GENEVA, Aug 22 (APP): Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN offices in Geneva, Ambassador Khalil Hashmi, Monday met the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and briefed her about the unfolding human rights crisis in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
A press release issued by the Pakistani mission here said that Ambassador Hashmi reiterated Pakistan’s grave concerns about India’s illegal demographic engineering of the occupied territory and its widely documented grave human rights impacts during the last three years.
Terming the IIOJK as a human rights flashpoint, the Pakistani envoy drew the High Commissioner’s attention towards India’s unabated, gross violations of Kashmiri people’s basic political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights, especially their inalienable right to self-determination.
He pointed out that there was a clear pattern of Indian impunity for human rights abuses, aided by conspicuous silence of powerful States, implementation of oppressive laws (such as Armed Forces Special Power, Public Safety and Unlawful Activities Prevention Acts),
a pliant judiciary, local hand-picked administration, and shuttering of local human rights institutions.
Furthermore, India continued to defy universally agreed norms and principles, Hashmi said, adding this was evident from continued denial of access to OHCHR (Office of UN Human Rights High Commissioner for Human Rights), OIC, independent civil society and international media to assess the ground situation.
Appreciating High Commissioner and her Office’s regular monitoring, public expression of concerns and reporting about the IIOJK situation, including at the UN Human Rights Council, Ambassador Hashmi reiterated Pakistan’s request for publication of a third Kashmir Report by the UN Human Rights Office.
The OHCHR has published two Kashmir Reports, 2018 and 2019, documenting in detail India’s grave, systematic violations of Kashmiri people’s rights.
The surge in India’s systematic, gross violations of Kashmiris’ basic human rights continue to be extensively documented by independent civil society, global media and UN Special Procedures, it was pointed out.
Civil society organizations have publicly characterized the post-05th August situation in
the occupied territory to be a ‘dire human rights crisis’ while UN Special Procedures have termed it to be in ‘free fall’.
Ambassador Hashmi also met the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, on 05 August 2022 in context of Youm-e-Istehsaal and handed over Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s letter, outlining Pakistan’s concerns to and key asks from UN human rights machinery, inter alia.
APP/ift