Islamabad: Pakistan released a dossier exposing the scale of war crimes and human rights violations of Indian forces in occupied Kashmir as ministers hinted at moving the International Court of Justice over New Delhi’s steps at demographic change in the disputed territory.
Giving details of the 131-page dossier which contains details on fake encounters, false-flag operations and the use of rape as a tool of war, in addition to the war crimes and rights violations by Indian occupation forces in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the Hindutva-inspired BJP regime had unleashed a series of atrocities against the people of Kashmir.
An accompanying CD comprises 15 audio and several video recordings, GPS coordinates of five Indian funded and managed ISIS (ISKP) training camps, graphic pictures of victims of the suspected use of chemical weapons also carried documentary evidence of how the Narendra Modi regime was trying to portray the Kashmir Freedom Struggle as a terrorist activity.
Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, and National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf were also present on the occasion.
The foreign minister said the dossier contains three chapters. The first one carries detail of war crimes and genocidal acts of the Indian troops. The second chapter exposes the false-flag operations by Indian forces to suppress the indigenous freedom movement in IIOJK. The last chapter contains details of India’s open violations of UN Security Council resolutions, international and human rights laws.
The foreign minister said India is continuing the communication blockade in IIOJK by design to hamper international media and observers from reporting the heinous crimes being committed by its occupation forces.
He said the evidence given in the dossier comprises reports of the international media, the United Nations, and international human rights organisations. Fifteen audio intercepts of Indian military officers are also part of the dossier, revealing the state-sponsored atrocities of the Indian regime in occupied territory.
Qureshi said 3,432 cases of war crimes have been recorded in the document. Around 1,128 individuals, including a “major general, five brigadiers, 131 colonels, 188 majors and captains, four inspector generals and seven deputy inspector generals are directly involved in war crimes against Kashmiris”.
He said 118 army units have been involved in human rights violations in IIOJK. The foreign minister urged the UN and the world community to compel India to allow access to UN Human Rights Council for independent investigations of these human rights violations in the occupied territory.
When she spoke, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said Pakistan was exploring different legal options to take up the gross human rights violations in IIOJK in various forums. She said the ICJ and other international forums could be approached over the illegal Indian steps aimed at demographic changes in IIOJK.
The ICJ had already given its advisory opinion over the Israeli occupation, she said adding they were studying certain options which would also be presented before the United Nations.
She said the Indian occupation forces started using sexual assault as weapon of war against the Kashmiri women during 90s and since then the issue had remained unresolved and un-investigated. She referred to the collective sexual assaults in Kunan and Poshpora during February 1991, and said no criminal proceedings were initiated against the culprits.
The UN resolutions called for the protection of women and children in war and conflict zones and any defiance of those conventions could lead to sanctions, she said.
Dr Mazari further demanded of the European Union to implement its policy doctrine over human rights in IIOJK as well by immediately holding India accountable for the ongoing gross rights violations.
“What Indian forces are committing in IIOJK are clear violations of the 4th Geneva Convention and the international community must take immediate notice,” she said. “The EU should demand that human rights violations in IIOJK are unacceptable. The double standards on human rights violations should be discarded and the irresponsible and rogue India must be held accountable.”
The minister referred to the recent extension of EU’s sanctions on Russian over territorial issue of Ukraine and questioned why it was not imposing such sanctions against India. Drawing a parallel between Nazis and the fascist policies of Modi’s government, she questioned how the international community could allow India to hold the office of the president of United Nations Security Council.
Dr Mazari further reiterated that UN should compel India to investigate and identify perpetrators who have been directly involved in these gross human rights violations in IIOJK.
To a query, Qureshi said any international organisation has the mandate to question and demand India to provide details about disappeared Kashmiris. He said IIOJK is not a new issue as it has been unresolved in the past 70 years.
The world community has rejected Indian stance that IIOJK is its internal issue. The UN secretary general, during his visit to Pakistan, had reiterated the UN’s position over the issue, he added.
The foreign minister said IIOJK had been a strong legal case and “Pakistan will continue to do which it ought to do”.
PM’s Adviser on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf, to a query, replied that the world had realised what India was committing in IIOJK and nobody now defended what India was doing. “There is a clear shift in the thinking of the international community,” he added.
Dr Yusuf said Pakistan’s stance over fake news was vindicated with busting of international Indian network and reiterated that Pakistan would continue bringing forth evidence of what India had been doing in IIOJK.
He said unveiling of dossier over Indian atrocities and gross human rights violations with evidence also meant paying tributes to the struggle of late Kashmiri leader Syed Ali Geelani. APP
