Shireen Mazari apprises UN High Commissioner of Rights Violations in held Kashmir

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr. Shireen Mazari has written a letter on 6th of July 2020 to the United Nations High commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to apprise her about the situation of human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

“Your personal commitment to protecting and promoting human rights has been consistent and unwavering due to which I appeal to your respected office to bring to a halt the forcible transfer of civilian populations to and from Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” says the letter.

Referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) two reports on Kashmir issued in June 2018 and July 2019, she further mentions,  “In both reports your office has rightly raised the concern over the excessive use of force by Indian security forces in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. This excessive use of force by India is its standard modus operandi, as recently released picture from Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where a three-year-old child sits on his grandfather’s blood covered dead body in Sopore,”

She further mentioned that India has granted around 25000 Indian citizens domicile certificates in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir in a blatant violation of fourth Geneva Convention, Article 49 of which clearly provides that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Reiterating the absence of intervention by international community, the Federal Minister has expressed in the letter that India seems to have gained the strength to violate international human rights law and international humanitarian law, with no concern as to consequence for these serious violations.

“In an attempt to evade a free and fair plebiscite that respects the wishes of the Kashmiri people, as required under several UN Security Council resolutions, India has been attempting since August 5, 2019, to alter the demography of the occupied territory,” mentions the letter.

Pointing at demographic alterations in an occupied territory as the violation of self-determination, she urged urgent intervention by the UN High Commissioner with respect to bring to an end these breaches of fundamental human rights norms. “If we do not act together now, we may risk further destabilization and bloodshed in the region, which would affect millions on both sides of the Line of Control, the Pakistan-India border and in the region at large. We cannot abandon the Kashmiri people in their time of need and struggle,” says the letter. The Federal Minister also offered full and continued cooperation to UN High Commissioner’s office.

 

Orignal Publication:

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/684707-