The world human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI), has condemned the puppet administration of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) for continuing to use the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA) to detain people without charge or trial. In a statement issued in New Delhi, the AI termed the Public Safety Act, under which police can arrest any suspect and keep him/her in jail for two years without trial, a “lawless law” and demanded all Public Safety Act detainees be fairly tried in courts of law or else released. “In 2011, Amnesty International released a report documenting how the Public Safety Act violates human rights. Not much appears to have changed in 2012. The Public Safety Act provides for arbitrary detention, in violation of the right to liberty, which India is bound to respect under international human rights treaties,” it added. Ananth Guruswamy, Amnesty International India director, said in a statement that the authorities in the occupied territory continued to use the Public Safety Act to circumvent the rule of law and the criminal justice system. “They resort to Public Safety Act detentions instead of charging and trying persons suspected of offences in court,” he said, demanding that the Public Safety Act was against the international human rights law and must be repealed. The statement said further violations facilitated by the Public Safety Act included “revolving door detentions”, ill treatment in detention, the denial of medical care to detainees and lack of reparations for victims. “The Amnesty International also found that Public Safety Act detention orders were still being used against children despite it now being prohibited,” it added. The AI deplored that the authorities often kept persons in detention even after the detentions had been quashed by the high court of the territory. The London-based watchdog maintained that even the chief of police in Indian-held Kashmir had acknowledged that around 15,600 people were detained under the PSA without charge or trial in the last two decades. “Detainees include political leaders and activists, suspected members or supporters of armed opposition groups, lawyers, journalists and protesters – including children,” it added. The Amnesty said that the UN officials who visited the occupied territory had recommended that the Public Safety Act be repealed. The Indian-held Kashmir has long been a bone of contention between nuclear-armed rivals and neighbours, India and Pakistan. India claims Kashmir is its integral part, while Pakistan claims the Indian government has illegally occupied parts of Kashmir and it must allow the right to self determination to the people of Kashmir in accordance with UN resolutions.
