ISLAMABAD – Members of the European Parliament have written an open letterto Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their grave concern onthe continued human rights violations in Occupied Kashmir.
According to the Foreign Office, European Parliamentarians have conveyedparticular concern for the blatant use of pellet shotguns which continue tomass blind innocent civilians, women and children, including 19-months oldHiba Nisar.
They have also communicated concerns over the use of draconian laws likeArmed Forces Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act which accord virtualimpunity to the Indian occupation forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
In their letter, the European Parliamentarians have called upon the Indiangovernment to immediately end the use of pellet-firing shotguns in OccupiedKashmir and bring all relevant Indian laws into compliance withinternational human rights standards
They urged New Delhi to urgently repeal the armed Forces Special PowersAct, 1990 and amend the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 to ensureits compliance with international human rights law.
The European leaders demanded establishment of independent and impartialinvestigations into all accidents where the use of pellet-firing led todeaths or serious injuries.
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The Foreign Office, in its statement, lauded European Committee on HumanRights for discussing and taking up concerns of Pakistan and the people ofKashmir regarding India’s human rights abuses in the occupied Kashmir.
Earlier, the Reports on Jammu and Kashmir by the Office of the HighCommissioner for Human Rights and the UK Parliament’s All PartiesParliamentary Kashmir Group had publically called out India over its grosshuman rights violations in Occupied Kashmir and called upon the Indiangovernment to carry out a comprehensive investigation into its abuses inthe held valley.
The foreign office said that Pakistan expresses its gratitude to allEuropean Parliamentarians who undertook this critical initiative.
It said Pakistan will continue to extend moral, political and diplomaticsupport to its Kashmiri brothers and sisters in Indian Occupied Kashmiruntil realization of their legitimate right to self-determination.
