Altaf Hussain Wani urges UNHRC to appoint a commission of inquiry to investigate HR abuses in IoK
GENEVA, Sep 16 (SABAH): Prominent rights activist and Chairman Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR), Altaf Hussain Wani has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to urged the UNHRC to appoint commission of inquiry to investigate the ongoing and past HR violations in Kashmir and hold the Human Rights violators responsible for their wrong doings
Taking part in General Debate held under agenda item 2 during 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, Altaf Hussain Wani while speaking on the behalf of World Muslim Congress expressed his dismay over the UNHCR acting High Commissioner’s failure to report about the worst human rights situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir where people have been facing systematic and gross human rights violations and abuses by India since decades.
Demanding the OHCR’s special attention towards the worsening situation in the held territory he said that Amnesty International’s (AI) scathing report on blatant HR violations in the region was an eye-opener for the world.
Referring the AI’s report, Wani said that the report stated that at least 36 journalists have faced interrogation, raids, threats or physical assault for their reporting until now.
He said that despite expulsion from Kashmir and India the AI tried to document human rights situation which also reflects that the ground realities were underreported and can lead to catastrophic situation. He said that India was denying access to any HR organization in Kashmir fearing it would expose their genocide of Kashmiris.
Wani urged the UNHRC to appoint commission of inquiry on the ongoing and past HR violations in Kashmir to hold the HR violators responsible for their worst wrong doings.
Senior All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Faiz Naqashbandi has said that no change in Indian repression has been seen in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir even after the High Commissioner’s two important reports and statements in the Human Rights Council.
Taking part in the debate held under Agenda Item 2 during 51st session of the Human Rights Council, the APHC leader said that Indian authorities in Indian held Jammu and Kashmir continue to disregard constitutional guarantees and international obligations.
He said that the judicial system was unable to provide adequate legal protection for the victims and laws in force provide impunity to Indian armed forces. The absence of accountability system, he said, has drastically led to increased fake trials and torture in Indian jails.
The unprecedented Indian repression in Indian occupied territory, he said has snatched fundamental rights of Kashmiris. He urged the Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry on Kashmir and hold perpetrators accountable.
Meanwhile, the KIIR executive director Sardar Amjad Yousaf Khan while taking part in general debate held under Agenda Item 2 said that the demographic changes made in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir was of a grave concern for the population in general and Muslim majority in particular which feels threatened to be converted into minority.
Referring to the Amnesty International report, he said that the report lays bare the Indian government’s claims of so-called normalcy narrative on Kashmir. Since the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status in 2019, he said that the Indian authorities have arrested many human rights defenders including journalists and activists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
He said that dozens of journalists have faced interrogation, raids, threats or physical assault for their reporting until now. About the frequent internet shutdowns he said that the people in Jammu & Kashmir faced at least 85 internet shutdowns in 2021 – one of the highest in the world.
Khan urged the UN high commissioner to play her role to save the lives and property of Kashmiris.
Welcome the report by the High Commissioner and the UNHRC’s efforts for the promotion and protection of human rights globally, Ms Saira sought the council’s urgent attention towards the continued bloodshed and violence in the Indian occupied Kashmir.
She said that on the one hand unlawful and arbitrary arrests, torture, inhuman treatment of prisoners, extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents continued unabated while on the other restrictions on free expression and media, human rights defenders and civil society organizations continued unabated.
Referring to Indian government’s nefarious designs to bring demographic shift in the territory, Ms Saira stated that redefinition of the age-old domicile law, delimitation of constituencies and granting voting rights to non-state-subjects were part of the Indian government’s game plan to change the region’s demographic complexion.
She said that the people of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir have been victims of every form of human rights violation and still await the council’s attention.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference leader Mrs Shamim Shawl has urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to utilise UN mechanisms to protect the life and dignity of the people in Indian occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking part in the debate held under Agenda item 2 during the 51st session of the UNHRC here on Wednesday, Mrs Shawl while referring to rising global tensions that continue to threaten the humanity at large said that the Indian occupied Kashmir was one of the world’s conflict-hit regions where horrors were inflicted on civilian population.
Speaking on behalf of International Muslim Women Union, She said that the UN High commissioner in her address to the 50th session had observed that these challenges leave their indelible mark on future generations.
She said that it was imperative for every human rights defender to contribute to protection of human rights and make an effort to improve the human rights environment particularly in Ukraine, Kashmir and Palestine where international laws were being flouted and UN commitments being grossly ignored.
The APHC leader said that the UNHRC office had presented two reports regarding the grave human rights situation in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. The situation in Kashmir, he said, has further deteriorated and human rights violations continue unabated.
Regarding the ruthless suppression of democratic dissent in the restive region, Mrs Shamim Shawl said, “Democratic space to Kashmir political leadership has been denied and they continue to languish in jails and integration centres”. Citing the black laws enforced in the state, she said, “Indian government is using lawless laws such as PSA, UAPA and other draconian laws to suppress dissent in the region”.
She regrettably noted that the administration of justice in accordance with established law was not available in the occupied Kashmir.