UN rights chief voices concern over situation in Kashmir
Turk urges nations to defend peoples’ freedoms
United Nations: UN human rights chief Volker Turk has voiced concern over the situation in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir as he called on the international community to intensify efforts to defend fundamental freedoms and the institutions founded to promote them.
According to Kashmir Media Service, addressing the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Turk said, “I am concerned by the use of restrictive laws and harassment against human rights defenders and independent journalists resulting in arbitrary detention and a diminished civic space, including in Kashmir”. India’s Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi was upset by the Turk’s remarks about Kashmir.
Turk also called for stepped-up efforts to address violence and displacement in the Indian state of Manipur, based on dialogue, peacebuilding and human rights.
Presenting his global update covering more than 30 countries including India, the High Commissioner noted that there were some 20 conflicts including Kashmir described as “outrageous” the fact that legal safeguards for non-combatants were being repeatedly ignored around the world.
“Civilians are deliberately attacked. Sexual violence and famine are used as weapons of war,” Turk said. “Humanitarian access is denied, while weapons flow across borders and circumvent international sanctions. And humanitarian workers are targeted.”
In 2024, he added, a record 356 humanitarian workers were killed while providing aid to people in some of the world’s most appalling crises.”
“Our world is going through a period of turbulence and unpredictability, reflected in growing conflict and divided societies,” the High Commissioner said.
“We cannot allow the fundamental global consensus around international norms and institutions, built painstakingly over decades, to crumble before our eyes.”
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN rights chief emphasized that the fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza “and becomes the basis for peace”.
