IPHRC delegation arrives in Pakistan, meets Sartaj Aziz

ISLAMABAD: A high-ranking delegation of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of OIC arrived in Pakistan and will visit Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) from 27 to 29 March 2017.

The 8-member delegation belonging to eight different OIC countries is being led by Mr. Med. S. Kaggwa, Chairperson of IPHRC.

The delegation will visit AJK to gain firsthand understanding of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute and will also visit refugee camps of refugees from the Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir. IPHRC requested the Indian authorities for access to IoK to assess the human rights situation there.

However, India has not responded to the IPHRC request to date. Last year, in the wake of Indian brutalities since July 2016, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights offered to send a fact-finding mission to IOK.

He requested ‘full and unhindered access to the affected population, to interview a variety of individuals on the ground, including victims, witnesses, security forces and with access to relevant documentation’ to ascertain the situation that has been worsening since July 2016.

This request was also denied by India. The IPHRC has a Standing Mechanism to monitor the human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir. Like all other international human rights bodies India continues to deny IPHRC access to IoK.

The visit is a manifestation of Pakistan’s commitment to unflinching political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of the Kashmiri people and the realization of the right to self determination promised to them under the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.