GENEVA: Experts and former diplomats have called for urgent and sustainable funding for the United Nations human rights system, warning that chronic financial shortages are weakening its ability to monitor abuses, protect human rights defenders and hold perpetrators accountable in occupied territories and conflict zones.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, a panel of legal experts and former diplomats including former President of AJK Ambassador Sardar Masood Khan and former UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas, Mr Ahmer Bilal Soofi, former federal minister for law and justice, Dr Blerim Mustfa, Professor Octavia Chereze
Nimakta Farnadoo and Altaf Hussain Wani argued that financial constraints are not merely administrative hurdles, but are actively weakening the mechanisms required to hold oppressive regimes accountable
They argued that inadequate resources were directly undermining the international community’s ability to document serious violations of international law and respond effectively.
UN Mechanisms Under Pressure
The panel highlighted the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), warning that a lack of sustainable funding was limiting its capacity to monitor and document violations.
The speakers said underfunding was weakening treaty bodies and UN Special Procedures at a time when conflicts and allegations of serious human rights abuses were increasing in several parts of the world.
They warned that inadequate documentation could contribute to impunity by making it harder to establish evidence and pursue accountability.
Kashmir Rights Groups
The seminar placed particular focus on the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), with speakers expressing grave concern over what they described as the systematic silencing of Kashmir-based human rights groups that have historically played a vital role in documenting alleged rights violations and state repression.
The panel noted that the absence of robust, well-funded UN accountability mechanisms has emboldened the crackdown on human rights defenders and the suppression of dissent.
They called for India to be held accountable for grave human rights violations, asserting that a strengthened UN architecture is the only viable avenue for ensuring justice and upholding international law in the region.
Wider Conflict Zones
The speakers also highlighted the situation in Palestine and other conflict-affected regions, warning that underfunding the UN human rights system leaves vulnerable populations without effective international protection.
They said occupied territories and conflict zones require adequately funded monitoring and documentation mechanisms to ensure that alleged violations are recorded and investigated.
The panel stressed that sustainable funding was necessary to ensure the UN could monitor human rights violations effectively, protect human rights defenders from retaliation and apply international law consistently.
Call For Sustainable Funding
The seminar concluded with a call for an immediate shift towards equitable and sustainable funding for the UN human rights system.
The speakers called for adequate UN funding to monitor violations in occupied territories, protect human rights defenders from reprisals, improve the documentation of alleged atrocities and ensure international law is applied consistently to occupying powers.
“Continued underfunding does not just weaken a bureaucracy,” the speakers warned, “it undermines the very mechanisms essential for ensuring accountability, respect for international law, and access to justice for the oppressed.”
