1991 Kunan Poshpora incident

Human rights abuses
in Jammu and Kashmir
Notes
1990
1991
1993
1995
1995 kidnapping of Western tourists in Kashmir
1996
1997
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2009

The Kunan Poshspora incident was a mass rape that occurred on 23 February 1991 when a unit of the Indian security forces, after being fired upon by militants, launched a search operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora, located in Kashmir's remote Kupwara District.[1][2] While the first information report filed in the local police station after a visit by the local magistrate reported the number of women who reported rape as 23, the Human Rights Watch assessed the number of survivors to be up to 100.[3][4]

The accusations were denied by the Indian army as the government "determined that the evidence was not sufficient" and issued a statement condemning the accusations as "terrorist propaganda".[5]

The government's investigations into the incident rejected the reports as "baseless".[5] However, international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted. Human Rights Watch stated that the government had launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."[6][7]

  1. ^ Jha, Prashant. "Unravelling a 'mass rape'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 27 February 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. ^ Crossette, Barbara (7 April 1991). "India Moves Against Kashmir Rebels". The New York Times. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  3. ^ Abdication of Responsibility: The Commonwealth and Human Rights. Human Rights Watch. 1991. pp. 13–20. ISBN 978-1-56432-047-6.
  4. ^ International Human Rights Organisation (1992). Indo-US shadow over Punjab. International Human Rights Organisation."...reports that Indian armymen belonging to the 4th Rajputana Rifles of the 68 Mountain Division entered a settlement at Kunan Poshpora in Kupwara district on the night of February 23–24, 1991 and gangraped a minimum of 23 and a maximum of 100 women of all ages and in all conditions."
  5. ^ a b "Mass Rape Survivors Still Wait for Justice in Kashmir". Thomson Reuters Foundation. Global Press Institute. 7 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 1992". World Report 1992. Human Rights Watch. 1 January 1992. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Human Rights Watch World Report 1992 - India". UNHCR Refworld. 1 January 1992. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2008.