Activists urge UNHRC to investigate human rights abuses in PoJK and PoGB

During the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, activists and representatives called for independent investigations into alleged human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).

Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, spokesperson for the United Kashmir People's National Party, urged the UNHRC to probe extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on fundamental freedoms. He specifically highlighted a crackdown on the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) and cited the deaths of several civilians, including Fahad Barkat, alleging that authorities have withheld some bodies from their families.

Human rights defender Javed Beigh also addressed the council, requesting fact-finding missions to both PoJK and PoGB. Beigh alleged that activists, journalists, and political workers face significant restrictions and that enforced disappearances have created an atmosphere of fear. He specifically called for international scrutiny regarding the ‘Rawalakot massacre,’ claiming that many innocent people were killed and their remains were not returned to their families.