Underscoring the need for upholding protection of civilians caught in conflict, Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council to take steps to end foreign occupation and promote the right to self-determination for the Kashmiri and Palestinian people.
Ambassador Akram was speaking in a debate on ‘Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict’ held in connection with the twenty-fifth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1265 (1999), which first established the protection of civilians as a crucial issue of international peace and security, and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
He said, “It is essential to address the underlying causes of these conflicts, promote political solutions, and ensure the observance of international humanitarian law, and end the impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
In this regard, the Pakistani envoy said the Security Council could contribute by holding the perpetrators of war crimes accountable; halting weapon supplies to the perpetrators; taking action on the States and individuals responsible for these crimes, and, offering protection to the civilians suffering under the yoke of foreign occupation.
Voicing outrage over the wanton war being waged by Israel against Palestinian civilians in Gaza resulting in massive death and destruction, he said that this “plausible genocide” – as termed by the world court – “will forever remain a blot on the world’s conscience.
“It will haunt the perpetrators of this slaughter. It has sullied the reputation of those who were complicit in the Israeli crimes by offering impunity to the extremist Israeli leadership, Ambassador added.
Noting that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has sought arrest warrants, including for two of Israel’s leaders– Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defence Minister YoavGallent, he said, ” This will be a test-case for the credibility of the ICC.”
But the Pakistani envoy also said it was difficult to build protections for civilians when their suppression, exclusion and expulsion were the very object of a military campaign.
“As in Palestine, a pervasive campaign of oppression has been underway for decades in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, executed by an army of 900,000 troops, acting with complete impunity, to impose what is ominously called a ‘Final Solution’ for the Kashmir dispute,” Ambassador Akram said.
Highlighting that over 100,000 Kashmiris have been killed, 13,000 young boys abducted– many of them tortured, he said that all Kashmiri leaders seeking freedom and self-determination — as prescribed by several resolutions of the Security Council — have been incarcerated.—INP
