Human Rights

Indian Army Chief says UNHRC report on Kashmir ‘motivated, not a matter of concern’

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Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat has said that that the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) report on Kashmir is not a matter of concern as ‘some of these reports are motivated.’

“I don’t think we should get too concerned with these reports. Some of these reports [by human rights organisation] are motivated,” General Rawat told reporters on Wednesday.

On the Army’s human rights record, General Rawat said: “I don’t think we need to speak about the human rights record of the Indian Army. It is well known to the people of Kashmir and the international community.”

ALSO READ: United Nations is biased, hasn’t done homework, says BJP on Kashmir human rights report

The 49-page report, released on June 14, alleged “widespread” human rights violations in Kashmir and claimed “excessive use of force by Indian security forces” led to “numerous civilian casualties”.

The report states that there is an urgent need to address past and ongoing human rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives.

The report which focuses on human rights situation in Indian-Administered and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir – details human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlights a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by forces.

“The political dimensions of the dispute between India and Pakistan have long been centre-stage, but this is not a conflict frozen in time. It is a conflict that has robbed millions of their basic human rights, and continues to this day to inflict untold suffering,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein.

India has lodged a strong protest with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) over the report.

In a communication sent to the OHCHR on June 12, New Delhi had said the world body has departed from internationally accepted terminology in the report.

India pointed out that the OHCHR in its 49-page report described the United Nations-proscribed terrorist organisations like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) as ‘armed group’ 38 times and PoK as ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ 26 times.

Besides, it said that the OHCHR nowhere mentioned ‘cross-border terrorism’ rather used ‘cross-border shelling’ twice.

With the title ‘Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, India says the UN has indicated its support for the Pakistani side.

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