Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission has said the state used “disproportionate use of force” against protesters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and raised serious questions about the credibility of the electoral process, which it said was marred by violence and allegations of massive rigging.
In a fact-finding report released on Saturday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the unrest in PoK stemmed from longstanding political and socio-economic grievances, institutional distrust and governance deficits. It said “an increasingly confrontational state response, including the disproportionate use of force has further deepened polarisation and eroded public trust”, and called for an independent and impartial investigation into deaths and serious injuries since June.
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Elections to 45 seats in the so-called PoK legislative assembly were held in three phases from July 27 to August 10. The banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), which had been protesting since June over the contentious 12 refugee seats, has alleged that the establishment manoeuvres these seats to install a prime minister of its choice to lead the so-called government in PoK.
After talks between the government and JAAC failed on May 30, the Kashmir government proscribed the organisation on June 5 under an anti-terrorism law. According to JAAC, more than 40 people were killed during the first phase of polling on July 27. It has also claimed that around 400 protesters have been killed since the first week of June, a claim rejected by the federal government.
The HRCP said it was particularly concerned by allegations of “lethal and excessive” use of force against protesters. It said it received multiple accounts from families alleging that a number of protesters were killed or seriously injured by security forces. It also noted that the Kashmir police chief had reported around 38 security personnel killed since June.
“We could not independently establish the full scale or circumstances of civilian casualties, particularly because the team was unable to access Rawalakot, one of the main centres of violence,” the commission said. It said heavy deployment of security personnel, prolonged communications restrictions, a boycott by major political actors, phased polling and the postponement of seven constituencies had raised wider questions about the credibility of the electoral process.
The report also raised concerns over the use of anti-terrorism and preventive-detention laws against political activists. It called for an independent review of cases against protesters, activists, journalists and political workers, and said cases should be withdrawn where people had been detained or prosecuted solely for peaceful political activity or lawful assembly.
On media restrictions, the HRCP said journalists had faced arrests, legal action, limits on access to affected areas and special security requirements. It said the prolonged communications shutdown had severely constrained independent reporting and verification of deaths, injuries, arrests and alleged electoral irregularities. “The communications shutdown went far beyond political activity, disrupting banking, education, commerce, transport, public administration and healthcare,” it said.
India maintains that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are its integral and inalienable parts, and that Pakistan is in “illegal and forcible occupation” of parts of these territories. On August 4, India described the so-called local body elections in PoK as a “complete farce”. “This so-called local election in PoK is a complete farce. The real happening is that of public protests and wanton killings by Pakistani forces. Such hollow exercises cannot hide reality,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
There are 53 seats in the so-called PoK legislative assembly, of which 45 are directly elected and eight are reserved for women, technocrats and clerics. Polling to seven of the 45 directly elected seats, five in Poonch district and two in Sudhnoti district, could not be held because of the law and order situation. The 38 directly elected members then took part in the election to the eight reserved seats.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz now has 31 of the current 46 seats, while its federal coalition partner, the Pakistan People’s Party, has 14 seats. One winning member of the Awami Dast-o-Bazu Party has also aligned with the PML-N. Barrister Iftikhar Gillani of the PML-N, who lost the Muzaffarabad-III general election to a PPP candidate but was later elected on a technocrat seat, has been elected prime minister of PoK. The PML-N, especially its founding chair Nawaz Sharif, has faced criticism from across the board, including from party members, over the decision to choose a defeated candidate to head the government in PoK.
The HRCP report has placed the focus on allegations of excessive force, restrictions on dissent and journalism, and doubts over the electoral process in PoK, even as the post-poll political outcome has drawn separate criticism.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
