This report gives details of 208 people who have reportedly “disappeared” since 1 January 1990, 128 of them in Jammu and Kashmir and 80 in Punjab. “Disappearances” have been recorded in several Indian states but, in recent years, most have occurred in the two states named above. The report examines the practice of “disappearance” by the security forces in these two states in which armed opposition groups have also abused human rights. It discusses also the phenomenon of effective impunity for perpetrators and aspects of legislation facilitating human rights violations such as “disappearance”. Two appendices list those allegedly “disappeared” since 1990.
