Indian Government persists in restricting basic rights in disputed Kashmir in 2023, HRW says

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that the Indian authorities continued to restrict free expression, peaceful assembly, and other rights in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir in 2023.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the HRW in its World Report 2024 maintained that reports of extrajudicial killings by Indian forces’ personnel continued throughout the year in 2023. It said that critics and human rights defenders faced arrests and raids based on spurious terrorism allegations.

The report said that the Indian authorities harassed journalists, activists, and critics through raids, allegations of financial irregularities, and use of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, which regulates foreign funding of nongovernmental organizations.