ISLAMABAD: Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), in Indian occupied Kashmir, has demanded constitution of the United Nations fact-finding mission or Commission of Inquiry to monitor situation in the territory.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APDP spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said in addition a permanent UN Human Rights Council’s Special Procedure should be created to monitor the human rights violations perpetrated by Indian police and troops in the occupied territory.
He urged that moral pressure should be brought on India to act as per principles of law and justice. The last week of May every year is recognized internationally as the International Week of the Disappeared and is an opportunity to remember the disappeared, and acknowledge the struggle of their families, he added.
He said in response to an RTI application filed by a Jammu-based activist, Raman Sharma, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, has stated that 13,491 civilian, 5,055 forces’ personnel, and 21,965 militants were killed in Kashmir since 1990.
However, he said the human rights defenders or activists working in Kashmir disagree with the figures, arguing that the numbers are much higher.
The spokesman said according to the President of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Advocate Parvaiz Imroz, who mostly deals in cases of human rights violations, more than 70,000 civilians had been killed in occupied Kashmir during the period. Pervaiz Imroz based his argument on a survey conducted by the JKCCS in 2006.
He said the government of India gives many statements that are totally in contrast to the facts.
There are a number of FIRs lodged in different police stations across the territory, proving that the figures are incorrect, he added. (APP)