UN report
Programme coordinator at the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, Khuram Parvez, termed the report “path breaking”.
“This report is historical & symbolically a huge step leading to an acknowledgement of Indian government’s role in massive human rights abuses. After UN resolutions on Kashmir, this report is an important addition,” Parvez wrote on Facebook.
India maintains that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country and Pakistan is in illegal occupation of a part of the state’s territory.
“Pakistan is in illegal and forcible occupation of a part of the Indian state through aggression. We have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to vacate the occupied territories. The incorrect description of Indian territory in the report is mischievous, misleading and unacceptable. There are no entities such as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” and “Gilgit-Baltistan,” the spokesperson said.
The global human rights body also asked Pakistan to end its “misuse” of anti-terror legislation to persecute peaceful activists and quash dissent.
The report said “any resolution to the political situation in Kashmir should entail a commitment to ending the cycles of violence and accountability for past and current human rights violations.”
“The people on both sides of the Line of Control have been detrimentally impacted and suffer from limitations or denial of a range of human rights,” said the UN report, which also referred to the July 2016 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani by Indian forces which triggered unprecedented protests in the Valley.
The Indian statement said the report ignored cross-border terrorism which New Delhi said is the “most egregious violation of human rights.”
“Cross-border terror and incitement is aimed at suppressing the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, disrupting its political and social fabric and undermining India’s integrity”, the MEA spokesperson said.
He termed it “disturbing” that those behind this report have chosen to describe “internationally designated and UN-proscribed terrorist entities as “armed groups” and terrorists as “leaders”. “This undermines the UN led consensus on zero tolerance to terrorism, “Kumar said.
The spokesperson said the report was “motivated” and deliberately ignored that “fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution to every Indian citizen, including in the state of Jammu & Kashmir, are protected also by an independent judiciary, human rights commissions, free and vibrant media and an active civil society.”
“Our protest and views in the matter have been conveyed unequivocally to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We are deeply concerned that individual prejudices are being allowed to undermine the credibility of a UN institution”, he said.
He said such reports cannot “undermine the will of the people and the Government of India to take all measures necessary to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country from cross border terrorism.”
The UN report cited documented evidence of militant groups committing a wide range of human rights abuses, including kidnappings and killings of civilians and sexual violence.
“Despite the Government of Pakistan’s assertions of denial of any support to these groups, experts believe that Pakistan’s military continues to support their operations across the Line of Control in Indian-Administered Kashmir,” the report said.
The report also sought repealing of the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 “urgently” and also the immediate removal of “the requirement for prior central government permission to prosecute security forces personnel accused of human rights violations in civilian courts.”