ISLAMABAD: The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned on Monday the prolonged incarceration of Asiya Andrabi and her two female associates in Tihar Jail in India on “concocted and baseless charges.”
“As per media reports, Ms. Andrabi and her associates, like other political prisoners in IoJ&K [Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir], are being held without access to free and fair trial and subjected to physical and psychological torture and denied critical medical care endangering their lives in contravention of the international human rights and humanitarian laws,” said its official statement.
It pointed out that Andrabi was the founder of an influential women rights organizations and widely respected as a voice of reason. The commission also noted in its handout that she had made significant contribution to women empowerment in Indian administered Kashmir.
The OIC’s human rights body expressed its concern over the detention of political activists, members of civil society and journalists by the Indian security forces.
It also urged the United Nations, OIC member states and international human rights community to ask India for Andrabi’s immediate release and to give free and fair trials to all political prisoners. The commission demanded repeal of all “discriminatory laws” which are used against Kashmiri Muslims to repress their freedom struggle.
Other than that, the OIC rights body urged New Delhi to provide access to international fact-finding missions to Kashmir and implement relevant UN Security Council and OIC resolutions that seek right to self-determination for the residents of the disputed region.
