Fears judicial murder of Kashmiri leader: Pakistan writes to UNSG, UNHCR for release of Asia Andrabi

ISLAMABAD: Fearing ‘judicial murder’ of Kashmiri human rights activist and political leader Ms Asiya Andrabi, Pakistan Sunday approached the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for her immediate release.

Ms Andrabi, founder of Dukhtaran-e-Millat (DeM) founder, has under illegal and inhuman incarceration for more than 15 years on fabricated charges at the notorious Tihar Jail in India.

“It has been highlighted that Ms. Andrabi’s life is in danger owing to imminent risk of persecutory conviction by a sham court on 18 January 2020.

India has now put Ms. Andrabi on trial on trumped-up charges; deliberately accelerated the trial; and set aside due process, reflecting malicious intent with clear indications of looming judicial murder,” said the Foreign Office in a statement.

Pakistan has also called upon the United Nations to urge India to drop all fabricated charges against Ms. Andrabi, her husband and her associates, and provide them with complete legal protections, including the right to a free and fair trial; release all detainees, especially political prisoners and human rights defenders in IOJ&K; repeal draconian laws such as AFSPA, PSA, and UAPA; allow UN-supervised investigations into cases of extra-judicial executions and other serious and systematic human rights violations; and fully implement all recommendations of the two Kashmir reports of OHCHR, including the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry. “As a champion of human rights and an ardent advocate of women empowerment, Ms. Andrabi has worked tirelessly for social reforms and realisation of fundamental freedoms for the people of the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJ&K) for over four decades”, said the Foreign Office.

Ms. Andrabi has been under illegal and inhuman incarceration for more than 15 years on fabricated charges under the draconian laws aimed at further perpetuating India’s illegal occupation of IOJ&K through brutalisation of the Kashmiri people.DeM, which is one of the biggest women rights organisations in the IOJ&K, is working for women’s education, empowerment, well-being and protection, especially against sexual violence and abuse at the hands of Indian occupation forces. “India’s blatant attempts to portray the legitimate Kashmiri struggle as “terrorism”, and to prosecute its leaders through concocted cases, is a clear violation of the UN Charter, UN Security Council and UN General Assembly resolutions, and international human rights and humanitarian law”, the UN was reminded.