Pakistan apprises UN of India's 'gross, systematic' human rights violations in Kashmir

Pakistan has apprised the United Nations of Indian's systematic and gross human rights violations in occupied Kashmir, a statement from the Foreign Office said Friday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi , on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, penned a letter to the United Nations Security Council President and the UN Secretary-General.

The foreign minister said that India's changes in occupied Kashmir's demographic structure, usurpation of land, and farcical elections, were null and void, in light of international law.

Furthermore, drawing attention to India’s perpetration of terrorism and subversion against Pakistan, FM Qureshi recalled the detailed dossier presented to the UN — containing irrefutable evidence of India’s active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing, and execution of terrorist activities against Pakistan.

"India’s smear campaign to malign Pakistan internationally revealed through the EU DisinfoLab report has also been brought to the attention of the Security Council," the statement read.

The foreign minister’s letter has noted that the recent exposé of transcripts in the Indian media further establishes its orchestration of “false flag” operations and belligerent actions for domestic political and electoral gains.

He shed light on the alarming incident in December 2020 of Indian firing on a clearly marked vehicle of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), threatening the safety and security of UN peacekeepers and impeding the fulfilment of their mandate.

FM Qureshi has called upon the UNSC to urge India to:

• Immediately lift the continuing military siege and rescind the illegal and unilateral actions in occupied Jammu and Kashmir;
• Remove restrictions on communications, movement, and peaceful assembly;
• Immediately release incarcerated Kashmiri political leaders and allow them to express the wishes of the Kashmiri people;
• Free all arbitrarily and illegally detained Kashmiris;
• Freeze and reverse the new domicile rules and property laws designed to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory;
• Remove the draconian laws enabling Indian occupation forces to continue human rights violations with impunity, including extrajudicial killings in fake encounters; and
• Allow access to the occupied territory to the UN observers, international human rights and humanitarian organisations, observers, and the international media.

"The letter by the Foreign Minister is part of Pakistan’s continuous efforts to keep the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General fully apprised of the grave situation in [occupied Jammu and Kashmir] and the threat it poses to peace and security in the region," it added.