India at UN: When will rights office report on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir?
India has asked the United Nations human rights office when it will publish a report on the steps taken by Pakistan to address concerns in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including investigations into killings and restrictions on internet access.
The question was put by Anuj Swarup, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the UN, during an interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with human rights and social issues.
Mr. Swarup referred to earlier statements by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the High Commissioner on the situation in the region. Those statements had called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into killings attributed to armed forces and security forces. They had also sought access to legal representation and contact with families for detained leaders of the Joint Awami Action Committee, and stressed due process and fair trial. The OHCHR had further urged the lifting of restrictions on internet access throughout Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and meaningful political dialogue to address grievances of the local population.
In July, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk appealed for calm in the region ahead of elections to its Legislative Assembly on July 27. He noted reports that dozens of people, mostly protesters but also law enforcement personnel, had been killed since June. He called for prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all deaths linked to the unrest and expressed concern over the internet shutdown.
Mr. Swarup said the OHCHR's approach reflected "extreme selectivity". "Violent responses to protests in our neighbourhood as well as in the west have gone uncommented. Needless to say, such double standards contribute to loss of trust in multilateralism and the work of OHCHR," he said.
He also set out India's own record, saying the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi stood for non-violence and equality and shaped a Constitution that guarantees fundamental rights to every citizen. Indian citizens exercise those rights subject to the maintenance of public order and safety, law enforcement authorities act strictly in accordance with the law, and courts remain available for redressal of any grievance, he added.
Mr. Swarup underlined that the Constitution bestows the same fundamental rights on the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as on the rest of India, describing both as integral and inalienable parts of the country.
India's statement came days after New Delhi described remarks by the OHCHR on protests in the national capital as "unwarranted" and "unacceptable interference" in its internal affairs. The UN human rights office had earlier expressed concern over what it called reports of mass detentions of demonstrators, protest leaders, members of civil society organisations, lawyers and journalists before and during large-scale demonstrations in Delhi.
India is a member of the UN Human Rights Council. Mr. Swarup said India has engaged constructively on contemporary issues and will continue to work with the High Commissioner and the OHCHR "in a spirit of trust and partnership without selectivity and double standards".
Background
The region, which Pakistan administers and refers to as Azad Jammu and Kashmir, is described by India as Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Both countries claim the whole of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, and the dispute remains unresolved at the United Nations. In 2019, India reorganised the portion of the region it administers into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
India's remarks at the Third Committee form part of a continuing exchange with UN human rights bodies over how the situation in the region is reported and published.
