Two children detained, another at risk in Jammu and Kashmir

April 22, 2013, Hyderabad, India – Two teenage boys have been detained without charge under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in Jammu and Kashmir. A third boy detained without charge at the same time has been released for health reasons but may be returned to custody within days. It is illegal for anyone under 18 to be detained under the PSA.

Asif Shaksaz and Sajad Mir, both of Srinagar, and Aadil Khan of Sopore were arrested and detained without charge on 25 March, 8 March and 14 March respectively under the PSA for "stone-pelting" and "disruption of peace". The police took Sajad Mir and Aadil Khan, without telling their families, to Kotbalwal Jail in Jammu, about 300km from Srinagar and Sopore. Asif Shaksaz was arrested for criminal offences on 18 March and released on bail on 25 March, but police issued a PSA detention order for him the same day, amounting to “revolving door detention,” or repeated detention on the same or similar charges designed to keep people in detention without charge. He was held in different police stations in Srinagar until 7 April, when he was released for an emergency appendectomy. He is recuperating at home, but the police have said they will take him into custody again on 22 April. It is not clear whether they intend to detain him again under the PSA.

The police claim that all three boys are 19 years old. However, copies of Asif Shaksaz and Aadil Khan’s school records show they are 15 and 17 respectively. Sajad Mir’s family do not have any proof of his age, as they did not register his birth or send him to school, but they claim that he is 16 years old. An amendment to the PSA made it illegal for anyone less than 18 years of age to be detained under the Act.

Sajad Mir and Aadil Khan’s families have been unable to contact their children and are unaware of the conditions in which they are detained. Their lawyers have filed petitions challenging the PSA detention orders.

The way to end these human rights violations is to repeal the PSA once and for all and stop new legislation that would facilitate human rights violations by the police.