SRINAGAR Authorities have failed to independently investigate and prosecute allegations of sexual violence by security forces personnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has said in its 49-page report which was released earlier this month.
Even though this report specifically focuses on events since July 2016, without access, OHCHR was not able to confirm specific claims alleging incidents of sexual violence within this timeframe. However, there were some recent legal developments in past emblematic cases, and impunity for sexual violence remains a key ongoing human rights concern in Kashmir, reads the report.
Authorities have failed to independently investigate and prosecute allegations of sexual violence by security forces personnel. There is no record of allegations of sexual violence by security forces being prosecuted in a civilian court.
In February 2018, it said, the Support Group for Justice for Kunan Poshpora Survivors filed a petition before the State Human Rights Commission, urging the investigation into all cases of alleged sexual assault by security forces and non-State actors as well as reparations for survivors.The group provided the Commission with documentation in 143 cases of alleged sexual violence committed between 1989 and 2017.
In the 2013 report on her mission to India, it said, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, said, [W]omen living in militarized regions, such as Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states, live in a constant state of siege and surveillance, whether in their homes or in public. Information received through both written and oral testimonies highlighted the use of mass rape, allegedly by members of the State security forces, as well as acts of enforced disappearance, killings and acts of torture and ill-treatment, which were used to intimidate and to counteract political opposition and insurgency.
The Special Rapporteur added that she was not informed of any measures to ensure accountability and redress for victims. In 2014, it said, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women expressed particular concern about the Provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act requiring prior authorization by the Government to prosecute a member of the security forces.
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