Pakistan Voice 🇵🇰

International Human Rights Foundation (IHRF) Urgent Statement on Pakistan-Administered Kashmir For Immediate Release The International Human Rights Foundation (IHRF) condemns in the strongest terms the Pakistani authorities' violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, which has resulted in over 32 civilian deaths, including at least one woman, between June 8 and 16, 2026 . Escalation and Repression The crisis was precipitated when authorities designated the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC)—a civil society movement advocating for political and economic rights—as a "proscribed organisation" under anti-terrorism laws on June 5 . This was followed by: · Complete suspension of internet and mobile networks across the region · Deployment of federal paramilitary troops · Mass arbitrary arrests of over 100 activists and leaders · Travel restrictions barring outsiders from entering the region · Arrest of journalist Sohrab Barkat under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act The IHRF has documented a recurring pattern of deadly crackdowns on JKJAAC protests, including violence in May 2024 and October 2025 that claimed multiple lives . A Pattern of Systemic Violations This crackdown is not an isolated incident but reflects systemic human rights violations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Despite nominal autonomy, residents are denied meaningful political representation—excluded from Pakistan's National Assembly—and political dissent is routinely suppressed through arbitrary detention, harassment, and violence . The denial of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, assembly, and association, violates Articles 19, 21, and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Pakistan is a signatory . Demands The IHRF urgently calls upon: 1. The Government of Pakistan and AJK Administration to immediately halt all use of deadly force against peaceful protesters, lift the internet shutdown, release all individuals arbitrarily detained, and lift the unlawful ban on JKJAAC 2. An Independent and Impartial Investigation into all civilian deaths, with full access for international observers, and ensure accountability for those responsible for unlawful use of force, including the alleged extrajudicial killing of activist Shahzeb Habib 3. Restoration of Communications and immediate reinstatement of internet and mobile services across the region 4. The International Community to pressure Pakistan to uphold its international human rights obligations and ensure protection of fundamental freedoms for all people in the territory it administers The 2026 Regional Elections Context Holding regional elections on July 27, 2026, while the territory's leading civil movement is outlawed, its leaders jailed, and communications blacked out, would be incompatible with Pakistan's international human rights obligations . The IHRF calls on authorities to facilitate peaceful assemblies ahead of the announced elections . "Branding a civil society body as 'terrorist' on vague grounds, while simultaneously sealing the region from outside scrutiny, constitutes a disproportionate and unlawful violation of the right to freedom of association" . -END- --- The International Human Rights Foundation (IHRF) is a non-governmental organization in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide.