GENEVA, Sep 22 (APP):Pakistan has called on the UN Human Right Council to take steps to uphold Kashmir’s cause of freedom, justice and peace in the face of intensified Indian oppression.
“The oppressed Kashmiris must not feel alone,” Ambassador Khalil Hashmi told the Geneva-based 47-member Council on Tuesday.
Speaking in a debate on promotion and protection of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights, the Pakistani envoy said that the suffering of Kashmiri people was a “burden on the collective conscience of this Council.”
For the last seven decades, Hashmi said, India had robbed the Kashmiris of the UN-promised right to self-determination, fundamental freedoms and justice, thereby threatening peace and security of South Asia and beyond.
“For over 13 months, India has accelerated its reign of terror on Kashmiris through military siege, demographic changes and suppression of their rights, all enabled by its illegal actions of 5 August 2019,” he said.
The Pakistani envoy said the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), civil society and independent media have reported various features of India’s state oppression against Kashmiri civilians, women and children: pellet guns, extra-judicial killings, home demolitions, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and internet & telecommunication blockade.
In the words of UN special rapporteurs, he said Indian human rights violations were “unprecedented” and amount to “collective punishment”. “They have warned that the human rights situation in this occupied territory is in a ‘free fall’ and called on the international community to “step up” to this crisis.”
Last week, the Indian media reported that as of 14 September, 1.67 million domicile certificates have been issued to individuals from India.
“These unlawful actions are clearly designed to convert Kashmiris into a minority in their own homeland,” Hashmi said.
“They contravene UN Security Council resolutions. Such illegal transfer of population also constitutes a War Crime under Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Rule 156 of the Customary International Law.
“India must be held to account for its willful and multiple violations of international law.”
The Pakistani envoy said, “This Council and the OHCHR must not remain silent in the face of India’s policy of oppression.
“History has proven that appeasement of evil never works. To be indifferent or neutral in the situation of injustice is to side with the oppressor,” he said.
“This Council must act to uphold Kashmir’s cause of freedom, justice and peace.”