September 2012 Atrocity and Suffering A Report on Fifty Villages in Baramulla and Kupwara Districts of Jammu and Kashmir [Authorw Name] [Type the abstract of the document here. The abstract is typically a short summary of the contents of the document.] 1 Surveyed and Written by The Citizens' Council for Justice Published in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in September 2012 by the Citizens' Council for Justice of Baramulla and Kupwara districts. CCJ thanks the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (IPTK) for expert advice on, and assistance in, designing the questionnaire for the survey. CCJ also thanks the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons for their guidance. Page 2 of 45 Atrocity and Suffering A Report on Fifty Villages in Baramulla and Kupwara Districts of Jammu and Kashmir Surveyed and Written by The Citizens' Council for Justice Page 3 of 45 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION 6 II. METHODOLOGY 6 III. ANALYSIS 8 SUMMARY 8 VILLAGES SURVEYED 9 DEMOGRAPHICS 10 KILLINGS AND ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES 11 RELIGION OF THOSE KILLED 11 WORST YEARS 12 AFFILIATION OF THOSE KILLED 13 PERPETRATORS 14 DISAPPEARENCES 16 TORTURE 16 PLACES OF TORTURE 17 FORCED LABOUR 19 CUSTODIAL KILLINGS 20 DISABILITY 21 RAPE AND MOLESTATION 21 MILITARISATION 21 DESTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS PLACES 22 DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY 23 IV. TABLES WITH STATISTICAL INFORMATION 24 Page 4 of 45 I. INTRODUCTION The Citizens’ Council for Justice (CCJ) conducted a sample survey in 50 villages of Baramulla and Kupwara districts of north Kashmir. CCJ would like to thank the International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir (IPTK). CCJ sought expert advice and assistance from IPTK in designing the questionnaire for the survey. CCJ also thanks the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons for their guidance. CCJ undertook the research, analysis and writing of this report. The male volunteers of CCJ carried out the field research. The research took almost a year to complete as members of CCJ who were working as field researchers did the work without remuneration and in their spare time. CCJ is a voluntary initiative, formed in the year 2008 by torture survivors and former detainees from Baramulla and Kupwara districts. CCJ aims to work for individual and collective justice of those who have been victimised. It is non-political community-based organisation that has a wide range of members from different sections of society. II. METHODOLOGY The members of CCJ who carried out the field research work belonged to some of the villages where the survey was conducted. Therefore, it became easier for the people in these villages to talk to our CCJ researchers without fear. CCJ researchers who were residents of these localities were themselves aware of factual details relating to the suffering of people from their villages. Normally, due to fear of reprisal, people in the rural areas of Kashmir do not share stories of suffering, but as local people were involved in the survey, it was comparatively easier for CCJ researchers to elicit responses from the respondents. All the 50 surveyed villages lie within Baramulla and Kupwara districts of north Kashmir. Both districts fall on the Line of Actual Control. Out of the total of 50 villages, 31 villages are in Baramulla district, while the remaining 19 villages are in Kupwara district. Singpora, Pattan of Baramulla district is 20 Kilometers from Srinagar; the summer capital of Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir, and happens to be the closest surveyed village to Srinagar. Chandigam, Sogam of Kupwara district is 120 Kilometers from Srinagar, and is the farthest village amongst the 50 surveyed villages from Baramulla and Kupwara district. One of the challenges for CCJ field researchers was to convince the people in these 50 villages of the need for documenting the stories of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Page 5 of 45 People generally have very little hope from government institutions and are thus very skeptical of any initiative that is aimed at seeking justice using government mechanisms. Through explaining the purpose of the research at various detailed discussions at the village-level, CCJ researchers had persons come forward who voluntarily agreed to talk to them. The process of documentation in these 50 surveyed villages helped in creating a shared space for people to collectively reflect on their experiences of human rights abuses that they have suffered in last 22 years from all sides. The process created a grassroots mechanism for the villages to be able to share their understanding of who the perpetrators of violence were. In every village it was a collective process where villagers themselves listed those who were killed or disappeared in last 22 years and, when they had the available information, they also listed the perpetrator. People listed the names of those who were either tortured or disabled or jailed or used as forced labourers. People collectively helped CCJ volunteers document the destruction of property, including that of religious places. Overall, the whole process of documentation in these 50 villages was an enriching experience for the CCJ workers and also for the concerned people of these villages who gave their input, and it was a process of grieving, healing and remembering. III. ANALYSIS SUMMARY The survey was conducted by CCJ in 50 villages of Baramulla and Kupwara districts. The results show that the people of these villages were severely brutalised over a long period of time, from 1990-2011, by being repeatedly subjected to torture (including violence against women), forced labour, disappearance, and death. The means of livelihood for the people in the 50 villages were also jeopardised through land occupation and militarisation, including the militarisation of civic spaces. In these 50 villages, CCJ found that 437 people have been killed and 65 persons have disappeared. Out of the 437 people who were killed, 320 were killed by Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Jammu and Kashmir Police, and government sponsored militants. Militants were responsible for 84 killings and unidentified gunmen were responsible for 33 killings. In the 50 villages, and 2048 persons have been tortured in 57 army camps. In the 50 villages surveyed by CCJ, 40 people have been killed by armed forces and police in custody; 49 people have been disabled; and 6888 persons have been subjected to forced labour. A total of 700 properties have been destroyed with damages of around 103.8 Crores Rupees; and 19 army camps have occupied 2047 Kanals of prime village lands. Out of the 234 Mosques in the 50 villages, 5 were destroyed, and of the 11 Hindu Temples, 4 were destroyed. Page 6 of 45 The people CCJ spoke with demanded the demilitarisation of their villages, and asked that the perpetrators, whomever they be, be punished under law, and that the victims be awarded righteous compensation, and urgent provisions be made for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of their lives. CCJ found that, predominantly persons of Muslim faith have been targeted, and some Kashmiri Pandits of Hindu faith and a handful of Sikhs have also been targeted. Even while the people of these villages expressed their demands for justice, it was abundantly clear to CCJ that, what has been physically, psychologically, and emotionally taken from these people, is irreparable. VILLAGES SURVEYED The following list is of the 31 villages in Baramulla district that were surveyed: 1. Nowpora Jaagir, Baramulla 15. Warpora, Sopore, Baramulla 2. Mirangund, Baramulla 16. Duroo, Sopore, Baramulla 3. Hudapora, Baramulla 17. Mundgi, Sopore, Baramulla 4. Nagi Bhat, Kreeri, Baramulla 18. Sempora, Sopore, Baramulla 5. Gund Brath, Sopore, Baramulla 19. Ningli, Sopore, Baramulla 6. Shrakwara (Jehangirpora), 20. Latishat, Sopore, Baramulla Kreeri, Baramulla 21. Boitengoo, Sopore, Baramulla 7. Muqam Shaheed Pir, Sopore, 22. Zaloora, Sopore, Baramulla Baramulla 23. Hathlangoo, Sopore, Baramulla 8. Rashidabad, Machipora, Sopore, 24. Chak Brat, Sopore, Baramulla Baramulla 25. Seeloo, Sopore, Baramulla 9. Hardashiva, Sopore, Baramulla 26. Saidpora, Sopore, Baramulla 10. Putukhah, Muqam, Sopore, 27. Brath Kalan, Sopore, Baramulla Baramulla 28. Malmapan Pora, Sopore, 11. Tarzoo, Sopore, Baramulla Baramulla 12. Amberpora, Tarzoo, Sopore, 29. Uchlipora, Pattan, Baramulla Baramulla 30. Singpora, Pattan, Baramulla 13. Dangerpora, Sopore, Baramulla 31. Hatishah, Sopore, Baramulla 14. Shangargund, Sopore, Baramulla The following list is of the 19 villages in Kupwara district that were surveyed: 1. Wahipora, Handwara, Kupwara 10. Nutnussa, Handwara, Kupwara 2. Haripora, Handwara, Kupwara 11. Manzhaar Hyhama, Kupwara 3. Khanoo Babagund, Handwara, 12. Mirnaag Hyhama, Kupwara Kupwara 13. Handwara Town, Kupwara 4. Bohipora, Kupwara 14. Chotipora, Handwara, Kupwara 5. Unisoo, Handwara, Kupwara 15. Sah Dag Pora, Handwara, 6. Ujroo, Handwara, Kupwara Kupwara 7. Kandi Khass, Handwara, 16. Lokipora, Handwara, Kupwara Kupwara 17. Sunwani, Handwara, Kupwara 8. Bungam, Handwara, Kupwara 18. Chitrihal, Handwara, Kupwara 9. Wader Payeen (Rajwar), 19. Chandigam, Sogam, Kupwara Handwara, Kupwara Page 7 of 45 Note: Some of the villages that CCJ surveyed in Baramulla and Kupwara districts, in which many atrocities occurred, were the same ones in which IPTK investigated unknown, unmarked and mass graves as listed in IPTK's report Buried Evidence , which was published in 2009. DEMOGRAPHICS The total human population of the 50 surveyed villages in the year 2011 was 1,61,086. Out of the total population of 1,61,086, the population of men was 89,693 and that of women was 70,883. In these 50 villages, the population of children below 18 years was 42,604. The total number of literate people in the 50 surveyed villages was 98,883. Of this, 34,951 females were literate. KILLINGS AND ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES From the year 1990, which was the beginning of the armed uprising in Jammu and Kashmir, a total of 502 people have been killed and disappeared in the 50 surveyed villages in Baramulla and Kupwara.