Political activists at UN raise worsening human rights situation in PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan

Mar 06, 2020

Geneva (Switzerland), Mar 06 (ANI): Political activists from Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) have raised the worsening human rights situation in the region during the 43rd session of Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday. Senge H. Sering, President of Gilgit Baltistan Studies said, "The people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan continue to face torture, sedition and terrorism charges and life-imprisonment for opposing onslaught on their resources and cultural identity. Locals are losing battle against worst demographic engineering due to China Pakistan Economic Corridor that encourages illegal settlements of Pakistanis and Chinese". He added, "China-led ecocide is enabling fast depletion of flora and fauna with impending environmental catastrophe. Further, permanent resource-use ban on locals is enabling Chinese companies enjoy an advantage to exploit indigenous mineral wealth". Muhammad Sajjad Raja, President of Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (UK) told the Council that his NGO is concerned with the fact that the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan experience gross violation of their basic human rights as guaranteed by article 20 of the Declaration of Human Rights and as reinforced by Article 21 of ICCPR. He said, "In Pakistani occupied areas people continue being subjected to arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions and enforced disappearances by authorities". "In Kashmir Valley, any Human Rights violations were unheard of before 1990 until Pakistan started sending in her armed militants who plunged Kashmir into a living hell and any human rights violations there stem from Pakistani infiltration," said Sajjad Raja.