Up to Human Rights Council to act on recommendation by rights chief on Kashmir: UN SG spokesperson

Members of the UN Human Rights Council will decide on the future course of action on the human rights chief's call for a high-level independent international probe into allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir and PoK, a spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq's remarks came following the launch of the first UN human rights report on Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

India rejected the UN report, terming it as "fallacious, tendentious and motivated and a selective compilation of largely unverified information.

In a strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the report is "overtly prejudiced" and seeks to build a "false narrative".

"This, as you know, is a question for the member States of the Human Rights Council. The High Commissioner, High Commissioner Zeid, has made that proposal to the Human Rights Council. And we will see and evaluate what the response will be," Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General Farhan Haq told reporters here yesterday.

He was responding to a question on whether the Secretary-General supports an independent international probe into the alleged violations in Kashmir and PoK.

When asked again if the Secretary-General supports a probe into the situation in Kashmir, Haq said the UN Chief has long believed that the parties need to resolve the situation in Kashmir on their own.

"We will have to see what the Human Rights Council determines as a result of this report that was carried out by the Human Rights Office.As with all questions regarding mandates by Member States, it's up to Member States to determine the sort of mandates that the United Nations will have.

Haq said while the High Commissioner has called for an independent probe, it is up to the members of the Human Rights Council to see how they will respond to that recommendation.

"What the High Commissioner has done and what the Human Rights Office has done is provide a report with the best information they have available, even though they lacked the sort of access that they needed to either of the areas of Kashmir. At this stage, now that they have the reports in their hands, the Member States of the Human Rights Council can determine whether any other steps are needed," Haq said.