BFF-63 UN rights chief calls for major probe into Kashmir abuses

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INDIA-PAKISTAN-KASHMIR-UNREST

UN rights chief calls for major probe into Kashmir abuses

GENEVA, June 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The UN human rights chief on Thursday
called for a major investigation into abuses in Kashmir, as his office
released its first-ever report on violations committed by both India and
Pakistan in the disputed territory.

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said he would urge the Human Rights Council, which
opens a new session next week, “to consider establishing a Commission of
Inquiry (COI) to conduct a comprehensive independent international
investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir.”

A COI is one of the UN’s highest-level probes, generally reserved for major
crises like the Syrian conflict.

The UN report, which is particularly critical of India, highlights “chronic
impunity for violations committed by security forces”.

India’s foreign ministry rejected the report, blasting it as “fallacious”
and “tendentious”.

However Islamabad welcomed Zeid’s request for a probe, saying in a
statement that it was “consistent with Pakistan’s several calls to this
effect since 2016”.

The findings, described as the first-of-its-kind for Kashmir, come after
months of deadly clashes along the border that divides Kashmir into zones of
Indian and Pakistani control.

Zeid said he met with representatives of both governments following an
upsurge of violence in July 2016, triggered by India’s killing of 22-year-
rebel commander Burhan Wani.

Concerned by what the UN termed “large and unprecedented” protests after
Wani’s death, Zeid asked for “unconditional access” to Kashmir, but neither
government agreed.

His office then began remote monitoring of the region, producing a report
covering alleged abuses between January 2016 and April of this year.

Kashmir has been divided since the end of British colonial rule in 1947 and
both New Delhi and Islamabad claim the former Himalayan kingdom in full.

India has about 500,000 soldiers in the part of Kashmir it controls, where
armed groups are fighting for independence or a merger with Pakistan.

– ‘Unlawful’ killings by India –

The findings accused Indian troops of being responsible for some 145
unlawful killings, far surpassing the 20 people estimated to have been killed
by militant groups during that period.

Zeid said India needed “to take immediate and effective steps to avoid a
repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security
forces in Kashmir”.

The rights office raised particular concern over the Armed Forces Special
Powers Act, in place in Indian-administered Kashmir since 1990, which
prevents soldiers from facing prosecution without the consent of the central
government.

The act has amounted to “virtual immunity” for troops in Kashmir, the UN
said, noting that the government has not approved a single case against an
armed forces member.

Zeid also called on India to ward off any further escalation in Srinagar,
the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

– Crackdown on dissent –

Tensions have spiked there in recent weeks after police were accused of
firing teargas and shotgun pellets inside the city’s main mosque and two
protesters died after being crushed by paramilitary vehicles.

Amid fears of further unrest over the upcoming Eid holiday, the rights
office urged Indian troops “to exercise maximum restraint… when dealing
with future protests, including ones that could well occur this coming
weekend.”

Turning to territory under Pakistan’s control, the report identified “a
range of human rights abuses,” but noted they “are of a different calibre or
magnitude and of a more structural nature.”

The rights office criticised restrictions on freedom of expression and
assembly that made it difficult to obtain information about conditions in
Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Pakistan should “end the misuse of anti-terror legislation to persecute
those engaging in peaceful political and civil activities and those who
express dissent,” the report said.

It cited claims from a local civil society group that hundreds of people
have been detained under the anti-terrorism act and said the act has been
used to target those who raise questions about basic rights.

Pakistan warned against creating “a false sense of equivalence” between its
conduct in Kashmir and that of India’s.

BSS/AFP/RY/1910 hrs