India's disregard for international law in Jammu and Kashmir underscores the urgent need for global action to safeguard the rights of the Kashmiri people.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir remains an unfinished agenda from the partition of the subcontinent. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the highest diplomatic forum in the world, has passed several resolutions regarding the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir. These UNSC resolutions stand as testimony to the fact that it is an international dispute. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir will be determined in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant Security Council resolutions. The UNSC resolution of April 21, 1948, one of the most significant UN resolutions on the Kashmir dispute, states: “Both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite.” The right to self-determination is the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their political, economic, and cultural destiny. The UNSC resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute are binding on both India and Pakistan.
Since the beginning of the illegal occupation to the present day, Indian military and paramilitary forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have consistently acted in clear violation of the UN Charter, applicable UNSC resolutions, and international human rights law. The Indian government has adopted a policy of using violence as a weapon of war against unarmed civilians, including sexual violence against women and girls in IIOJK, which violates international law and universal norms. The unmarked mass graves, gang rapes, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, illegal detentions, and draconian laws tell the tragic story of the people of IIOJK. These inhumane and illegal actions by India are in direct violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.
For instance, the term "half-widow" is used to describe Kashmiri women in IIOJK whose husbands have disappeared and are still missing, as they have not been officially declared deceased. This term was coined during the decades of conflict in IIOJK when Kashmiri men went missing from the custody of Indian security forces. The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a human rights group in Jammu and Kashmir, claims that there are around 3,844 unmarked graves in IIOJK. The tragic saga of enforced disappearances of thousands of Kashmiri men highlights the crimes against humanity being committed by Indian security forces.

It is important to note that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) published two reports in 2018 and 2019, highlighting India's systematic and blatant human rights abuses in IIOJK.

It is important to note that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) published two reports in 2018 and 2019, highlighting India's systematic and blatant human rights abuses in IIOJK. The UNHCHR reports recommended the establishment of a commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive, independent international investigation into allegations of human rights violations (HRVs) in Kashmir. Recommendations were also made to the authorities in India and Pakistan. The following are the recommendations for the authorities in India:
Fully respect India’s international human rights law obligations in Indian Administered Kashmir;
Urgently repeal the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990; and, in the meantime, immediately remove the requirement for prior central government permission to prosecute security forces personnel accused of HRVs in civilian courts; 
Establish independent, impartial, and credible investigations to probe all civilian killings that have occurred since July 2016, as well as obstruction of medical services during the 2016 unrest, arson attacks against schools, and incidents of excessive use of force by security forces, including serious injuries caused by the use of the pellet-firing shotguns; 
Investigate all deaths that have occurred in the context of security operations in Jammu and Kashmir following the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India; 
Investigate all cases of abuses committed by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir, including the killings of minority Kashmiri Hindus since the late 1980s;
Provide reparations and rehabilitation to all individuals injured and the families of those killed in the context of security operations; 
Investigate and prosecute all cases of sexual violence allegedly perpetrated by state and non-state actors, and provide reparations to victims;
Bring into compliance with international human rights standards all Indian laws and standard operating procedures relating to the use of force by law enforcement and security entities, particularly the use of firearms. Immediately order the end of the use of pellet-firing shotguns in Jammu and Kashmir for crowd control; 
Amend the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978, to ensure its compliance with international human rights law; 
Release or, if appropriate, charge under applicable criminal offenses all those held under administrative detention, and ensure the full respect far the standards of due process and fair trial guaranteed under International Law;
Treat any person below the age of 18 who is arrested in a manner consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
Investigate all blanket bans or restrictions on access to the internet and mobile telephone networks that were imposed in 2016 and ensure that such restrictions are not imposed in the future;
End restrictions on the movement of journalists and arbitrary bans on the publication of newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir;
Ensure independent, impartial, and credible investigations into all unmarked graves in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, as directed by the State Human Rights Commission. If necessary, seek assistance from the Government of India and/or the international community. Expand the competence of the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission to investigate all human rights violations and abuses in the state, including those allegedly committed by central security forces; 
Ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and its Optional Protocol. Introduce enabling domestic laws as recommended during India's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2008, 2012, and 2017; 
In line with its standing invitation to the Special Procedures, accept the invitation requests of the almost 20 mandates that have made such requests. In particular, accept the request of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and facilitate its visit to India, including to Jammu and Kashmir; 
Fully respect the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir as protected under international law.

on August 5, 2019, India repealed Article 370 and revoked the special status of the IIOJK and bifurcated it into two ‘Union Territories’ in an attempt to alter its internationally-recognized disputed status and to undermine the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people.

It is important to note that Pakistan's official stance on the aforementioned report was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) through a press release dated June 14, 2018, which is noteworthy. Therefore, it is reproduced here: 
“Pakistan welcomes the proposal by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish a Commission of Inquiry for international investigation into HRVs in the IIOJK. This proposal is consistent with Pakistan's several calls to this effect since 2016, even as India has continued to ignore legitimate demands for a probe into gross and systematic violations, including pellet guns, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions as well as continued sexual violence as part of overall impunity enjoyed by Indian security forces. The report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHCR) clearly stipulates that its main focus is on the IIOJK. The contents, scale, and the narrative of killings, maiming, abuse and impunity articulated in the report are a reaffirmation of what Pakistan has long highlighted for the international community. References to human rights concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) should in no way be construed to create a false sense of equivalence with the gross and systematic human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). OHCHR's report has rightly called for a final political solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through meaningful dialogue that includes the people of Kashmir. The lasting solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is an essential imperative for peace, security, and stability of South Asia and beyond. India's continued denial of this imperative, its unwillingness to engage in a dialogue process with Pakistan, and suppression of Kashmiri aspirations for freedom continue to endanger regional and international peace and security. The United Nations has a key role to play in the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Within the ambit of peace and security, the UN Security Council remains seized of numerous resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir. The OCHCR report is a reminder of this internationally recognized dispute and the urgency of its settlement both to protect human lives and promote peace”. 
However, on August 5, 2019, India repealed Article 370 and revoked the special status of IIOJK, bifurcating it into two ‘Union Territories’ in an attempt to alter its internationally-recognized disputed status and undermine the right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people. It is essential to state here that the domestic legislation of the Indian Parliament and the so-called verdict of the Indian Supreme Court validating domestic legislation cannot alter the internationally recognized disputed status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir since the UNSC resolutions are valid and hence binding on India and Pakistan. 
However, India is trying its best to manipulate the situation to undermine the UNSC resolutions. Therefore, India has started a process to change the demographic structure and political landscape of IIOJK. The ultimate aim is to transform the Kashmiri people into a minority. It is noteworthy that Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” However, India has issued thousands of new domicile certificates to people to change the demography of the IIOJK, which violates international law. 
Currently, India is using extreme violence to achieve its nefarious objectives. One of the most dangerous weapons employed against protesters is the pellet-firing shotgun, which shoots metal pellets to control crowds. The people of IIOJK have been continuously subjected to the illegal use of force, with complete disregard for international law. As an occupying power, India is employing all forms of inhumane tactics against unarmed civilians, thus acting in blatant violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948. In particular, India is violating Article 3: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person"; Article 5: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment"; Article 9: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile"; and Article 10: "Everyone is entitled, in full equality, to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."
It is essential to note that, in many ways, India has imposed collective punishments on the people of IIOJK, and it is important to highlight that international humanitarian law prohibits such actions, as collective punishment is considered a war crime. In this context, what should be the role of the United Nations? Let us examine the fundamental purpose of the UN. Article 1, paragraphs (1) and (2) of the UN Charter, Chapter I: Purposes and Principles, outline the basic objectives of the UN that are relevant to understanding the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and the violations of the Charter committed by India. The aforementioned paragraphs of Article 1 are reproduced hereunder:
To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.
To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace.
It is noteworthy that, as per Article 2(3) of the Charter, the United Nations and its member states are obligated to work towards fulfilling the purposes outlined in the aforementioned Article 1. All member states must settle their international disputes by peaceful means to ensure that international peace, security, and justice are not endangered.
To begin with, there is an urgent need for accountability regarding the human rights abuses and violations of international law being committed by Indian security forces with impunity. The human rights violations (HRVs) and the lack of access to justice are key challenges in the IIOJK. As a first step, it is imperative to establish a UN commission of inquiry to conduct a comprehensive, independent international investigation into the allegations of HRVs in IIOJK. This will facilitate the prosecution of Indian security forces for crimes against humanity, and India will be held accountable for the daily crimes it is committing.
However, it is crucial to state that the real question will only be resolved when the UNSC resolutions are implemented in letter and spirit. Eventually, the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir will exercise their right to self-determination by participating in a free and fair plebiscite. The plebiscite will only take place if global opinion is mobilized in favor of the Kashmiris, and only then will the UNSC take practical measures to resolve the unfinished agenda of the subcontinent's partition, which remains one of the most prolonged disputes pending before the UNSC. Therefore, there is a need to provide more vigorous and effective political, moral, and diplomatic support to the freedom struggle of the people of IIOJK.

The writer is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, based in Islamabad. He has also taught Constitutional Law at the Secretariat Training Institute, Government of Pakistan.