Prominent Kashmiri Politician Yasin Malik's Life in Danger in Tihar Jail |
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August 2nd, 2022
Justice For All Canada is deeply concerned about the declining health condition of prominent Kashmiri politician Muhammad Yasin Malik, 56. Malik has been on a hunger strike since July 22.
The jail authorities moved Malik to the hospital on July 24th.
Malik is currently living on intravenous (IV) fluid or glucose. He stopped eating food since July 22nd, arguing that his case was not being investigated properly. Suffering from multiple acute ailments, Malik's life remains at grave risk in jail.
"Justice For All Canada believes Malik's detention is arbitrary, politically motivated, and a violation of due process. It's clear that Indian authorities are forcing these extreme measures against the targeted leader,” expressed Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director.
Background: Arbitrary Arrest of Yasin Malik
Malik is a Kashmiri resistance leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). He renounced violence almost three decades ago in 1994 and adopted peaceful methods to settle the Kashmir conflict. While peacefully demanding the right of self-determination for Kashmiris, he was detained repeatedly since the 1990s under ridiculous pretexts.
Malik was arrested in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code. In India, draconian laws are often used to target dissent, free speech and activism in India and Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Notably, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) illegally arrested over a dozen separatists over similar charges, including Malik, Asiya Andrabi of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, and Shabir Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party.
India's nationalist government, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), weaponizes these ambiguous and stringent laws to crush any form of dissent. In addition to Kashmiri political and civil society leadership, scores of human rights defenders and journalists are facing similar charges.
According to Indian political experts, "any opposition who comes in the way of government formation of the Narendra Modi led BJP often finds a money laundering probe, summoned at their doorstep the next day."
While the prosecution could never prove charges against him, Malik refused to defend himself against the accusations of alleged "criminal conspiracy" and "waging war against the State," expressing a lack of trust in the Indian justice system in 2022.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment without further trial.
In July 2022, Malik went on hunger strike when the court refused his in-person attendance in one of the 1990s cases against him. Malik's life is in danger as he already suffers from various diseases and ailments.
Living conditions in the crowded Tihar jail, which houses 20,000 inmates, are unhealthy and untidy.
In the jail, Kashmiri prisoners also face hostile attitudes from other prisoners, jail staff, and even jail doctors in prisons outside Kashmir. Inmates report that they are deprived of their fundamental rights, including the right to proper food and medical treatment.
We call on Canada's government to act under;
Justice For All Canada is deeply concerned about the declining health condition of prominent Kashmiri politician Muhammad Yasin Malik, 56. Malik has been on a hunger strike since July 22.
The jail authorities moved Malik to the hospital on July 24th.
Malik is currently living on intravenous (IV) fluid or glucose. He stopped eating food since July 22nd, arguing that his case was not being investigated properly. Suffering from multiple acute ailments, Malik's life remains at grave risk in jail.
"Justice For All Canada believes Malik's detention is arbitrary, politically motivated, and a violation of due process. It's clear that Indian authorities are forcing these extreme measures against the targeted leader,” expressed Taha Ghayyur, Executive Director.
Background: Arbitrary Arrest of Yasin Malik
Malik is a Kashmiri resistance leader and chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). He renounced violence almost three decades ago in 1994 and adopted peaceful methods to settle the Kashmir conflict. While peacefully demanding the right of self-determination for Kashmiris, he was detained repeatedly since the 1990s under ridiculous pretexts.
Malik was arrested in 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code. In India, draconian laws are often used to target dissent, free speech and activism in India and Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Notably, India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) illegally arrested over a dozen separatists over similar charges, including Malik, Asiya Andrabi of the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, and Shabir Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party.
India's nationalist government, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), weaponizes these ambiguous and stringent laws to crush any form of dissent. In addition to Kashmiri political and civil society leadership, scores of human rights defenders and journalists are facing similar charges.
According to Indian political experts, "any opposition who comes in the way of government formation of the Narendra Modi led BJP often finds a money laundering probe, summoned at their doorstep the next day."
While the prosecution could never prove charges against him, Malik refused to defend himself against the accusations of alleged "criminal conspiracy" and "waging war against the State," expressing a lack of trust in the Indian justice system in 2022.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment without further trial.
In July 2022, Malik went on hunger strike when the court refused his in-person attendance in one of the 1990s cases against him. Malik's life is in danger as he already suffers from various diseases and ailments.
Living conditions in the crowded Tihar jail, which houses 20,000 inmates, are unhealthy and untidy.
In the jail, Kashmiri prisoners also face hostile attitudes from other prisoners, jail staff, and even jail doctors in prisons outside Kashmir. Inmates report that they are deprived of their fundamental rights, including the right to proper food and medical treatment.
We call on Canada's government to act under;
- Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that nobody shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile;
- Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (1966), which requires that no one be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.