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AI urges India to probe
unmarked Kashmir graves
Islamabad—Amnesty International (AI), urged India to launch an
urgent inquiry into nearly 1,000 unmarked graves found in the
revolt-hit region of Kashmir during the past two years.
Amnesty wants the government to determine if any of the graves
contain the bodies of those listed as missing by local rights
groups, private news channel Geo reported.
“Amnesty International urges the government of India to launch
urgent investigations into hundreds of unidentified graves
discovered since 2006 in Jammu and Kashmir,” Amnesty said.
“The investigation must be independent, impartial and follow
international standards,” it said, urging the authorities to secure
the grave sites “in order to preserve the evidence.”
Amnesty’s request came after a local group, the Association of
Parents of Disappeared People, said last month it had found 940
“nameless graves” in 18 villages in Uri district, which neighbours
the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir.
“There are many more graves where the buried people have been
claimed as foreign militants,” said the spokesman of the Association
of Parents of Disappeared People, Pervez Imroz.
“During our fact-finding, villagers reported most of the bodies were
in fact of Kashmiris and not foreign militants, as claimed by the
security forces.”
Police say 331 people have died in custody and another 111 have
disappeared after being arrested since the insurgency erupted in the
disputed region in 1989.
Indian security officials contend many of the missing had crossed
over to Pakistan to join the insurgents and say the graves are those
of rebels killed in action.
Local human rights groups, however, say 8,000 people are missing,
with the majority having been arrested by Indian security forces.
The insurgency has left more than 43,000 people dead by official
count, while rights groups put the toll at 70,000 dead and
disappeared.—APP
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