‘IHK rights violations a challenge for UN system’

Islamabad: Human rights violations in the India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir is a serious challenge for UN system and global democratic society, said Federal Minister for Human Rights Mumtaz Ahmed Tarar.

"The rights abuses in held Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian army, central reserve police force and border security personnel have been committing severe human rights violations against Kashmiri civilians since 1947. After the killing of Burhan Wani and protest from local people, security forces have unleashed a new wave of violence," he said in a statement.

The minister said the government of Pakistan was concerned and had protested at UN level against anti-Kashmir policies and violations of human rights by the Indian forces. Ironically, the occupational forces have unleashed a reign of terror in the entire state and the draconian laws in place provide them with a licence to search, arrest and kill anybody at any point of time without any provocation, merely on the basis of doubt," he said.

The minister said Kashmir was one of the main items in Pakistani foreign policy and that Pakistan would continue its moral support for Kashmiri people in their fight for the right to self-determination and freedom," he said, adding that recently, the prime minister forcefully raised the issue during his address to the UN General Assembly.

He said the Indian security forces assaulted civilians during search operations, tortured and summarily executed detainees in custody and murdered civilians in reprisal attacks. The minister also said international NGOs had documented human rights abuses including disappearances, torture and arbitrary executions carried out during India’s counter terrorism operations. "The United Nations has expressed serious concerns over large number killings by Indian security forces. Human rights groups have also accused the Indian security forces of using child soldiers. Torture widely used by Indian security forces is a major cause for the huge number of deaths in custody.

The Amnesty International accused security forces of exploiting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that enables them to “hold prisoners without trial,” he said. The minister said it was argued that the law, which allowed security to detain individuals for as many as two years without presenting charges is the grave violation of individual’s human rights,” he said.

He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides had rejected forced occupation of their mother land and as a result, they were offering scarifies against the occupation for the last 70 years. "Pakistan will continue its efforts to highlight the human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir at UN level including Human Rights council," he said.