PRISONERS in Indian-administered Kashmir have been subjected to abuse and torture including “water-boarding, sleep deprivation and sexualised torture,” a report published today found.

Solitary confinement, rape and sodomy, electrocution and hanging from a ceiling were also mentioned in the report by the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu-Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).

More than 70 per cent of the 432 torture victims were civilians, the report revealed.

One testimony read: “Muzaffer Ahmed Mirza from Tral and Manzoor Ahmad Naikoo were subjected to insertion of a rod through their rectum. It caused multiple ruptures to their internal organs.

“While Mirza died after a few days in the hospital of lung rupture, Naikoo had to undergo five surgeries to finally heal the wounds he received due to this torture. Apart from insertion, a cloth was wrapped around Naikoo’s penis and set on fire.”

The report, which documents cases since the start of the armed rebellion against India in 1990s, reveals that many detainees were forced into activities that were against their religious beliefs such as rubbing piglets on their bodies or forcing them to consume alcohol.

Some prisoners have been forced to eat or drink substances such as human excrement, chilli powder, dirt, gravel, petrol and urine, the report said.

Victims were usually reluctant to report their experiences due to fears of reprisals and some were randomly picked up, tortured and never told what for.

Former UN special rapporteur on torture Juan E Mendez said the report “will be enormously helpful in drawing attention in the international community to the need to express concern about India’s human rights record.”