KILLING SPARKS PROTEST

Oct 26: Inhabitants of village of Sangla of Poonch district thronged the streets to protest against the killing of a village boy allegedly at the hands of Special Police Officers (SPO) of Special Operation Group (SOG).
 
    Abdul Qayoom s/o Ahmed of Sangla village of Poonch district, an eighth class student was shot dead allegedly by Special Police Officers of SOG in remote village of Sangla in tehsil Surankote in Poonch district on 24th of October. However, the DIG police, Rajouri range said these were false allegations against the police even though a case has been registered against the accused police officials.

    A large number of people led by Kashmiri Welfare Forum general secretary, Advocate Mukhtiar Sheikh, took to streets to protest against the killing. They were demanding stern action against the erring SPOs. The SPOs identified as Warris Hussain Shah and Gulzar Hussain Shah had already been detained by the police.

    The protestors alleged that on October 24, at around 6 PM, two SPO’s who visited the house of Abdul Qayoom asked him to show them the way to another neighbouring village, which he obliged. However, after coming out of the Sanlga village without any provocation both the SPOs pumped bullets on his chest and presuming him dead, the SPOs left the place, thereafter, the injured boy somehow managed to reach back to his house and before breathing his last narrated the whole story to his parents in front of other villagers. He also revealed the name of both SPOs before his death.

SOLDIER RAPES TEENAGER

Oct 4: In a shocking incident, a teenager girl was allegedly raped by an army man who was on leave in Talsieri village of Nowshera tehsil of district Rajouri. A medical check up of the victim has been conducted and police has launched a search to nab the accused.

    Official reports revealed that a teen-age girl Bimla Devi was on her way to provide lunch to her parents who were working in a field outside the village. The girl while passing through an isolated place was overpowered by the accused, identified as Ramesh Kumar. She was raped by the solider till she got unconscious; police added that the accused fled from the spot leaving the victim in a pool of blood.

    When the girl regained her consciousness, she rushed to her parents and recounted the whole incident. The police was informed and the girl was taken for medical checkup. A police officer said that the accused who was posted in Reasi area of Udhampur district was still absconding. However, a manhunt has been launched to trace him.

BLAST IN COURT CLAIMS COP'S LIFE ENQUIRY ORDERED

Oct 22: A grenade went off accidentally in Additional Sessions Court Kishtwar killing a Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police head constable on the spot and injuring at least eight persons including Additional Sessions Judge Kishtwar. Chief Justice has ordered a magisterial enquiry to probe the incident.

    A grenade explosion rocked the Additional Sessions court Kishtwar at around 1:00 pm when the hearing of a Hizbul Mujahideen militant was going on and the weapon recovered from him was displayed before the judge. Out of 4 grenades recovered, one of the grenades went off accidentally when a head constable was packing the ammunition bag. The head constable died on the spot. He has been identified as Brij Lal while eight others who were injured had been identified as Additional Sessions Judge, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh, Advocate Mohammad Hussain Waza, Advocate Ravinder Goswami, Constable Ramesh Kumar, Constable Abdul Hamid, Constable Bodh Raj, a civilian Sajad Ahmad and the accused militant. Subsequently, Chief Justice ordered an enquiry and appointed the Sessions judge Bhaderwah N.D. Wani to probe the incident.

TRAGIC FAMILIES

* 14 YEARS HAVE PASSED AND FAMILY STILL FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE

    Abdul Rashid Bhat s/o Habbibullah Bhat r/o Badmulla, Baramulla, was picked up by army almost 14 years and since then nothing has been known about him. Rashid was a truck driver by profession and left to work, while driving truck, he was apprehended and picked by the army and that was last seen of him. Nothing was ever heard of him again.

    According to Manzoor Ahmad Malik, “next day we came to know that he had been picked up. People who had seen army picking him up came to us and told us about his arrest. We made extensive efforts to locate him but without any success. An FIR was lodged with Sheeri police station. Case has also been pleaded in high court, but it stretch’s from one hearing to another. His disappearance created a storm in his family.

    He was married and has two daughters, elder one Sameera is now twelve years old and next one Shafiqa is studying in 5th standard. His wife remarried immediately after his disappearance and the daughters are with us. Actually there has been lot of problems in Rashid’s family. His one brother Abdul Majid is a militant and is currently in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK). Another brother Mohd Amin Bhat was a militant and was in jail for 4-5 years, now he has left militancy and is working as laborer. Haniefa their sister was married; her husband too was a militant and is in Pakistan since last 13 years. Her in-laws deserted her. Haniefa wanted to go to Pakistan, she even applied for passport but some people told her that she cannot get passport. There used to be continuous raids at Rashid’s house. Once during raid all the members were taken out and army blasted the house.

    Rashid’s case is in High Court but nothing has come out of it and is dragging on from years. But now the family is exhausted and has almost given up the hope of something coming out from this case,” says Rashid’s cousin while speaking to The Informative Missive.

    Rashid’s father is already dead and mother is 70 years old. The case is going on. No relief or compensation has yet been granted to them. Bashir Ahmed his brother is following the case. The whole family is scattered, with one brother and brother in-law living in Pakistan while the two brothers of Rashid live separately. Rashid’s mother lives with her younger son Mohd Ramzan and his two daughters and Haniefa along with her daughter stays with one of the brother’s house. Financially things are bad and there is no source of income, Ramzaan works as a laborer and sustains the extended family but the going is very tough for all of them.

* ENDLESS MISERIES

    “If we all family members had died instead of our father, it would have been better,” said daughter of Aziz Pandit. Aziz was killed by unidentified gunmen in his house along with his two daughters. He was working as the laborer with a contractor in RR camp stationed at Tragbal. He had a huge family and had hand to mouth existence. Afterwards he was working as a coolie with a contractor. His aptitude and zeal for work elevated him to the post of head coolie. The contractor simultaneously got his contract with RR as head coolie. Aziz Pandit had to carry on his task of supervising the project work. From morning to evening he remained at the camp, the camp was some 13 kms from his residence.

    One night an unidentified gunman entered the house of Aziz Pandit and fired indiscriminately on him, in the shootout Aziz along with his two daughters was killed, while his other two daughters were injured badly. When there were a lot of hue & cry neighbours rushed to the spot, only to found Aziz and his two daughters dead. The other two daughters of Aziz were taken to hospital for treatment. Aziz’s family is in pathetic state, the family has no male members. The two daughters and their mother are living in misery.

SYED ABDUR REHMAN GEELANI RELEASED FROM TIHAR JAIL

    Delhi University Lecturer, S A R Geelani, one of the two person acquitted by the Delhi High Court in the parliament attack case (Dec 13, 2001) was released from the Tihar jail on Thursday after nearly 23 months of imprisonment.   

    The lecturer’s family and colleagues were present outside the prison since early this morning. But the police quietly whisked him out from one of the side exits. Geelani said he never lost hope that justice would ultimately be served. "I am happy. I had never lost hope and had faith in the Almighty," said the professor.
 
    The Delhi High Court had yesterday acquitted Geelani and Afshan in the parliament attack case, by absolving them of all charges. The verdict has been hailed in his hometown Baramulla. His friends and former colleagues at Delhi University have also welcomed the court order. After being charged with waging war against the country, Geelani had been suspended from his job as lecturer in Arabic Studies at Delhi’s Zakir Hussain College. Students and teachers are relieved that his name has been cleared and hope that the professor will return to his job.

    "It is good that he has been freed. Had he been guilty, he would have been punished. The name of our college has been cleared," said a student. It may be recalled that Geelani was arrested in New Delhi on December 15, 2001 and was facing a trial from the last two years. Nandita Haksar, a civil right activist played a very important role in Geelani’s case and in ensuring his release.

However, in the adjoining town of Sopur, Muhammad Afzal’s family was grieving. The Delhi court had rejected the appeals of Afzal and Shaukat Hussain and upheld their death sentence. However, Afzal’s family continues to insist on his innocence. "It is unfortunate that the court has punished them since they are innocent. At least, they should have been allowed to make their point," said Hilal Ahmad Guru, Afzal’s brother.

    But both families could find that the curtain has not yet come down on the case. With the police determined to take the case to the Supreme Court, a protracted legal battle could yet change the outcome of their sons’ lives.

DISAPPEARANCES

BOY DISAPPEARS
* Whereabouts of Mohammad Iqbal Bhat, 18, son of Mohammad Akram of Arin, Bandipora are not known since 6th October 2003 after he was allegedly arrested by the personnel of Border Security Forces. However, the BSF denied Iqbal’s arrest when they were approached by the parents of the youth.

*YOUTH DISAPPEARS FROM CENTRAL JAIL

Nazir Ahmad Rather son of Ali Mohammad Rather residence of Dadaras, Tral who had been languishing in central jail at Srinagar, was taken out by a police party on October 6 for remand. Thereafter his whereabouts have not been disclosed to his family.
Expressing serious concern over the disappearance of their son the parents demanded immediate revelation of the site of detention.

*FATHER, SON DISAPPEARS

    A Father son duo of Achabal, Anantnag in south Kashmir, was allegedly picked up by the personnel of 7 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in the mid of October 2003, and since then their whereabouts have not been disclosed. People of the area staged massive protest.

    The victims were identified as Wali Mohammad and his son Reyaz Ahmad Chada of Achabal. Their family has expressed grave concern over the welfare of the duo and demanded their immediate release.

POLICE FIRING ON PROTESTORS IN TRAL

Oct 9: Police used tear smoke shells and fired several rounds in air in a Tral village when the residents came out on the streets to protest the killing of a civilian by the armed force. They were carrying the coffin of the slain villager who was allegedly killed in cold blood by troops from 42RR on Wednesday.

    Some protestors were wounded and few were taken in to custody. The entire belt was closed in protest and life remained paralyzed. Details revealed that on Wednesday militants killed a soldier and wounded another following, which a civilian was killed in the neighboring village. The incident took place at Dudhkulan near Largam involving 42 RR. Villagers said that after the ambush, troops cordoned off the entire locality and started hunting for the militants.

    During the cordon the troops killed a resident Mohammad Isaq Gujri for apparently no reason though police said he was killed in the crossfire. The locals alleged that the troops resorted to mass marshalling and even damaged the household items of the people.

    It was against the incident that the people came on the road. The main Tral township remained closed in protest and people in the entire belt came on the roads .The protest demonstration started from Tral with the coffin of the slain civilian on their back. The demonstrators thronged Awantipore where they tried to stop the routine vehicular movement on the highway. Police in a bid to clear the highway resorted to use of force. They chased the protestors who took the Dadsara Tral route. In Chandigram, they fought a pitched battle with police.

    While police used the tear smoke shells and lathicharge (cane charge), protestors resorted to brick batting. Scores of odd tear smoke shells were lobbed. After it failed to restore order the cops fired several rounds in air. As the protestors fled for safety, the cops snatched away the corpse and took it to the police station .It was not immediately known whether the body was returned for proper burial.

CIVILIANS HOSTAGE

Oct 22: All the twelve civilians who were allegedly taken into hostage by the holed up militants at Shopian were finally get freedom with the end of encounter. However, the militants refuted the allegation leveled against them as baseless.

    Reports said, with the end of encounter between militants and security forces in which militants had taken at least twelve civilians in to hostage get freed with the end of militants killing. Police said the civilians were sent to persuade the militants for surrender. Following their release a gun battle broke out between the troops and militants, which continued till afternoon. Troops blasted the house of Abdul Rahman Dar with mortar shells resulting in the death of both the holed up militants identified as Bilal Ahmad Pandit s/o Muhammad Akbar r/o Gadoora Pulwama and Muhammad Rashid alias Adil s/o Muhammad Ayoub r/o Karachi, Pakistan.
 
    Meanwhile, The Lashkar-a-Taiba (LET) outfit to which the militants belonged in its press statement has strongly refuted the allegations leveled against them of holding people hostages and said it was a Indian propaganda to malign them.

NEWS IN BRIEF

BSF RAIDS RESIDENCE OF AN ENGLISH DAILY'S EDITOR

Oct 21: A party of Border Security Forces (BSF) has raided the residence of Ghulam Hassan Kaloo, the proprietor of an, English daily "Mirror of Kashmir". However, no reason for the raid and search was given.
 
    A party of BSF 16 BN based at Pirbagh raided the residence of Kaloo in the morning. The inmates were asked to come out and subsequently the raiding party searched the house. The security men allegedly harassed the family members. Before leaving the spot, the security men did not offer any reason for the raid. Journalist community has expressed its concern over the raid.

SIX BARATIS MASSACRED
Oct 21: In yet another incident of wanton killing six baratis (marriage guests) were gunned down by unidentified gunmen at Pul Doda area near Domail late in the evening.

    At least half a dozen unidentified gunmen in army dresses at around 10:45 pm opened fire indiscriminately upon the residential house of Mohammad Abbas where the marriage was going on. Six bharatis were killed in the shootout, three of them died on the spot while at least a dozen others were injured. The deceased have been identified as Riaz Ahmed of Pranoo, Aiyaz Ahmed and Mohammad Amin of Doda. The injured were shifted to District Hospital Doda late this evening.

    Soon after the police and forces were informed about the incident they rushed to the spot to take the stock of the situation. A search operation was launched to nab the culprits but without any success.

IED KILLS 3 ARMY PERSONNEL
Oct 28: Three soldiers were killed and over half a dozen received injuries when an Improvise Explosive Device (IED) was triggered by militants on Kishtwar - Jammu national highway at Panchari Nallah near Khillani in Doda district.

    As per the reports, at around 11:30 am militants blew up an IED when a bus number JK02D-1271 carrying soldiers of 4 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) reached at Panchari Nallah. Followed by the blast two-way vehicular traffic was halted by the army and they launched search to detect IED.

    Army after being satisfied of not having any more IED on way allowed to resume the traffic movement.
The deceased were identified as Himmat Singh, Ashok Kumar and Ajay Kumar.

DRIVER BEATEN
Oct 28: Border Security force personnel stationed in Lal Chowk here severely thrashed a mini – bus driver Monday. Identified as Ghulam Mohiudin Bhat of Khonobah, the driver was hit by sticks and guns. Traffic was affected on MA road for about an hour as Bhat staged a solo dharna (sit-in) in protest.

MENTALLY RETARDED MAN TORTURED BY SOLDIERS
Oct 30: A mentally unsound man sustained grievous injuries when he was allegedly beaten up by the army men at Nagrota and thrown in the forests.

    He was found lying in the forest area of Nagrota with multiple wounds and was shifted to the roadside by the jawans of Road Opening Party (ROP). Jawans of ROP informed Nagrota Police, who shifted the victim to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital for treatment. The victim has been identified as Sukhdev, 40, son of Behari Lal of Bantalab.

    Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) rural, SR Samuel, when contacted said that the victim was picked up by army when he was found moving suspiciously near an army camp. He said that the victim was tortured and thrown in the forest area. The victim has been shifted to the GMC hospital. He sustained injuries on his head and arms. A case has been registered at Nagrota police station and investigations are on.

SOLDIERS BEAT GIRL
Oct 31: Police lodged an FIR against army personnel who reportedly thrashed a girl in Kokernag Islamabad Friday.

    Eyewitnesses said army soldiers at Kokernag road near Badern village beat one Nazir Ahmad Sofi s/o Aziz Ahmad Sofi as Sofi's little son had ignored their call and had ran away. After being severely thrashed, the soldiers asked him to get them tea. Unable to bear the humiliation of her father, Sofi's daughter, Maroofa, asked him not to oblige the army men.

    At this, an angry army man slapped the girl. The girl responded in kind. Shocked, two personnel pounced on her and beat her severely. While leaving the spot, the personnel fired several rounds in air. The residents lodged a strong protest and demanded stern action against the errant soldiers. Police later registered an FIR, 129/2003 RPC, 354, 341.

IKHWANI KILLS COLLEAGUE
Tanveer Ahmad Khan, an Ikwhani (pro-government militant) was shot dead by his two colleagues, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani and Riyaz Ahmad Sheikh at Kalaroos, Kupwara Friday afternoon after a heated argument over some issue. The killers fled after murdering Khan.

SHRC TAKES COGNIZANCE
The state human rights commission SHRC has taken suo moto cognizance of a news item carried by a section of press today regarding miserable plight of detainees in various jails. The SHRC issued notice to central jail and the state government for report.
 

WOMEN – CHILDREN KILLED
Oct 13: A woman and her minor son were killed when a rocket allegedly launched by militants towards the BSF’s 102 Bn camp in Chaklas area at Mahore in Unhampur district but it missed the intended target and exploded in the residential house of Tej Ram. The deceased have been identified as Shankri Devi, 25, wife of Tej Ram and her son Bablu, 4.
Oct 15: A five-year-old girl was killed allegedly by Pakistani shelling near Line of Actual Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector. The identification of deceased has been confirmed as Sepra Devi daughter of Jagdish Chander.
Oct 17: Unidentified gunmen forced their entry inside the residential house of Ghulam Ahmad Wagay and opened fire indiscriminately upon the inmates, which resulted killing of his wife on the spot.
Oct 23: A woman finally succumbed to her injuries after being injured in cross border shelling at Jhangar area of Nowshera on 15th Oct. She was identified as Kailash Devi, 25, wife of Jagdish Kumar of Jahangar, Nowshera district Rajouri.
Oct 28: Two children were allegedly shot dead and her mother injured when a holed up militant opened fire inside the MES and GREF quarters at Aknoor, Jammu. The deceased were identified as Aman Kumar, 10, alias Babu and his sister Anisha, 8. And the injured mother of children succumbed to her injuries on 29th Oct. Her identification has not been ascertained. And on Oct 30, another kid identified as Ankit son of Kasturi Lal of Hoshiarpur succumbed to his injuries received during the cross firing.
 

KILLINGS IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER

DATE	SOLDIERS	MILITANTS	CIVILIANS	OTHERS
Oct 1	-	6	1	1 VDC member
Oct 2	1	6	2	1 MES Employee
Oct 3	2 VDC members	7	5	1 Pro-govt militant & 1 home guard
Oct 4	3 (2 VDC men)	8	2	1 Surrender militant
Oct 5	-	5	-	-
Oct 6	1 JCO	3	3	-
Oct 7	4	8	3	-
Oct 8	1	10	1	-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 9	3	4	1	-
Oct 10	-	9	2	-
Oct 11	2	4	2	-
Oct 12	-	6	1	-
Oct 13	-	3	4	-
Oct 14	1	4	2	-
Oct 15	2	7	2	-
Oct 16	1	11	-	-
Oct 17	2	-	3	1 army informer
Oct 18	2 (1 VDC member)	4	-	-
Oct 19	2 (1 lieutenant)	4	1	-
Oct 20	2	4	5	-
Oct 21	-	9	7	-
Oct 22	1	9	-	-
Oct 23	1 VDC member	-	1	-
Oct 24	-	7	1	-
Oct 25	-	4	-	-
Oct 26	-	5	3	-
Oct 27	3 (1 Major)	5	3	-
Oct 28	3	2	3	-
Oct 29	1	5	-	-
Oct 30	-	1	3	-
Oct 31	-	2	2	1 PDP activist
Total	38 (3 Officers)	162	63	7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DATE	EXTRA JUDICIAL EXECUTIONS	WOMEN	CHILDREN	DISAPPEARANCES
Oct 10	1	-	-	-
Oct 13	-	1	1	-
Oct 15	-	-	1	-
Oct 17	-	1	-	-
Oct 21	1	-	-	-
Oct 23				-
Oct 28	-	-	2	-
Oct 29	-	1	-	1
Oct 30	-	-	1	-
TOTAL	2	3	5	1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRONOLOGY OF OCTOBER INCIDENTS

Oct 1: Six militants, a Village Defense Committee (VDC) member and a civilian were killed in various violence related incidents across the state.
Oct 2: Six militants, policeman, MES employee and two civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 3: Seven militants, two Village Defense Committee members, a home guard, a pro-government militant and five civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 4: Eight militants, two VDC members, a Special Police Officer, a surrender militant and two civilians were killed in various violence related incidents.   
Oct 5: Five militants were killed in various incidents of violence.
Oct 6: A Junior Commission Officer, three militants and three civilians were killed in separate incidents of            violence.
Oct 7: Four soldiers, eight militants and three civilians were killed in different incidents of violence across the state.
Oct 8: Soldier, ten militants and a civilian were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 9: Four militants, three soldiers and a civilian were killed in separate incidents of violence. 
Oct 10: Nine militants and two civilians were killed in different incidents of violence.
Oct 11: Four militants, a Special Police Officer, a soldier and two civilians were killed in various incidents of              violence.  
Oct 12: Six militants and a civilian died in different incidents of violence. 
Oct 13: three militants, four civilians including a woman and a child were killed in various incidents of violence.
Oct 14: Four militants, a soldier and two civilians were killed in various incidents of violence. 
Oct 15: Two soldiers seven militants and two civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 16: Eleven militants and a soldier were killed in separate incidents of violence across the state.
Oct 17: Two soldiers, three civilians and an army informer were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 18: Four militants, a soldier and a Village Defense Committee member were killed in separate incidents of violence across the state.
Oct 19: Two soldiers including a lieutenant, four militants and a civilian died in different violence related              incidents.
Oct 20: Five civilians, two soldiers and four militants were killed in different incidents of violence.
Oct 21: Nine militants and seven civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 22: Nine militants and a policeman were killed in various incidents of violence. 
Oct 23:  A village Defense Committee member and a woman died in separate incidents of violence.   
Oct 24: Seven militants and a civilian died in various incidents of violence across the state.
Oct 25: Four militants were killed in various incidents of violence.  
Oct 26: Five militants and three civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 27: Three soldiers including a Major, five militants and three civilians were killed in various incidents of               violence.
Oct 28: Three soldiers, two militants and three civilians including two children were killed in separate              incidents of violence across the state.
Oct 29: Five militants and a soldier were killed in separate incidents of violence.
Oct 30: One militant and three civilians died in various incidents of violence.
Oct 31: Two militants, one former militant, worker of ruling People Democratic Party and two civilians were killed in separate incidents of violence.

The Informative Missive
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 PUBLIC COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
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