GENEVA – Indian security forces have used excessive force in Kashmir andkilled and wounded numerous civilians since 2016, the United Nations saidon Thursday, calling for an international inquiry into alleged violationsin the disputed territory.
“There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing human rightsviolations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, whofor seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruinednumerous lives,” says the reportlink>bythe UN Human Rights Office.
The 49-page report – the first ever issued by the UN on the human rightssituation in Indian-Administered and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir –details human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line ofControl, and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violationscommitted by security forces.
“The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan havelong been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is aconflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, andcontinues to this day to inflict untold suffering,” said UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.
“This is why any resolution of the political situation in Kashmir mustentail a commitment to end the cycles of violence and ensure accountabilityfor past and current violations and abuses by all parties, and provideredress for victims,” he said.
“It is also why I will be urging the UN Human Rights Council to considerestablishing a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive independentinternational investigation into allegations of human rights violations inKashmir,” said Zeid.
There was no immediate comment by either government to the report issued bythe U.N. human rights office in Geneva, which called for justice forvictims on both sides of the so-called Line of Conflict.