Pakistan welcomes intl' human rights organisations’ call for release of detained IOK prisoners

FO says measures to combat COVID-19 must respect the human rights of every individual

Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed the joint statement by six international human rights organisations calling on the Indian government to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners in Indian-Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and fully restore high speed internet in the valley.

The statement was hailed by Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui on Twitter.

“The Joint Statement rightly underlines that measures to combat #COVID19 must respect human rights of every individual,” she tweeted.

#Pakistan welcomes the joint statement by six international human rights organizations, calling on India to immediately release all arbitrarily detained prisoners and restore full high speed internet access in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir #IOJK.
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— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) April 7, 2020

Spokesperson Farooqui also said that urgent release of political prisoners, human rights defenders and all those arrested in the besieged valley after August 5 last year was therefore, imperative.



The FO added that the statement underscored allegations of torture against Kashmiri prisoners as part of a decades-long pattern of abuses that has been repeatedly denounced by HR & UN bodies.

Expressing concern on isolation of inmates from outside 🌎 due 2 comm.blackout & ban on prison visits, the statement underscores that allegations of torture against Kashmiri prisoners as part of a decades-long pattern of abuses have been repeatedly denounced by HR & UN bodies.3/3

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) April 7, 2020

Earlier on April 3, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan had spurned the new domicile rules imposed by the Modi government with the motive to change the demography of IOK.



“The Indian government must abandon its policy to make Kashmir its colony, and resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people in the light of the UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.

President Masood condemned the Indian government for imposing new domicile law, saying that this was a part of the well-hatched conspiracy of the Indian rulers designed to turn the Muslim majority of the occupied territory into a minority and an abortive attempt to suppress the struggle of Kashmiri people for the realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also criticised the domicile law, calling it baseless and in complete violation of existing United Nations resolutions.

“While the entire world is at war with a global pandemic, India is taking baseless steps, which are open violations of international laws and UN resolutions. The entire Kashmiri leadership is under house arrest while thousands of Kashmiri youngsters are behind bars in Indian jails,” Qureshi said.