The United Nations’ human rights chief is appealing to India and Pakistan to grant his office access to Kashmir amid “grave concerns” over alleged rights violations.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein said Wednesday he has been working to get observers to the parts of the disputed Himalayan region the two countries control since violence flared last month.
The UN official expressed “deep regret” at the failure of both the Indian and Pakistani authorities to grant access to the separate parts of Kashmir that each run to investigate allegations of serious human rights violations.
Zeid called it “unfortunate” access hasn’t been granted yet considering “the seriousness of the allegations of the use of excessive force, allegations of state sponsorship of violence, as well as the number of people killed and the very large number of people injured.”
The human rights office wants observers on the ground in Kashmir to interview victims, witnesses and security forces and to independently assess the situation.
Al-Hussein said in a statement issued in Geneva it was unfortunate that sincere attempts by the UN to independently assess the facts in relation to reports of human rights violations had failed.
“Without access, we can only fear the worst,” said Zeid.
The nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars since independence in 1947, both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part.
In the latest violence on Wednesday, militants killed three members of the Indian security forces when they ambushed an army convoy and then fired on a police jeep that came to the scene.
In a worrying escalation the previous day, Indian security forces fired live rounds at a crowd of stone-throwing protesters in Kashmir’s Baramulla district, killing five and wounding 10.
Earlier, police and troops trying to control crowds had resorted to the use of shotguns, whose pellets are meant to incapacitate but not kill.
But residents of Kashmir say the shotguns have inflicted severe injuries and even blinded hundreds of people including bystanders.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ratcheted up tensions in his annual Independence Day speech on Monday, accusing Pakistan of glorifying terrorism.
In a tit-for-tat escalation in the war of words between the nuclear-armed neighbors, Modi said he had received messages of support from leaders in restive regions of Pakistan, in particular the troubled southwestern province of Baluchistan.
India accuses Muslim Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri fighters while Pakistan accuses India of meddling in Pakistani trouble spots, in particular of helping separatists fighting the Pakistani state in resource-rich Baluchistan.
Both sides deny the accusations.