Pakistan calls for forming inquiry panel

FO emphasised the need to end the impunity from accountability enjoyed by the Indian occupation forces

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has appreciated the release of second report of the United Nation’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and reiterated Islamabad’s support for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (COI).

“We again welcome the OHCHR’s recommendation for the establishment of a COI to investigate the gross and systematic human rights violations in IOK,” said a Foreign Office statement issued on Monday.

The report, said the Foreign Office, highlights the excessive use of force by Indian occupation forces against protesters and Kashmiri Muslims.

“It documents in detail the excessive use of force by the Indian occupation forces; the continued use of pellet guns to kill and maim defenseless civilians; the extrajudicial killings in the garb of so-called cordon and search operations; and the use of various forms of arbitrary arrests and detentions to target protestors and political dissidents.”

India's systematic human rights violations in IoK must be probed: Pakistan

The FO spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal emphasised the need to end “the impunity from accountability enjoyed by the Indian occupation forces under the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA)”.

He lamented the “lack of credible investigation into human rights violations perpetrated by Indian occupation forces” and called for international attention towards “restrictions on expression and movement of independent journalists to prevent the voices of Kashmiris reaching the international community”.

The Foreign Office also pointed out that “there are simply no parallels between the horrendous human rights situation in IOK and the prevailing environment in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.” He reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire for a political and dialogue-based resolution to the Kashmir dispute.

“The only solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is to grant the IOK people the legitimate right to self-determination as recognised by the numerous United Nations Security Council Resolutions, which is essential for the security and stability of South Asia and beyond,” read the statement.

In June last year, the OHCHR issued its first-ever report on the situation in Kashmir, highlighting the protests after the killing of freedom fighter Burhan Wani in 2016 and the brutal use of pellet guns against protesters.

Pakistan had hailed the publication of the report and said it validated Islamabad’s stance on the need for international intervention in the occupied valley.

However, India rejected the report and the country’s representative to the UN said the document “was not even found fit to be considered by the membership of the forum where it was submitted”.