UN rights experts raise concern over unmarked graves in Kashmir

ANKARA (AA) – Several UN human rights experts have expressed concern to the Indian government about the continued lack of identification and preservation of unmarked single and mass burial sites in Indian-occupied Kashmir.

The experts, who include seven special rapporteurs on involuntary disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the independence of judges and lawyers, also expressed concerns to the Indian government about the “failure to adequately protect such sites and to conduct forensic investigations, in accordance with international standards, to identify the remains of individuals buried in these graves and to establish the cause, manner and circumstances of their deaths, as required for the search processes of the forcibly disappeared.”

In a letter dated July 29, 2022, the experts stated that the Indian government has not implemented the recommendations of the now-abolished Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which used to investigate cases of human rights violations and make recommendations to the government.

Regarding the unmarked graves, both the local and the Indian governments have maintained that they contain the bodies of foreign fighters killed by Indian forces.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, tens of thousands have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.