Pakistan demanded that India should reverse illegal steps taken since 5 August 2019 in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and cease demographic engineering. Indian human rights record has come under scrutiny during the ongoing 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic review (UPR) in the Human Rights Council in Geneva. India’s track record on human rights violations in Kashmir and treatment of minorities Under the BJP regime were primary focus on most of the observations. Pakistan called on India to demonstrate its commitment international law by complying with Article 25 of UN Charter and implementing UNSC resolutions on Jammu & Kashmir.
UPR is a peer review process where states offer recommendations to the country under review to improve its human rights record. Pakistan urged India to accept recommendations made in the OHCHR’s Kashmir reports and allow the office and independent observers’ access to the occupied territory. Pakistan echoed concerns of international community on Kashmir and asked India to end all human rights violations and release Kashmiri political prisoners, journalists and human rights defenders. Pakistan also asked India to repeal all laws being used to discriminate against Kashmiris and minorities. UN report for UPR of India mentioned that the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict had expressed concern that a growing concern was the detention of children by Indian security forces in Jammu and Kashmir for alleged association with armed groups or on national security grounds, as well as the use of torture against children.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that Indian security forces were shielded from accountability by Indian laws and recommended that the Government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act and the National Security Act. HRW stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act, had heightened fears that millions of Indian Muslims could be stripped of their citizenship rights and disenfranchised/
World Organization against Torture stated that the reporting period had been marked by disproportionate use of force by law enforcement agencies. Prosecution of police officers for human rights violations amounting to criminal offences had rarely materialized. Custodial torture and violence remained an entrenched and routine law-enforcement strategy across India.
