Human rights allegations in Pakistan-occupied territories

During the 63rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, activists raised allegations regarding human rights violations in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB).

Tasleema Akhter reported instances of extrajudicial killings, the detention of journalists and social activists, and total internet shutdowns used to suppress reporting on unrest linked to high electricity tariffs and food inflation. She called for independent inquiries into civilian deaths and the restoration of internet services.

Javed Ahmad Beigh further alleged that authorities are misusing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 to suppress dissent. He specifically highlighted the reported incarceration of Awami Action Committee Chairman Ehsan Ali and others on what he described as “false and fraudulent” charges of inciting violence. Beigh urged the UNHRC to address the frequent illegal incarceration of activists in the region.

Expanding on these calls for international scrutiny, Sardar Nasir Aziz Khan, spokesperson for the United Kashmir People's National Party, urged the council to probe extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detentions. He 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.

Beigh also requested fact-finding missions to both PoJK and PoGB, stating that enforced disappearances have created an atmosphere of fear. He specifically called for investigations into the ‘Rawalakot massacre,’ claiming that many innocent people were killed and their remains were not returned to their families.