Pakistan warns of worsening rights crisis in Occupied Kashmir post new UN findings

WEB DESK: Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday voiced deep alarm over a new United Nations assessment detailing extensive human rights violations in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, calling the findings a stark confirmation of long-standing concerns about abuses under Indian rule.

The UN Special Procedures experts, in a report issued earlier this week, raised red flags about India’s sweeping crackdown following the April terror attack in Pahalgam, an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without offering evidence. According to the experts, Indian forces had carried out mass detentions, home demolitions and restrictions on basic freedoms under the guise of security operations.

Responding to the report, the FO said the UN’s observations “underscore the severe and systematic rights violations” faced by Kashmiris. It highlighted the experts’ account of nearly 2,800 arrests in recent months, including students, journalists and activists. The statement also criticised the repeated use of laws such as the Public Safety Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which it said enabled “indefinite, unjustified detention” without due process.

The FO drew attention to accounts of custodial torture, enforced disappearances, denial of legal access, and the isolating of detainees from their families. It also condemned punitive actions such as demolishing homes, forcing people from their property, recurrent communication blackouts, and interference with press freedom, including the blocking of thousands of social media accounts. Rising hate speech, mob violence and harassment of Muslims and Kashmiris across India further illustrated, the FO said, a pattern of discrimination that the UN report had once again laid bare.

Pakistan urged India to end what it described as coercive and punitive measures in the occupied territory and to immediately release all those held on politically motivated charges. It also called on New Delhi to halt the marginalisation of religious minorities and to restore fundamental rights in the region.

Reaffirming Islamabad’s stance, the FO said Pakistan remains committed to a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir dispute in line with UN Security Council resolutions. It stressed that Pakistan will continue extending diplomatic, political and moral support to Kashmiris seeking self-determination, urging India to reverse its “repressive policies” and engage in meaningful dialogue.