30 years on, Kashmir mass rape survivors still await justice

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Tuesday the horrific incident of a mass rape of Kashmiri women in Kunan and Poshpora villages of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on February 23, 1991 continues to remain a scar on collective memory of the international community.

“Lack of accountability of perpetrators and absence of justice for victims continue to define India’s deliberate disregard for rule of law and human rights,” spokesperson Zahid Hafiz Chaudhri said in a statement.

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He pointed out India has employed rape, torture, degrading treatment and killings of Kashmiri women as instruments of state terrorism in the occupied territory. These state sanctioned heinous crimes have further intensified since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August 2019, he said.

“The incidents of systematic violence and mass rapes in IIOJK have been documented by a number of independent Commissions, human rights organzations, global media and civil society organizations, including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),” the statement read.

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“This day should serve as a solemn reminder to the international community of the need to address the systematic violence against women in IIOJK.”