Emergency OIC Contact Group Meeting On Jammu And Kashmir

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir comprising the nations of Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey held an emergency meeting on Monday, June 22, 2020 to discuss the latest situation in the Indian occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir.

In the Communiqué, unanimously adopted, by the Contact Group:

• Reaffirmed its support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination and freedom from Indian occupation;
• Emphasized that the question of Kashmir was of utmost importance for the Muslim Ummah;
• Rejected the newly-notified “Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Order 2020” and “Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020” aimed at changing the demographic structure of IOJ&K; and
• Expressed concern over India’s intensified ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC).
• The Contact Group demanded from India to:
• Rescind its unilateral and illegal actions, and allow the Kashmiri people to freely exercise their right to self-determination through a UN-supervised plebiscite;
• Halt its human rights violations; stop indiscriminate use of force; lift the unabated military siege and inhuman lockdown; repeal its draconian emergency laws; allow exercise of fundamental freedoms; and release all illegal detainees;
• Stop any moves towards changing the demographic structure of IOJ&K, as they are illegal and in violation of international law, particularly the 4th Geneva Convention;
• Provide unhindered access to the OIC, IPHRC and UN Fact Finding Missions, OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, and international media to investigate into human rights violations in IOJ&K; and
• Agree to the call made in the OHCHR’s report to establish a Commission of Inquiry to conduct comprehensive independent international investigations on human rights violations.
•  Requested the Office of UN OHCHR to continue to monitor and report on the situation of human rights in IOJ&K.
• Requested the Humanitarian Department of OIC to examine and analyse the egregious violations of human rights and humanitarian standards in IOJ&K – with particular reference to the COVID-19 pandemic – with a view to evolving ways and means to address its gravity and adverse impact on the lives and livelihoods of Kashmiris.
• Called upon the OIC Member States to raise the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in their bilateral engagements with India with a view to safeguarding the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiri people in the occupied territory, and ensuring expeditious implementation of the relevant UNSC resolutions.
• Requested the OIC Secretary General to highlight the worsening situation in IOJ&K at various international fora including the UN and call for immediate steps for amelioration of humanitarian situation and peaceful resolution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.