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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

India rejects UN report on rights violations in J&K

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GENEVA/NEW DELHI: Indian and Pakistani security forces used “excessive” force in both sides of Jammu and Kashmir, killing and wounding civilians since 2016, a UN body said on Thursday, in a first-ever report calling for an international investigation into alleged violations in the territory. India outright rejected as “fallacious, tendentious and motivated” the report as far as it relates to Jammu and Kashmir.


The 49-page report issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on the human rights situation in “Indian-Administered and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir”, detailed human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control and highlighted a “situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces”.


“The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein.


“This is why any resolution of the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir must entail a commitment to end the cycles of violence and ensure accountability for past and current violations and abuses by all parties and provide redress for victims,” he said.


“It is also why I will be urging the UN Human Rights Council to consider establishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir,” Zeid said.


The UN report focused mainly on alleged serious violations committed in Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 to April 2018. Activists estimated that up to 145 civilians were killed by security forces and up to 20 civilians killed by armed groups in the same period, it said.


India reacted strongly to the report with External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar saying: “India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report.


Calling it “a selective compilation of largely unverified information”, Kumar said the report “is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative”.


Stating that terrorism is the most egregious violation of human rights, the spokesperson said that yet the authors have conveniently ignored the pattern of cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and territories under its illegal control.


“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,” he stated.


“It is 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, in his response, said that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. — IANS


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