United Nations, Highlighting that the issue of missing persons is acute in conflict zones and occupied territories from Palestine to Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan has said that India has used the pretext of the recent terrorist incident to round up more than 2,000 people with a view to further suppress Kashmiris’ struggle for their legitimate right to self-determination.
In a national statement during the Security Council briefing on the implementation of the Resolution 2474, which addresses the critical issue of missing persons in armed conflict, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, threw light on the plight of the missing Kashmiris at the hands of Indian occupation forces.
He said that in IIOJK, unmarked and unknown graves of thousands of victims have surfaced in recent years.
“From the investigations held so far, it has been revealed that these victims are first disappeared by Indian occupation forces and then tortured to death or summarily executed,” he pointed out.
He referred to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, and said that the occupying power (India) continues to be in denial about the thousands of enforced and involuntarily disappeared persons from IIOJ&K and is reluctant to conduct forensic investigations into the 7,000+ unmarked mass graves.
He said that Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in its two reports of 2018 and 2019 on Kashmir, has recommended to “ensure independent, impartial and credible investigations into all unmarked graves” in IIOJK.
Ambassador Asim said that missing persons and enforced disappearances is a grim and undeniable reality of the nearly eight-decade-old Kashmir conflict.
“Missing persons are not just numbers. They are fathers who never returned home, mothers separated from their children, young boys who disappeared in the dead of night, and daughters whose fates are sealed in silence. Their absence is a wound that never heals, leaving families trapped in an endless cycle of hope and despair,” he explained the despair of the affected families.
The Pakistan UN Ambassador said that despite calls for investigations and accountability, the plight of missing persons continues to exacerbate in IIOJK. He said that after India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019, thousands of young boys were abducted and many still missing.
He also mentioned the ongoing tragedy in Gaza, which highlights the devastating impact of armed conflict on missing persons and their families. He said that since October 2023, over 14,000 Palestinians remain unaccounted for, many buried beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, their voices silenced by unrelenting bombardment.
He said that the dire situation demands urgent action to account for every missing person, restore family connections, and uphold the fundamental rights of those lost in the chaos of conflict.
Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad shared Pakistan’s suggestions to deal with the challenge of the missing persons:
• All conflict parties must follow international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and ensure accountability for violations.
• Member states should strengthen collaboration through legal assistance and data sharing to trace missing persons.
• Humanitarian organizations, especially the ICRC, must have unrestricted access to conflict zones to assist and support missing persons and their families.
• The issue of missing persons is a symptom of unresolved conflicts, which need to be addressed.
• Emphasis on conflict prevention and dispute resolution as key to resolving the crisis of missing persons
While underscoring the human dimension of the issue of missing persons, Ambassador Asim identified the need for collective action to uphold the dignity and rights of all those affected by conflict and ensure that the missing persons are not forgotten.
He said that strengthened international cooperation, effective implementation of international legal obligations, and greater humanitarian engagement are key to effectively addressing this pressing humanitarian issue.
