ISLAMABAD: The UN Special Procedures for human rights has once again voiced serious concerns about the revocation of special status of Jammu and Kashmir by the Indian occupied forces and imposition of restrictions on human rights activists, freedom of expression and politicians in IIOJK.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said this during a weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Friday.
She said the concerns were communicated on August 8th by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association; Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the rights of freedom of opinion and expression and Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief.
The spokesperson said the Special Procedures have also emphasized that the framework of India’s counter-terrorism laws is ripe for human rights abuse and potential violations of India’s obligations under international human rights law.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch added the UN Special Procedures had already delivered various communications on human rights abuses in the IIOJK, including forced detention, extrajudicial killings, disappearances torture.
She noted the abrupt sudden closure of the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission would add to the miseries of the people of IIOJK.
The official went on to say that the latest communication by the UN Special Procedures is a comprehensive document, covering multi-faceted human rights abuses in IIOJK, under the cover of counter-terrorism laws.
