The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Contact Group
on Jammu and Kashmir issued a Declaration to reaffirm that any
political process / elections held under foreign [Indian] occupation
cannot substitute the exercise of the right to selfdetermination
by the people of Kashmir as is provided in the relevant UN Security
Council resolutions. The declaration was issued in a meeting held
at Palais des Nations, Geneva, April 15th, 1996.
The meeting of the Contact Group was chaired by El-Haj Mamadou
Saliou Sylla, Secretary General of the National Islamic League
of Guinea, and was attended by the Ambassadors of Morocco, Pakistan,
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the DirectorGeneral of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Niger, Mr. Dambina Bawa. The Secretary General
of the OIC, Mr. Hamid AlGabid, also attended the meeting
of the Contact Group.
The OIC Contact Group condemned "the coercive measures taken
to force the Kashmiri people to accept an election process which
is in contravention of the UN Security Council resolutions."
The Contact Group reaffirmed and endorsed the position of the
OIC. The OIC had declared its support for the struggle of selfdetermination
of the Kashmiri people ( in accordance with the UN Security Council
resolutions), and for safeguarding their fundamental human rights
on the basis of internationally recognised principles. The OIC
had called upon its Member States to persuade India to end the
grave human rights violations being perpetrated against the people
of Kashmir.
The Contact Group discussed the proposal for a ministerial meeting
of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir in the near future
to review the deteriorating situation there and requested the
OIC Secretary General to conduct consultations for this purpose.
A joint delegation of Kashmiris from both sides of the ceasefire
line led by the All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) representatives,
Mr. Mumtaz Ahmad Wani and Atique Ahmed Khan addressed the Contact
Group. At the end of their presentations, Mr. Wani, on behalf
of the Kashmiri people, presented a Memorandum on "Jammu
and Kashmir Dispute" to the Contact Group.
Mr. Wani told the Contact Group that India cannot crush the right to selfdetermination of the people of Kashmir through repression. Enumerating the most gruesome violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir, such as the custodial murder of Jalil Andrabi, he told the Group how the Indian forces had committed the crime of systematic rape of Kashmiri women in a pursuance of their policy of repression. Intimidated and traumatised by the widely reported rapes by the Indian forces, Kashmiri girls and women now sprinkled kerosene oil over their bodies for selfimmolation whenever a cordonandsearch operation was conducted. He repeated an incident of a 16-year-old girl who had been stripped naked and raped by the Indian army personnel in front of her parents.
The APHC representative said that Kashmiris were being punished
for the "crime of demanding their right to selfdetermination
granted to them by the UN Security Council, and recognised by
India and Pakistan." He said that the Kashmiris had been
left with no option but to continue their struggle despite India's
unabated suppression and killings.
Mr. Khan highlighted the serious humanitarian problems that the
people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir had been facing as a direct consequence
of the ever escalating repression by the Indian authorities in
Jammu and Kashmir. Millions of people had been displaced and do
not have a remote chance of returning safely to Kashmir.
The APHC representatives, while commending the efforts made by
the OIC in support of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, appealed
to the OIC to step-up its efforts to prevent further human rights
violations in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Permanent Representative of Morocco, H.E. Mr. Nacer BenjellounTouimi,
conveyed his appreciation to the Kashmiri delegation for giving
a first hand account of the situation. He said that Morocco fully
supported the right to selfdetermination of the people of
Jammu and Kashmir and endorsed Pakistan's efforts aimed at a peaceful
solution of the dispute. Morocco, he said, in its capacity as
Chair of the OIC, would spare no efforts to find a solution to
the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the principles defined
by the OIC. "No effort, no effort, should be spared to end
this tragedy," he emphasised.
The Ambassador of Turkey, H.E. Mr. Tugay Ulucevik, condemned the
indiscriminate killings of Kashmiris and the custodial murders
of human rights activists in the Indian occupied Kashmir. He said
that massive violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir could
not be condoned under any circumstances. He said that the recent
developments had exacerbated the existing fragile situation. Turkey,
he said, supported the principled position taken by the Government
of Pakistan to find a peaceful solution of the Jammu and Kashmir
dispute. He expressed full solidarity with the brotherly people
of Jammu and Kashmir and reaffirmed Turkey's support for a just
and lasting solution on the basis of international legitimacy.
The Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, H.E. Mr. Khaled Nasser AlTorki,
on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, condemned
the violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir and reaffirmed
his Government's support to the people of Kashmir in their effort
to realise their right to selfdetermination. The Saudi Ambassador
said that the right to selfdetermination was a fundamental
right of each individual, he called for the holding of a ministerial
meeting in the near future in view of the deteriorating situation
in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Representative of Niger, Mr. Dambina Bawa, DirectorGeneral
of Niger's Foreign Ministry, supported the right to selfdetermination
of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and expressed concern over
Indian military provocations. He urged the Contact Group to adopt
a strong declaration to condemn the fake elections being imposed
on the people of Kashmir. Niger, he said, will spare no effort
to find a peaceful solution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Mr. Munir Akram, the Permanent Representative of Pakistan welcomed
the APHC representatives from both sides of the ceasefire
line, whom, he said, had given an authentic account of the situation.
Nothing could attenuate their sufferings unless concrete steps
were taken to stop massive violations of human rights of the Kashmir
people over the last six and a half years. He said that Pakistan
had always supported the right of selfdetermination of all
people. That is why the OIC was so ardently advocating the right
to selfdetermination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
He appealed to the OIC and to the international community to oppose
the use of force and fraud against the people of Kashmir, express
outrage at the grave situation in the territory and initiate timely
action.
El Haj Mamadou Saliou Sylla, Secretary General of the National
Islamic League of Guinea and Chairman of the OIC Contact Group
on Jammu and Kashmir, said that the OIC should make all efforts
to find a just solution for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in
accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and in pursuance
of the resolutions adopted by the OIC.