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This News Service is posted by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty International,
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AI INDEX: ASA 20/16/96
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 28 MARCH 1996



INDIA: HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST KILLED IN SUSPICIOUS
CIRCUMSTANCES

Amnesty International today condemned the killing of a lawyer
and prominent human rights activist in Jammu and Kashmir,
whose body was found, with its hands tied, in the Jhelum
river in Srinagar on morning of 27 March.
      Jalil Andrabi, Chairman of the Kashmir Commission of
Jurists, ~disappeared~ after he was detained on 9 March 1996
by members of the Rashtriya Rifles - a paramilitary force
under the control of the Ministry of Defence - accompanied by
armed groups.

      ~The position of human rights activists has become
untenable when they are no longer able to document violations
in Jammu and Kashmir,~ Amnesty International said. ~His death
appears to fit the recently emerging pattern of human rights
abuses committed by security forces in connivance with armed
groups. ~

      ~The government~s complicity in this killing
demonstrates its complete disregard for human rights. Its
refusal to end the impunity enjoyed by the security forces in
Jammu and Kashmir has led to another shocking death.~

      Jalil Andrabi had been active in investigating and
pursuing cases of human rights violations in Jammu and
Kashmir for many years. He recently condemned violations by
the state authorities at a meeting of human rights activists
in New Delhi.

      His detention and subsequent ~disappearance~ took place
days before he was due to attend the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, which is taking place at the
moment in Geneva. His death is a further obstacle to the free
documentation of human rights violations in India, Amnesty
International said.

      Jalil Andrabi is the fourth human rights activist to be
killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 1992. Several others have
been attacked by unidentified gunmen. Despite repeated calls
for independent investigations into these killings and
attacks, no such inquiries have been set up, nor have those
responsible been brought to justice.

      Human rights groups and the local and national press
have alleged that the Indian security forces are giving
support to several armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir, and
allowing them to commit human rights abuses with impunity.
These abuses include the destruction and burning of homes and
attacks on human rights activists, journalists and prominent
citizens.

      ~The government should ensure that these serious
allegations are investigated by an independent and impartial
body as a matter of urgency,~ Amnesty International said.
~The authorities are responsible for ensuring that all
members of the security forces carry out their duties openly
and professionally, and for investigating and prosecuting
anyone who allows these armed groups to commit human rights
abuses with impunity.~

      The Indian government continues to deny access to UN
human rights mechanisms including the Special Rapporteur on
torture, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions and the Working Group on disappearances,
as well as international human rights organizations including
Amnesty International. This refusal to accept international
scrutiny is aimed at drawing a veil over the human rights
situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Amnesty International said.
Background

In recent months, Amnesty International has become
increasingly concerned by the growing atmosphere of fear and
violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Ordinary people as well as
human rights defenders and prominent political leaders have
become targets for attack by government security forces and
armed groups. The abduction of Jalil Andrabi, in the presence
of members of the Rashtriya Rifles, and his subsequent
killing, appears to follow this pattern.
      In 1994 Jalil Andrabi filed a petition in the Jammu and
Kashmir High Court which led to a High Court order of October
1994 that district committees consisting of judicial, police
and medical authorities should make regular visits to all
jails, detention centres, interrogation centres and police
lockups in the state. As far as Amnesty International is
aware, visits were restricted to only one district in the
state during December 1994 and have not subsequently taken
place. The visits found widespread allegations of torture,
ill-treatment and illegal detention. Another petition, filed
by Mr Andrabi in the High Court in October 1994, led in
October 1995, to a commitment by the government that no
detainee from Jammu and Kashmir would be transferred to a
jail outside the state.

      In response to a habeas corpus petition, filed by the
Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, the Jammu and
Kashmir High Court had ordered senior police officials to
investigate Jalil Andrabi~s ~disappearance~ and called on
senior Home Ministry and Army officials to state their
position on the case to the court. The court had refused to
accept affidavits filed by junior officers and at the time of
the discovery of his body, no senior officials had appeared
before the court.

ENDS\


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