UN Secretary General António Guterres urged India to end the use of pellets against children in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and stop linking children with the security forces in any way in his latest report on “Children and Armed Conflict” presented in the UN Security Council on Monday.
Welcoming the report, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted, “Pakistan appreciates the UNSG efforts to document human rights violations in IOJK and reiterate that indiscriminate targeting of Kashmiris with pellet guns, causing excessive and permanent injuries and even deaths, is a clear violation of human rights and humanitarian law”.
Pakistan welcomes the United Nations Secretary General’s report titled “Children and Armed Conflict”. The Report documents grave concerns of UNSG on the Human Rights Violations of Children in IIOJK. 1/3
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) June 29, 2021
The report revealed that serious violations were committed against 19,300 youngsters, in war zones, such as Afghanistan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo last year.
Pakistan appreciates the UNSG efforts to document human rights violations in IIOJK and reiterate that indiscriminate targeting of Kashmiris with pellet guns, causing excessive and permanent injuries and even deaths, is a clear violation of human rights and humanitarian law. 2/3
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) June 29, 2021
The spokesperson also asked the international community to take cognizance of the plight of oppressed children in IIOJK and urge India to immediately stop its illegal and inhuman policies and practices that are in contravention of its own obligations under the international law.
Read More: PM Modi meets Kashmiri leaders after 22 months of revocation of rights!
Earlier this month, in a bid to draw the the attention of the United Nations to India’s continued military siege of IOK, “which has continued for over 22 months, to suppress the Kashmiris’ legitimate demands through a massive campaign of repression including gross and systematic violations of human rights”, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi wrote a letter to the UNSC president and the United Nations Secretary General.
In his letter, he highlighted “all the unilateral and illegal actions taken by India in occupied Kashmir since 1951, including the measures initiated on and after August 5, 2019, and any additional unilateral changes that India may introduce in the future, are violations of international law including the Security Council Resolutions and the 4th Geneva Convention.”
“India cannot change the disputed status of [occupied Kashmir], as enshrined in the UNSC resolutions, nor can it force Kashmiris and Pakistan to accept illegal outcomes,” the FO had stated.
Qureshi expressed worry over India’s design to undermine the exercise of the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people by changing the demographic structure of IOK through issuance of fake domicile certificates in his letter to UNSC.
Noting that a just settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with relevant UNSC resolutions and the wishes of the Kashmiri people is essential for durable peace and stability in South Asia, the foreign minister emphasized that the onus was on India to create an enabling environment for result-oriented engagement with Pakistan.
Addressing a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that India must reevaluate its unlawful and destabilizing actions in IOK and fully comply with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. Any further steps by India could “imperil regional peace and security”, he said.