AJK president urges UNSC, UNHRC, ICRC to help stop killings of civilians in IIOJK

AJK president urges UNSC, UNHRC, ICRC to help stop killings of civilians in IIOJK

MUZAFFARABAD (Dunya News) - Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan Thursday called upon the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help stop killing of defenseless civilians in the name of terrorism in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Condemning the recent incidents of extrajudicial killings of Kashmiri youth in Kulgam, Pulwama, Bandipora, and other areas of IIOJK by the Indian occupation forces, the President said the killing of youth by the Indian army in fake encounters across the occupied territory was a matter of great concern to us, a AJK President Office statement said.

“Thousands of people in IIOJK have been killed by Indian forces in custody, extrajudicial executions, and enforced disappearances and these human rights violations are committed with absolute impunity,” the AJK president said.

He said there were instances where Indian soldiers had used their own agents to stage an attack on a military installation or army patrolling party to justify a false flag operation to target the Kashmiri youth.

He said 900,000 Indian troops had besieged the defenseless Kashmiris for the last two years in general and last thirty years in particular and they had let loose the worst oppression against them.

The entire disputed state of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir had been turned into an open prison by the Indian occupying forces, he said adding the youth in IIOJK were being killed, maimed, injured, and blinded every day for demanding freedom and right to self-determination.

“We demand to the international community, especially the United Nations, to act now to save Kashmiris from the scourge of annihilation. Stop sitting on the fence. Stop appeasing India. When the evil deed is done, wringing hands in contrition would be too little, too late,” the president said.

He said the international human rights organizations like Amnesty International, ICRC, and other organizations should take notice of this situation because the Indian Army enjoyed unchecked powers under black laws to lay sieges, carryout extrajudicial killings, abduct youths from their homes and make them disappeared.

“We call upon the United Nations and world human rights bodies to put pressure on the Indian government for the release of all the detained Kashmiris besides ensuring the protection of their basic human rights, civil liberties, freedom of movement, and protection from illegal torture,” he asserted.