Kashmiri Leaders Urge UN to Probe Pakistan Human Rights Abuses
The United Kashmir People's National Party organized a Geneva conference calling for international investigations into security force crackdowns in Pakistan-administered territories.
Kashmiri political leaders, human rights defenders, and activists convened at the Geneva Press Club on September 29 to condemn escalating human rights abuses in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Organized by the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), the conference took place on the sidelines of the 63rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Participants accused Pakistani security forces of conducting extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and communications blackouts. The group expressed solidarity with the Joint Awami Action Committee and demanded the restoration of fundamental freedoms and independent international investigations into the region's conditions.
Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Chairman of the UKPNP, addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council, reporting a surge in repression since June 5. He urged the international community to hold Pakistan accountable, stating that "Peaceful dissent is not terrorism, and demanding rights is not a crime."
