Azhar Mushtaq

🇵🇰 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧: 𝐄𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 For nearly five months, members of the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC) have held protest sit-ins in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The JKJAAC is a grassroots movement advocating for the economic and political rights of the region's people. Its demands include electoral reforms that would give the region's residents a greater say in how they are governed. First Pakistan Global (FPG) calls on Pakistani authorities to end their deadly crackdown immediately. On June 5, after talks with the government broke down, the JKJAAC called a region-wide strike. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets. As a result, the regional government declared the movement a "proscribed organization" under the region's anti-terrorism law and shut down internet and mobile networks. Amnesty International called the ban "disproportionate, unlawful and a violation of the right to freedom of association." In September, six UN human rights experts, including the UN Special Rapporteur on counter-terrorism, wrote to the Government of Pakistan that no explanation had been given of how the allegations against the JKJAAC "satisfy the criteria for designation," and that the grounds for the ban "do not meet international standards." The experts also noted reports that at least 96 protesters had been killed by then, along with six members of the security forces. The crackdown has continued. On October 29, an explosion killed a woman, her two young children and the children's grandmother at their home in Pandi village, Bagh district. The JKJAAC says the explosive was dropped from a drone; police deny this. By the morning of November 4, security forces had cleared the movement's sit-in at Kothian, also in Bagh district. Early on November 5, they raided the sit-ins at the main bus terminal in the town of Rawalakot. The JKJAAC says forces attacked with military weapons, killing three of its members and injuring dozens; police say armed protesters fired first. Protesters have shared several images and videos that they say show atrocities by security forces, while the administration denies the allegations and accuses social media users of spreading misleading information. When a state answers a protest movement with a terrorism ban, an internet shutdown and lethal force, it leaves the families of the dead with no one to turn to but the outside world. 𝐅𝐏𝐆 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧: * 𝐏𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 to end the deadly crackdown immediately, stop using lethal force against protesters, ensure the wounded receive medical care, lift the ban on the JKJAAC and restore full internet access. * 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 to press Pakistan to end the crackdown and ensure, under the Leahy Laws, that no U.S. assistance supports units responsible for gross human rights violations. * 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 to urge Pakistan to act on the UN experts' findings and stop treating protest as terrorism. * 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 to speak out publicly against the crackdown, stand with the families of those killed, wounded and missing, and press Pakistani authorities to end the violence and lift the ban on the JKJAAC. Follow @brief_pk @Ali_Mustafa @JKJAAC_ for ongoing developments. @hrw @UNHumanRights @UN_SPExperts @UN_HRC @amnestysasia @amnesty Read our full statement below ⬇️ #Kashmir #Pakistan #HumanRights