New Delhi
25 May 2007
important that a free and unimpeded justice system is put in place for elections to be
free and fair, Baroness Emma Nicholson said.
"Chief Justice in Pakistan has a direct bearing on Gilgit and Baltistan and [Pakistan
Occupied Kashmir] and a free and unimpeded justice system is essential for addressing
human rights and other issues," she told this newspaper.
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, who authored the report titled "Kashmir: Present
situation and future prospects", said that a free and independent judiciary would lend a
semblance of credibility to the elections when they are held.
"The first election in Gilgit and Baltistan cannot happen without justice system," she
asserted. She went on to observe that the highlight of her report was the "desperate
plight" of the people of Gilgit and Baltistan.
"There is no democracy under the military rule of Islamabad since 1947 ... we urge very
strongly to implement the judgment of the Supreme Court whereby the identity of Gilgit
and Baltistan as a former province (of J&K) is reaffirmed," she said.
(During the debate on the report, the members of European Parliament regretted the
"negative chain of events set in motion by the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammed Chaudhry" and deplored the recent outbreaks of violence in Pakistan.)
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne said that she has sought the British House of
Lords's response to her written question regarding the identify question of Gilgit and
Baltistan. She has also sought a full debate in the House of Lords.
She went on to state that she has accepted an invitation to visit New Delhi in September
for a "full debate" on her report. "I have offered this opportunity (of a debate) to
Islamabad, Muzaffarabad and Baltistan," she added.
Her report also focussed on the situation in POK where the freedoms of association and
speech, and minority and women's rights, were absent. She added that the EU would put
its weight behind the peace process between India and Pakistan.
A recent report by the International Crisis Group, titled "Discord in Pakistan's Northern
Areas", echoes the criticism contained in the EU report. It has criticised Pakistan for
denying "basic rights and political freedoms" to Northern Areas.
It also said said that Islamabad sees Gilgit and Baltistan as "a bargaining chip in its
rivalry with India over Kashmir", and sought the implementation of the Supreme Court
verdict in 1999 to extend fundamental freedoms to the Northern Areas.
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