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New Delhi: Amnesty
International Thursday called for a halt in the use "pepper gas"
to tackle street protests in Jammu and Kashmir.
"In view of the recent deaths and harmful effects on bystanders,
Amnesty calls for security forces to... revert to previously
tested and less potentially harmful methods of crowd dispersal,"
it said.
Amnesty also urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to conduct "a
prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation" into
the three deaths that were allegedly caused by the use of pepper
gas.
On March 8, a 60-year-old woman of Srinagar died after a stray
pepper spray grenade landed in her house from outside and
detonated, engulfing her home in fumes, it said in a statement.
Two others, Muhammad Yusuf Sofi, age 40, Abdul Rashid Sheikh, 60,
also died allegedly from exposure to the pepper gas, it said.
All three were residents of Srinagar, and died in separate
incidents where pepper spray grenades were used by law
enforcement.
All three individuals suffered from pulmonary diseases such as
chronic asthma, which were exacerbated by prolonged exposure to
the pepper spray, doctors have been quoted as saying in local
media reports, Amnesty said.
Amnesty stressed that these deaths underscored that police must
exercise restraint at all times in the use of "non-lethal"
weapons, and minimize damage and injury.
Pepper spray grenades were incorporated into the arsenal of
"non-lethal" weaponry used to maintain law and order and disperse
large crowds in Jammu and Kashmir after a five-month street
protest in 2010.
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