People of IIOJK continue to be denied justice: APHC-AJK chapter
Islamabad: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has said that while the World Day for International Justice is being observed across the globe today, the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have remained deprived of justice, freedom and their fundamental human rights for decades.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC-AJK chapter Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi, senior leaders Muhammad Farooq Rehmani, Mehmood Ahmad Saghar, General Secretary Advocate Parvez Ahmad and Information Secretary Imtiaz Wani, in a joint statement issued on the occasion, said the Kashmiri people continue to demand their internationally recognized right to self-determination, but India is suppressing this legitimate demand through state repression, gross human rights violations and draconian laws.
They said the impunity enjoyed by Indian forces under the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has made massacres, fake encounters, custodial killings, arbitrary arrests and raids on homes a routine feature of life in the occupied territory. They added that the Indian government is using the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other investigative agencies as tools of political vendetta to target the Hurriyat leadership, human rights defenders, journalists and ordinary Kashmiris.
The APHC-AJK leaders said that the victims of the at Gaw Kadal, Chhota Bazar, Zakura, Tengpora, Khanyar, Chattisinghpora, Kupwara, Handwara, Sopore, Bijbehara, Kishtwar, Doda and Shopian massacres, the survivors of the Kunan Poshpora mass rape, the victims of the Shopian rape and double murder case, and the brutal rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua, along with victims of numerous other grave crimes, are still awaiting justice. They said no Indian military personnel involved in these crimes have been brought to justice.
They further said that thousands of Kashmiris, including Hurriyat leaders, remain lodged in prisons and detention centres in IIOJK and India under politically motivated charges.
The APHC-AJK chapter leaders urged the United Nations, international human rights organizations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the international community to take effective notice of the ongoing human rights violations in IIOJK, hold the perpetrators accountable and play their role in ensuring the Kashmiri people are granted their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions.
