URGENT APPEAL

URGENT APPEAL



KASHMIR: Basic human rights denied; freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly; arbitrary arrest and detention:



Sardar Liaquat Hayat (Central President of Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party) and other political activists were arrested without any judicial warrants in Pakistani Occupied Kashmir, which is serious violation of basic human and political rights.

DETAILS AND FACTS OF THE CASE:

Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP) and Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF) organized protest marches and public meetings all over Pakistani Occupied Kashmir on 19th of July 2009 to condemn the so called resolution of Kashmir’s accession with Pakistan adopted by the ruling party of POK (Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference). Both JKNAP and JKNSF are democratic, secular, progressive and non violent political organizations of the State of Jammu Kashmir, advocating the reunification of all the divided parts of Jammu Kashmir and its complete independence through political and non violent means and institute a system of governance based on secular democracy, equality, rule of law and social justice.

On July 19th 2009, POK Police raided in Rawalakote city and arrested Liaquat Hayat (central president of JKNAP), Wajid Ayyub and Shaihid Sharaf without arrest warrants. The same day ruling party of POK organized a public rally to commend the so called Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan at Rawalakote city, JKNAP and JKNSF took out protest rallies all over POK in favor of a secular, independent and democratic Kashmir. In order to suppress the pro-people, pro-democracy, pro-independence, anti-theocracy and anti-militancy ideology Pakistani secret agencies, civil and military bureaucracy of Islamabad delivered the secret orders to POK administration (in practice headed by two lent officers from Islamabad, the chief secretary and the inspector general of police). POK administration has lodged FIR’s against more than hundred activists of JKNAP and JKNSF and police is creating an atmosphere of harassment for the families and friends of the activists of JKNAP and JKNSF.

In another incident agents of secret services abducted and humiliated four Kashmiri students in Rawalpindi for being the activists of JKNSF and advocating liberation of Kashmir from both Pakistan and India. Leaders of JKNAP and JKNSF have been harassed, tortured and detained in the past as well for demanding basic human rights in the parts of Kashmir under Pakistani occupation.

International Council Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (ICJKNAP) stresses that the use of such violence must come to an end immediately. The people of Kashmir have a legitimate right to protest peacefully. Denying the people of this right is a serious violation of their basic human rights and contravenes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR 1948), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR 1966) as Pakistan is a signatory of both the covenants as a member nation state.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

ICJKNAP urges Amnesty International, United Nations, Human Rights Watch, OMCT, Asian Human rights Commission and other International and regional human rights group to take the above mentioned narration serious and intervene the situation in POK immediately. We demand immediate release of Sardar Liaquat Hayat and other comrades; otherwise we reserve the right to peaceful protest in front of Pakistani embassies and consulates all over the world.



Issued By: International Council Jammu Kashmir National Awami Party (ICJKNAP)