Kargil district free from human rights violations: Report

Kargil district free from human rights violations: Report
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 3
Kargil district, having a population of 1.25 lakh and spread over an area of 14,086 sq km, is the only district in the militancy-infested state which is free from the incidents of human rights violations.

Perusal of the 402 pages annual report 2009-2010 of the J&K State Human Rights Commission (JKSHRC), revealed that the commission handled 467 cases from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2010, wherein Kargil district under the Ladakh division was the only district where not even a single complaint of human rights violations was received.

On the other side, Kupwara district in the Kashmir division attained the top position, as the commission received 93 cases in the area, which included 17 cases of disappearance, seven murder cases, two custodial death and one rape case.

Poonch district in the Jammu division claimed the second position where 84 cases appeared before the JKSHRC, which included nine mysterious deaths/compensation and three murders.

However, the twin capital cities - Jammu and Srinagar - both witnessed 68 and 61 human rights violation incidents, respectively.

In the Kashmir division, only Shopian district came in the category of single digit violations, as only five cases were reported there. However, in the Jammu division, seven out of total 10 districts came in the single digit complaint category, which included Kathua, Udhampur, Rajouri, Reasi, Ramban, Samba and Kishtwar.

Leh district, which comes under the Ladakh division, witnessed only one human rights violation case.

Apart from it, the JKSHRC received four cases from other states, including Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi.

Out of the total 467 cases received by the JKSHRC, 70 cases were of harassment, 29 of murders, 70 of mysterious deaths/compensation, 53 of disappearance, six of custodial death and one of kidnapping.

Out of the total 467 cases, the JKSHRC disposed of 249 cases, as per the annual report, which was recently released by the state government.