Four Kashmiri Civilians Booked Under Public Safety Act For Their Political Views And Activities

On 26th May, four civilians of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district were booked under the lawless Public Safety Act (PSA) for their “anti-national” activities, India’s euphemism for participation in the Kashmiri right to self-determination movement.

The civilians were subsequently detained and lodged in Kot-Bhalwal jail in Jammu, which is hundreds of miles away from their home. The PSA allows detention without trial for up to two years and according to Amnesty International, “People detained under the PSA also run a high risk of being tortured, as many are denied access to family or lawyers for long periods of time. Torture is widely used in police stations and interrogation centres in Jammu and Kashmir to extract confessions or information, to humiliate or punish detainees, leading to dozens of reported deaths in custody.”

The four illegally detained civilians were identified as Javaid Hussain Yatoo, Jan Nisar Khaliq Ganai, Abid Parvaiz Hajam, and Nisar Ahmad Wani.