Pakistan flags Kashmir, Palestine at UN crimes against humanity treaty preparatory panel

• Islamabad’s envoy Zulfiqar Ali urges end to impunity for atrocity crimes, citing abuses in occupied Kashmir, Palestine
• Calls accountability key to victims’ dignity as treaty on Crimes Against Humanity under UN drafting
• Rejects India’s Kashmir claim as untenable, reaffirming UN-mandated right to self-determination

UNITED NATIONS: As UN member states move toward drafting an international treaty to prevent and punish Crimes against Humanity, Pakistan on Tuesday drew global attention to what it described as grave criminal offenses being committed against innocent civilians in Indian-illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) and occupied Palestinian territories.

Speaking at a meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the UN Conference on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity, Pakistani delegate Zulfiqar Ali said such crimes represented some of the most serious violations under international law.

“Crimes against Humanity are one of the gravest offenses,” he told the meeting. “No act is more sacrilegious than committing criminal offenses against innocent people.”

“It is with great sadness and indignation that we see these crimes committed against innocent people in different parts of the world, including in the Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Occupied Palestinian Territories,” said Ali, a First Secretary at Pakistan’s Mission to the United Nations.

“Instead of addressing historic injustices meted out to oppressed peoples, their dreams and hopes for a dignified future are trampled by brute force and violence,” he added.

Ali said Pakistan unequivocally condemned such crimes and strongly supported calls for ending impunity. “Indeed, it is only by holding perpetrators accountable that we can take a meaningful and concrete step toward restoring the honour and dignity of victims,” he stressed.

Referring to the International Law Commission’s draft articles for the proposed treaty, he described them as a “useful starting point” but emphasized that provisions on prevention and punishment—particularly for crimes such as enslavement, torture and enforced disappearance—must be fully aligned with relevant UN conventions.

Pakistan, he added, hoped the Preparatory Committee would be able to harmonize differing perspectives to ensure the future convention was widely embraced by the international community, including states that are not parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The Pakistani delegate’s remarks on the situation in Indian-occupied Kashmir prompted a response from an Indian representative.

Luther Rangerji, Legal Adviser at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, claimed Pakistan had no locus standi on Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that the region was part of India. He also alleged that Pakistan raised the Kashmir issue to divert attention from its treatment of minorities.

Responding sharply, Zulfiqar Ali rejected the claims, saying India had violated Pakistan’s sovereignty by targeting civilians, including children blinded by pellet guns. He said New Delhi continued to defy UN Security Council resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir and violated the Indus Waters Treaty.

“The world needs no lectures on crimes against humanity from a country that is a serial violator of international law and the UN Charter, and a perpetrator of atrocity crimes—in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, against minorities in India, and against civilians it targets through the sponsorship of cross-border terrorist attacks,” he said.

Ali further accused India of colluding with terrorist organizations to destabilize neighbouring countries and of running international assassination campaigns against political dissidents with impunity.

“Due to an unholy nexus between extremist Hindutva ideology and the ruling elite, Indian minorities, particularly Muslims, are facing an imminent threat of ghettoization,” he added.

Rejecting India’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India, the Pakistani delegate said the territory remained disputed under UN Security Council resolutions, pending a final settlement.

“The right of self-determination is the birthright of the Kashmiri people under the UN Charter—a right India solemnly promised but continues to deny in flagrant violation of UNSC resolutions,” he said.

Pakistan, he added, would continue to extend political and moral support to the Kashmiri people’s freedom struggle and to call for a UN-supervised plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir.