"For the first time in decades the United Nations Security Council is taking up the issue of Jammu and Kashmir," said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International, ahead of a closed-door consultation on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Security Council.

"Members of the council need to remember that their mandate is to protect international peace and security – and they should seek to resolve the situation in a way that puts the human rights of the people in this troubled region at its center," Naidoo said.

Stating that they reiterate calls to the Indian government to act in accordance with international human rights law and standards towards people living in Jammu and Kashmir, Amnesty Secretary General has added that including in relation to arrests and detentions of political opponents, and the rights to liberty and freedom of movement.

"The actions of the Indian government have thrown ordinary people's lives into turmoil, subjecting them to unnecessary pain and distress on top of the years of human rights violations they have already endured," Naidoo stressed.

Underscoring that the people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be treated as pawns in a political crisis, Naidoo called on the international community to come together to call for their human rights to be respected.

ILKHA