Jammu and Kashmir [Images] government on Friday said the state had witnessed an unprecedented decline in incidents of rights violation during the year.

An official spokesperson said that only four custodial killings and one disappearance were reported this year compared to seven and one last year respectively.

In 1996, the state had reported 18 custodial killings and six custodial disappearances while in 1997 it was six and ten respectively, he said.

The figures for 1998 was six each, for 1999 (6 and 11), 2000 (18 and 10), 2001 (17 and 6), 2002 (12 and 17) and in 2003 it has been eight and and seven.

In 2004, there were nine custodial killings and three custodial disappearances while the figures for 2005 were seven and one respectively.

"The corresponding graph has shown positive decline, as we left no stone unturned to avert human rights violation," the spokesperson added.