NEW YORK: Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Munir Akram has written a letter to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, calling for an immediate halt to the illegal incarceration of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) leader Mr. Mohammad Yasin Malik and his release from prison.
The letter was addressed to Antonio Guterres in a continued effort to draw the attention of the United Nations regarding the brutalities of the Indian government since 2016 when a current wave of protests against the Indian military presence first started in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
“The persecution of political leaders resisting Indian occupation under its draconian emergency powers, laws and mechanisms without due process and safeguards are gross violations of their fundamental human rights” Ambassador Munir Akram expressed his concern in the letter.
The letter also mentioned the calls from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, various Special Rapporteurs and prominent non-governmental organizations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, on Indian authorities to repeal those draconian laws which are used by security forces to incarcerate political leaders.
“The Indian authorities have made a mockery of the basic principles of the rule of law and undermined their rights of fair trial and due process”, the ambassador noted.
The letter enclosed a personal message of Ms. Mushaal Malik, wife of Mr. Yasin Malik, who has been charged on counts of terrorism under the notorious Public Safety Act (PSA).
“Mr. Yasin Malik is in poor health. According to his spouse, the continued physical and mental torture has left him in a very “fragile” state” the ambassador wrote.
Ms. Mushaal Malik had demanded the world in her video message to declare her husband a “Prisoner of Conscience” and a “Protected Personality” in order to save him.
A resolution no 479, was also enclosed with the letter that was adopted by the Senate of Pakistan on the cases of Mr. Yasin Malik and all other political prisoners in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir which urges the government of Pakistan to seek their swift release from India’s illegal imprisonment with the assistance of the United Nations.
Earlier, on January 1, 2021, Pakistan had urged the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to prevent the “judicial murder” of a Kashmiri leader and human rights activist Ms. Aasiya Andrabi and to persuade India to drop all “fabricated charges” against her. Ms. Andrabi, who is the founding leader of “Dukhtaran-i-Millat”, a prominent women rights organization in IIOJK, has been under Indian custody on specious charges since 2016. She is currently languishing in New Delhi’s Tihar jail.
According to Reuters, India’s government has detained at least 75 Kashmiri political leaders and activists to forestall political unrest after an alliance of Kashmir’s regional political parties won local elections in IIOJK.
