Kashmir's Right to Self Determination: UNSC Resolutions, Human Rights Violations and Culpability under International Law

Abstract

The United Nations has voted for the Kashmir dispute to be settled by a referendum in the territory since the inception of both India and Pakistan as independent states in 1947. The Security Council resolutions have mandatory effect since their passage and a plebiscite was overdue when India decided to annex the state in August 2019. In refusing to let the people decide their future the Indian government went against the cardinal principle of self-determination. By revoking its constitutional status as a state within the Indian Union the government revoked the Article 370 without consulting any other interested party including the political representatives of the Kashmiri people. The consequence was the declaration of Martial law in the Valley enforced by an unprecedented security operation whereby the special powers allotted to the military and the auxiliary Border Security forces and Central Reserve Police force have been used to assault the human rights of the people. The Indian government has not only refused to implement the mandate of the UNSC but also breached the International Convention of Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The actions of the Indian forces have been under the spotlight of the UN Human Rights Council whose reports in 2018 and 2019 implicate the military of gross human rights abuses in Kashmir. The argument of this paper is that there should be rigorous application of international humanitarian law and war crimes tribunals invested to prosecute the Indian officials for breaches of the rules in Non-International Conflicts (NIC). Keywords: Instrument of Accession; Article 370; cultural genocide; Uti possidetis; UN Chapter VI; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; AFSPA Public Safety; ct, OHCHR Report 2018; International