GENEVA/SWITZERLAND, (Unib Rashid) — A high-level delegation representing a coalition of international human rights organizations and civil society groups addressed the 63rd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) during the General Debate under Item 3. The delegation brought urgent international attention to the deteriorating human rights situation and the systemic oppression of the people in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

The delegation comprised prominent advocates and experts, including:

• Advocate Parveez Shah, representing United Villages
• Dr. Raja Sajjad, representing the World Muslim Congress
• Dr. Shugafta Ashraf, representing the Community Advocacy Centre
• Ms. MehruNisa Rehman, representing International Action for Peace and Sustainable Development
• Ms. Maria Iqbal Tarana, representing the Commission on Health and Human Rights Promoters

During their interventions, the delegation presented a comprehensive indictment of the current regime in IOK, highlighting a multifaceted crisis affecting the social, cultural, economic, and political rights of the Kashmiri people.

Kashmir at UNHRC: Delegation Calls for International Probe Into Alleged Human Rights Violations. pic.twitter.com/pemDOrffvj

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The delegation alerted the Council to the severe shrinking of civic space, noting that freedom of opinion and expression have been virtually eliminated. They highlighted the ongoing “digital siege” and the pervasive use of state surveillance to stifle dissent and intimidate activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens.

Critical attention was drawn to the alarming trend of state-sponsored land grabs and deliberate efforts to engineer demographic changes in the region, which threaten the indigenous identity of the population. The delegation further emphasized the systematic attacks on the religious rights of the Muslim majority in IOK, signaling a dangerous escalation in cultural and spiritual erasure.

The representatives provided harrowing evidence of grave human rights abuses, including:

• Systemic Torture and Arbitrary Detentions: The widespread use of illegal arrests to silence political opposition.
• Enforced Disappearances: The ongoing trauma of families searching for loved ones vanished by state forces.
• Gender-Based Violence: The condemnation of rape being used as a calculated “weapon of war” to terrorize communities.
• Erasure of Memory: The banning of books and the manipulation of academic curricula to erase the historical and political consciousness of the youth.

“The international community cannot remain a silent spectator to the systematic dismantling of human dignity in Kashmir,” the delegation stated. “From the digital blackout to the erasure of our history and the violation of our bodies, the regime in IOK is attempting to erase an entire people.”

The delegation called upon the UN Human Rights Council to move beyond rhetoric and take concrete action, urging the appointment of an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate these violations and hold the perpetrators accountable under international law.