WIVES OF "DISAPPEARED" IN INDIA FACE POVERTY AND HARDSHIP

September 1, 2004 (Amnesty International) Years after their relatives "disappeared", hundreds of Indian families still do not know what happened to them. Without effective legal redress, families continue to experience an enduring sense of frustration and helplessness as well as grief.

The UN Human Rights Committee considers that the suffering by relatives of the "disappeared" can amount to torture or ill-treatment.
Unlike other widows, wives of the "disappeared" often have problems with inheritance and property rights and may be denied a widow's pension. The resulting poverty can often lead to children being denied adequate medical care and basic education.

In India, "disappearances" have mainly taken place in states where there have been secession movements. Thousands of people "disappeared" at the hands of the security forces during a period of armed insurgency in the Punjab between 1983 and 1994.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir government, around 3,750 "disappearances" have taken place in the state since the outbreak of armed militancy in 1989. Despite hundreds of families pursuing habeas corpus and other petitions through the courts to discover the fate of the missing, only a handful of cases have been resolved. For over a decade, AI has been urging the government of India to make all those responsible for "disappearances" face justice for their crimes.

From: http://web.amnesty.org/wire/september2004/India