ISLAMABAD: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference Azad Jammu and Kashmir (APHC-AJK) chapter has voiced serious concern over the continued imprisonment and mistreatment of Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders and activists held in Indian jails for decades, describing their condition as a violation of international humanitarian standards and human rights conventions.
According to Kashmir Media Service, APHC-AJK Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi said the only “crime” of these leaders is their peaceful demand for the internationally recognized right to self-determination guaranteed by the United Nations.
He recalled that it was India itself that took the Kashmir issue to the UN 77 years ago, promising the international community that the people of Jammu and Kashmir would decide their political future through a free and impartial plebiscite.
Safi also reminded that India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had publicly stated in Srinagar that Indian troops would withdraw once peace was restored and that Kashmiris would be allowed to determine their destiny.
The APHC-AJK Convener said India has reneged on those commitments and continues to punish those who remind it of those broken promises. He noted that most detained Hurriyat leaders are suffering from chronic illnesses and are being denied medical treatment in breach of the UN Human Rights Charter and the Nelson Mandela Rules for the treatment of prisoners.
Safi urged the United Nations, European Union, and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), along with global human rights bodies, to take immediate action for the release of all Kashmiri political prisoners and to pressure India to fulfill its long-standing commitments on the Kashmir dispute.
