ISLAMABAD, October 3: Sardar Masood Khan, President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, has said that the international community, especially the United Nations must take cognizance of the grave human rights violations taking place in the Indian Occupied Kashmir.
The President made these remarks while interacting with a British delegation from Rochdale, led by Tony Lloyd, Member UK Parliament. The delegation also comprised of Councillor Zaman, Mayor of Rochdale; Mr. Allen Brett, Leader of the Rochdale Council; Councillor Aasim Rashid, Chair of Pakistani and Kashmiri Councillors Forum North of England; Councillor Sultan Ali, former Mayor of Rochdale; Mrs. Razia Shamim OBE; and Honorable Alderman Mushtaq Lasharie CBE; Chairman Third World Solidarity.
During the interaction, the President informed the delegation of the grave human rights violations taking place in IOK. He said that innocent Kashmiris are being killed, incarcerated and maimed, simply because they demand their right to self-determination as guaranteed under international law and the United Nations Security Council Resolutions passed in the late 1940s’ and early 1950s’. President AJK also strongly condemned Indian moves to change the demography of IOK which he said were in violation of international law and conventions.
The President said that the international community has broken its silence on the human rights situation in IOK, and highlighted the recently released report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHRC). He said that a similar report is also being compiled by the British Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Kashmir Group (APPKG) under the able leadership of MP Chris Leslie, which also organized numerous hearings on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The APPKG report, he said will be soon be presented in the British Parliament. Similarly, he said, the European Parliament will soon finalize its report n the situation of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, which will be presented in the EU Parliament in the January 2019. He termed these reports a major achievement and said that it would help give an impartial insight into the atrocities taking place in IOK.
Highlighting the three recommendations of the OCHRC report, the President said that people of Kashmir must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination; India must repeal its two draconian laws – Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Public Safety Act – which have granted absolute immunity to the Indian occupation forces from any sort of prosecution; and
the Human Rights Council must establish a Commission of Inquiry to conduct a comprehensive international investigation into human rights violations in IOK.
President Masood Khan urged the United Nations to take cognisance of the atrocities taking place in IOK and also welcomed the statement of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who expressed his concern on the situation in IOK. He commended the newly appointed UN High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, for voicing her concerns about the continuing human rights situation in IOK, and affirming her intent to follow up on her predecessor’s report with further “monitoring and reporting”. – PR
