Human Rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged New Delhi to release two teenage boys detained in Jammu and Kashmir under detention under a controversial law.
Rayees Ahmad Mir and Waheed Ahmed Gojree, both 16 years old, were sent to prison under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), which expressly prohibits the detention of anyone under 18 years of age, the Amnesty said.
The PSA is an administrative detention law that allows detention without charge or trial for up to two years in some cases.
Indian forces have arrested a large number of protesters in the part of the divided Kashmir territory that it controls after widespread demonstrations broke out in July. The use of pellet guns has killed and injured hundreds of protesters, who opposed Indian rule in the territory, recognized as disputed by the United Nations. India and Pakistan administer parts of Jammu and Kashmir under their control.
“Release both Rayees Ahmad Mir and Waheed Ahmed Gojree or charge them with an internationally recognisable criminal offence and give them fair trials in accordance with international juvenile justice standards, using detention only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period, and ensuring that any detention be in a separate facility for children, as close as possible to their families in order to facilitate family contact,” Amnesty said in a statement.
Rayees Ahmad Mir was arrested on Sept 16 in Baramulla district under ordinary criminal procedure for allegedly throwing stones at security forces, according to Amnesty. Two days later, to prevent his release on bail, an executive official passed an order to detain him under the PSA. It said the order incorrectly stated that Rayees Mir was 18 years old and he was transferred to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 300 kilometres from his home.
Waheed Ahmed Gojree, also 16 years old, was arrested in Kupwara district on 18 August, and detained at a police station. According to his family, the police initially told them he would be released the next day, however they then said that he had been detained under the PSA. He was first taken to a jail in Baramulla, and then to the Kot Bhalwal central jail in Jammu, about 380 kilometres away.
