The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The people of Indian-Administered Kashmir continue to be deprived of numerous basic freedoms, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Tuesday, before urging the Indian authorities “to unlock the situation”.
The appeal over the territory – which both India and Pakistan claim as sovereign - follows months of escalating tensions linked to earlier suicide attacks and the Indian Government’s decision in August to revoke Kashmir’s special status allowing it partial autonomy.
At the time of the Indian Government decision, five UN-appointed independent rights experts warned that it had led to tighter central Government control, restrictions on peaceful protests and a communications blackout.
In Geneva on Tuesday, spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Rupert Colville acknowledged that an “undeclared curfew” had been lifted from much of Jammu and Ladakh regions within a few days.
But he noted that it was reportedly still in place “in large parts of the Kashmir Valley, preventing the free movement of people, as well as hampering their ability to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and restricting their rights to health, education and freedom of religion and belief.”
Highlighting “several allegations of excessive use of force” against protesters that involved the use of “pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas and rubber bullets”, Mr. Colville said that there had also been unconfirmed reports of “at least six civilian killings and scores of serious injuries” in separate incidents since the Indian Government declaration on 5 August.
The Office of the High Commissioner had also received reports that armed groups in Indian-administered Kashmir have threatened residents trying to work or go to school, the OHCHR spokesperson said.
In addition, “at least another six people have been killed and over a dozen injured in alleged attacks by armed group members since 5 August”.
And although restrictions on landline telephones were eventually lifted, and a state-run telecom company allowed to resume partial mobile phone services, all internet services remain blocked in the Kashmir Valley, Mr. Colville insisted.
In line with the Indian Government’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s partial self-rule, two separate federally-administered Union Territories are to be created this Thursday, the OHCHR spokesperson explained, adding that “hundreds of political and civil society leaders” had been detained “on a preventative basis”.
While some political workers have reportedly been released, most senior leaders – especially those from the Kashmir Valley – remain in detention, he said.
- Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Geneva, flag alley.
- Medium shot, journalists and podium with Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Rhéal Leblanc, Chief, Press and External Relations, United Nations Information Service Geneva.
- Close-up, journalist looking down.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The undeclared curfew imposed by the authorities in the region was lifted from much of Jammu and Ladakh regions within a few days, but is reportedly still in place in large parts of the Kashmir Valley, preventing the free movement of people, as well as hampering their ability to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and restricting their rights to health, education and freedom of religion and belief.”
- Medium shot, journalists typing on laptops, profile.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “There have been several allegations of excessive use of force including the use of pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas and rubber bullets by security forces during sporadic protests, with unconfirmed reports of at least six civilian killings and scores of serious injuries in separate incidents since 5 August.”
- Medium shot, two journalists writing on laptops, both wearing mini headphones, one looking up.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “At least another six people have been killed and over a dozen injured in alleged attacks by armed group members since 5 August.”
- Close-up, journalists’ hands typing on laptops, profile.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “While restrictions on landline telephones were eventually lifted, and a state-run telecom company allowed to resume partial mobile phone services, all internet services remain blocked in the Kashmir Valley.”
- Medium shot, podium, Room III.
- Medium shot, journalist listening with hands clasped, Room III.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence & Ajith Sunghay, Head of UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, on Gaza
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Sudan’s displaced have endured “unimaginable suffering” in their search for shelter from the country’s ongoing war, UN humanitarians warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘Exceptional achievement’: Humanitarians reach over 105,000 with polio vaccine in north Gaza
Despite ongoing attacks and access challenges, humanitarians have managed to inoculate over 105,000 children in north Gaza with the second and final dose of the oral polio vaccine, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.