Raids on human rights defenders in Indian-administered Kashmir show continued restrictions on civil society, which impair the public\u2019s rights to impart and receive information and debate the government\u00a0policies\u00a0affecting them, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bachelet said restrictions on communications and the clampdown on civil society activists in Kashmir \u201cremain of concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDespite the recent restoration of 4G access to mobile phones, the communications blockade has seriously hampered civic participation, as well as business, livelihoods, education, and access to health-care and medical information,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High-speed internet was restored on Feb. 6 after a shutdown since Aug. 4, 2019, when India imposed a military and communications clampdown, besides arresting thousands of pro-freedom activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last October, India\u2019s National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided the offices of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society and the home of Khurram Parvez, its coordinator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The NIA also raided the office of the Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons, which seeks the whereabouts of thousands of Kashmiris allegedly subjected to forced custodial disappearance by Indian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global human rights groups have expressed concern over these raids. In a statement last October, Amnesty International said these raids were \u201can alarming reminder that India\u2019s government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in Jammu and Kashmir.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last Thursday, seven UN rapporteurs said in a statement that India\u2019s decision to strip Kashmir\u2019s autonomous status in 2019 and the introduction of new residency laws \u201ccould curtail the previous level of political participation of Muslims and other minorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Friday, Shehryar Khan Afridi, the head of the Pakistani Parliament\u2019s Committee on Kashmir, asked the UN secretary-general to act on a report of UN rapporteurs and \u201cimpose sanctions on India for its demographic terrorism\u201d in Jammu and Kashmir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking at a seminar at Nishtar Medical University in Multan, Pakistan, Afridi said top rights groups have also asked India to \u201cimmediately halt its suppression of Kashmiri voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n