New York: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein raised the issue of killing of Indian journalist Shujaat Bukhari at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday.
During his speech on the global update of human rights at the 38th session of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner again highlighted the first and recent report of the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights) on Kashmir that spelled out the current situation.
Adding to that he also took the opportunity to condemn the killing of the prominent Kashmiri journalist.
I am tremendously saddened by the assassination last week of Shujaat Bukhari, a courageous human rights defender actively working for peace, including through his participation in the Track Two diplomacy seeking to help both India and Pakistan put an end to the violence, he said.
The OHCHR has been very critical of the situation in the whole of undivided Kashmir seeking access to investigate the human rights situation. The High Commissioner has also recommended setting up a Commission of Inquiry for the same.
I have sought to engage substantively with both India and Pakistan over the past two years regarding the situation in Kashmir, on both sides of the Line of Control. Refusals by both India and Pakistan to enable unconditional access have led us to conduct remote monitoring, with a first report issued last week. I encourage the Council to consider establishing a Commission of Inquiry for a more comprehensive investigation of the human rights situation in Kashmir, and reiterate my calls for access.
In its first-ever UN human rights report on Kashmir, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an international inquiry into multiple violations in the undivided Jammu and Kashmir.
The 49-page report details human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces.
The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein on the occasion of the release of the report.
India had outrightly rejected the report calling it fallacious and motivated. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar said on June 14, “India rejects the report. It is fallacious, tendentious and motivated. We question the intent in bringing out such a report. It is a selective compilation of largely unverified information. It is overtly prejudiced and seeks to build a false narrative.