UN calls for int'l probe into Kashmir abuses
The UN human rights chief yesterday called for a major investigation into abuses in Kashmir, as his office released its first-ever report on violations committed by both India and Pakistan in the disputed territory.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said he would urge the Human Rights Council, which opens a new session next week, "to consider establishing a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to conduct a comprehensive independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir."
A COI is one of the UN's highest-level probes, generally reserved for major crises like the Syrian conflict.
The UN report, which is particularly critical of India, highlights "chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces".
India's foreign ministry rejected the report, blasting it as "fallacious" and "tendentious".
However Islamabad welcomed Zeid's request for a probe, saying in a statement that it was "consistent with Pakistan's several calls to this effect since 2016".
The findings, described as the first-of-its-kind for Kashmir, come after months of deadly clashes along the border that divides Kashmir into zones of Indian and Pakistani control.
Zeid said he met with representatives of both governments following an upsurge of violence in July 2016, triggered by India's killing of 22-year-rebel commander Burhan Wani.
Concerned by what the UN termed "large and unprecedented" protests after Wani's death, Zeid asked for "unconditional access" to Kashmir, but neither government agreed.
His office then began remote monitoring of the region, producing a report covering alleged abuses between January 2016 and April of this year.
The findings accused Indian troops of being responsible for some 145 unlawful killings, far surpassing the 20 people estimated to have been killed by militant groups during that period.
Zeid said India needed "to take immediate and effective steps to avoid a repetition of the numerous examples of excessive use of force by security forces in Kashmir".
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