ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister raised the issue of “human rights violations” in Indian-administered Kashmir at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the human rights ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council started on February 24 and will continue until March 20
Dr. Shireen Mazari also met with the European Union’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, in Geneva on Monday and discussed at length “the abuse of human rights of Muslims in India.”
In a tweet posted on Monday, Mazari said she had shared [Pakistan’s] concerns over what she described as the EU’s “discriminatory approach” to human rights abuses by India in Indian-administered Kashmir and against Muslims in India.
“This discriminatory approach undermines EU’s HR credibility,” Mazari said.
The development follows a visit by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to Pakistan on February 16 during which Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also raised the Kashmir issue.
“Foreign Minister Qureshi conveyed Pakistan’s deep concern over the continuing lockdown and communications blockade in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019,” the Foreign Office said at the time.
Qureshi also urged Guterres to mediate and “enable the Kashmiris to realize their right to self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Charter.”
India flooded the Kashmir valley with troops, restricted movements and cut off communication as Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew special rights for Kashmir in August last year.
Indian-controlled Kashmir lost its right to frame its own laws and non-residents were allowed to buy property there in changes the government said would drive development and pull the region into line with the rest of the nation.
Neighbors India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
