APHC highlights plight of imprisoned Kashmiris

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has shed light on the plight of detained Hurriyat leaders and activists languishing in jails in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and India.

Expressing concern over the situation of the incarcerated Kashmiris, who have been detained under draconian Indian laws that allow imprisonment without trial for up to two years on the pretext of maintaining public order, an APHC spokesman shed light on the inhumane treatment meted out to the detainees had endangered their lives.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, he detailed of the deprivation of the basic amenities and atrocities inflicted on the illegally detained resistance leaders and activists. The spokesman said the overcrowding in the jails had created multiple problems, including scarcity of water, toilets and washing as well as social distancing as required to maintain Covid-19 SOPs. He said insufficient medical treatment, unhygienic food, 24-hour lockups in “death cells”, physical violence, non-availability of library and indoor entertainment facilities had made the life of the detainees miserable.

He expressed deep concern over the deteriorating health of the political prisoners and lashed out at the Modi-led regime for its brazen violation of prisoners’ rights as guaranteed by the Human Rights Charter of 1948.

Hailing the exemplary steadfastness of the political detainees, the spokesman paid special tribute to the female prisoners — Aasiya Andrabi, Naheeda Nasreen, Fehmeeda Sofi, Shazia Akhter, Haseena Begum, Saima, Insha Tariq, Hina Bashir, Mehbooba Shafqat, Saiqa Akhter, Aasiya Bano and others.

The APHC spokesman also expressed concern over the increasing number of jails being set up, which will ultimately be used to illegally and arbitrarily detain people in IIOJK. He urged the United Nations Human Rights Council and other rights organisations to impress upon India to stop widespread random and unlawful detentions and human rights abuses in IIOJK.

He maintained that it had become imperative to settle the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations resolutions, keeping in view the mass uprising in occupied Kashmir despite the oppressive measures adopted by the Indian occupation forces.