KASHMIR MARKS DISAPPEARANCES OF OVER 8,000 IN REGIONAL CONFLICT

Kashmir, 22 Rajab 1434/31 May 2013 (MINA) – People in Indian-administered Kashmir have marked the International Week of the Disappeared, on May 27 and ends on May 31 this year.

The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons in Indian-administered Kashmir organized a gathering in Srinagar on Thursday to mark the past years of conflict in the region, which has led to the disappearance of more than 8,000 people since 1989.

Altaf Hussain, a member with the Coalition of Civil Society, told Press TV as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), that no action has so far been taken against the perpetrators of the disappearances.

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Rights advocates also criticized the Indian government for its failure to take proper action for the safe return of the disappeared and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“There is again a phenomenon here because according to our estimate, because of the legal impunity, the perpetrators are not being punished. Besides punishment, the government is not serious to address the issue of the disappearance,” said Parvez Imroze, a human rights activist.

Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 65 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.

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Over the past two decades, the conflict in Kashmir has left over 47,000 people dead by the official count, although other sources say the death toll could be as high as 100,000.

On May 6, Sajjad Haider Karim, a member of the European Parliament, called for an investigation into the conflict in Indian-administered Kashmir in the wake of the discovery of more than 7,000 unmarked graves in Srinagar and Budgam District.

And on May 10, protesters in the Indian-controlled Kashmir have called on the United Nations to monitor and record gross human rights abuses in the Himalayan region amid the existence of mass graves and enforced disappearance.

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“We have more than 9,500 people missing over the last 16 years. We have more than 5,000 unmarked graves. We believe that there is accountability,” said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, member of the Hurriyat Conference. (T/P09/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)