UN communication ‘an indictment of Indian occupation of Kashmir’: MoFA

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has highlighted a recent communication by the UN Special Procedures addressing the Government of India’s treatment of Kashmiri human rights defenders. The communication draws attention to serious concerns surrounding the arrest, detention, and charges against   Programme Coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCSS) Khurram Pervaiz, and a researcher affiliated with JKCSS, Irfan Mehraj.

The correspondence has been endorsed by several UN human rights entities, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders; the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntarily Disappearances; the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Freedom and Peaceful Assembly and of Association; and the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

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Both Pervaiz and Mehraj are currently being held in Rohini prison, New Delhi. The communication expressed concerns that their arrests and subsequent detention appear aimed at undermining their human rights work, particularly their efforts to monitor the human rights conditions in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) according to MoFA.

The media handout by the ministry asserts that the communication by the UN Special Procedures serves as “yet another indictment of the Indian occupation authorities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).” They further implore the Indian authorities to release Mr. Khurrum Pervaiz, Mr. Irfan Mehraj, and other Kashmiri activists, accusing India of suppressing voices that challenge its actions in the region.