Mumtaz Hussain
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has said the protection of civilians is under severe strain in conflicts and situations of foreign occupation, and called for unhindered humanitarian access, accountability, and renewed commitment to international law—particularly in Palestine and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
Addressing the UN Security Council open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, said that in situations of foreign occupation, civilians face prolonged denial of rights, dignity and self-determination, and that occupation heightens—rather than diminishes—the obligations of the occupying power under international law.
On Palestine, Ambassador Asim said the immense suffering of civilians requires safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access, accountability for violations, and realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and statehood.
On IIOJK, he said that the dispute has remained on the Security Council’s agenda for more than seven decades, and civilians continue to suffer under foreign occupation, including massive militarization, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on fundamental freedoms, demographic engineering, and denial of their internationally recognized right to self-determination.
He cited a Joint Communication by UN Special Procedures dated 16 October 2025, which referred to the arrest and detention of around 2,800 individuals, including journalists and human rights defenders, demolition of homes, blocking of around 8,000 social media accounts, and 64 recorded incidents of hate speech, intimidation and dehumanization targeting Kashmiris and Muslims between 22 April and 2 May 2025.
Ambassador Asim said that civilians are trapped in conflicts across multiple regions—from the Sahel and Sudan to the DRC and Gaza—facing bombardment, displacement, hunger, sexual violence, destruction of homes and livelihoods, collapse of basic services, and denial of humanitarian access.
He emphasized that protecting civilians is not a gesture of compassion but a binding legal obligation, a moral imperative, and a core responsibility of the Council.
He said the crisis is not a lack of norms—the Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law and international human rights law provide a clear framework—but a crisis of compliance, accountability and political will.
He welcomed the Global Initiative to Galvanize Political Commitment to International Humanitarian Law and expressed hope that it will strengthen national implementation, improve civilian harm mitigation, and translate political commitment into practical protection.
The permanent representative said that the Council’s approach should be guided by five priorities: respect for international humanitarian law without selectivity or double standards; strengthened accountability to end impunity for attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure; safe and sustained humanitarian access; greater focus on prevention, conflict resolution and peaceful settlement of disputes, including through resolution 2788; and governance of emerging technologies under international law, so that drones, cyber tools and AI do not expand civilian harm or obscure responsibility.
Concluding the statement, he said that Pakistan will continue to support efforts to uphold international law, ensure accountability, advance peaceful settlement of disputes and protect civilians wherever they are threatened, stressing that civilians are not collateral damage but the very people the United Nations was created to save.
