Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on 10 December every year.
The Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and worldwide are observing World Human Rights Day as Black Day, today, to draw the attention of the international community towards the worsening human rights situation in occupied Kashmir.
Call for observance of the day has been given by the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Syed Ali Gilani.
The day is marked with complete shutdown in occupied Kashmir to condemn obvious human rights violations by India.
Syed Ali Gilani in a statement said in view of the growing repression against the Kashmiri people by Indian rulers, the responsibility of the international community has increased manifold to play its active and effective role in settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.
Human rights abuses in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir state are an ongoing issue. The abuses range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech.
The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Personnel (BSF) and various separatist militant groups have been accused and held accountable for committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians.
Thousands of Kashmiris have been reported to be killed by Indian security forces in custody.
Civilians including women and children have been killed in “reprisal” attacks by Indian security forces. International NGO’s as well as the US State Department have documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India’s counter-terrorism operations.
United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number of killings by Indian security forces.
Human Rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using child soldiers, although the Indian government denies this allegation.
Torture, widely used by Indian security sources, whose harshness is described as beyond comprehension by Amnesty International, has been responsible for the huge number of deaths in custody.
Some rights groups say more than 100,000 people have died since 1989, while the official figures from Indian sources state the estimates of number of civilians killed due to the insurgency as above 50,000.
The day is normally marked both by high-level political conferences and meetings and by cultural events and exhibitions dealing with human rights issues.
In addition it is traditionally on 10 December that the five-yearly United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights and Nobel Peace Prize are awarded. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations active in the human rights field also schedule special events to commemorate the day, as do many civil and social-cause organizations.
Via: Press Reals
