Pakistan asks UN for border protection News
Pakistan asks UN for border protection

[JURIST] The Pakistan Government [official website] on Sunday wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] pleading for assistance in border protection after at least 14 people were shot and killed near Kashmir. Pakistan has accused [Times of India report] India of deliberately violating the established ceasefire by allowing cross border shootings. Pakistan prime minister on national security and foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz stated within the letter to the UN, “I write to bring to your urgent attention the deteriorating security situation along the line of control in Jammu & Kashmir, as well as along the International Border between Pakistan and India.” Pakistan believes that the UN must take action to address this issue to promote a just resolution.

The UN has addressed the issues of human rights and civilian protection throughout these regions multiple times in recent months. Earlier this month a group of UN human rights experts urged stronger protection [JURIST report] for journalists covering conflicts, citing recent attacks on journalists in Syria and Gaza. Earlier that week the UN top advocate for children affected by war expressed concern [JURIST report] about the expansion of the Islamic State [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] in Syria and Iraq and the increase in violations against children there. In August former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay announced the findings of a report [JURIST report] detailing the harsh, war-like conditions in eastern Ukraine that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians in recent weeks. Also in August the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Makarim Wibisono, formally requested [JURIST report] UN News Centre access to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory to gather first-hand information into the human rights situation in Gaza. In June independent UN human rights experts urged [JURIST report] Pakistan to adopt urgent legislation to put an end to faith-based killings and protect the country’s Ahmadiyya Muslim [BBC profile] community.

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