“The internet and telecommunications bans have the character of collective punishment,” David Kaye commented on Kashmir social media ban in a statement issued by United Nations Human Rights Commission which asked India to restore internet and social media networks in Kashmir banned on April 17.

Besides being a UN Special Rapporteur on free speech since August 2014 David Kaye is a professor of Law at University of California where he heads International Justice Clinic.

For somebody who, as per his profile on University website, aims to help students discover and put to use tools to advocate for implementation of human rights law, it is not surprising to see him make such a strong worded comment which literally captures the situation on ground.

At the beginning of his career he has served in U.S. State Department where he handled international claims, nuclear nonproliferation, international humanitarian law, and accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. His expertise makes him a perfect man to handle human rights arena at UN.

United Nations HRC statement came in the aftermath of massive media coverage of the issue locally as well as globally which caught Kaye’s attention. He tweeted asking people in Kashmir to inform him via email on what they know about the ban. It had a link to a detailed BuzzFeed report on the impact of ban on the ground.

His tweet received hundreds of responses and it was widely covered in Kashmir press. Kaye re-tweeted some of the response that he got from people in Kashmir urging him to raise their plight. He gathered the responses and published a story highlighting the impact of the ban.

Nearly a week later, in an Aljazeera interview he said that United Nations HRC would raise the issue of social media ban with government of India. Kaye said, “It might be the kind of situation where we would want to raise it publicly, as well.”

Soon UNHRC issued the statement asking India to restore the internet in Kashmir.  The hard hitting statement was widely covered by Kashmir press and appeared in some top global newspapers and news websites as well.  The statement quoted Kaye saying the social media ban in Kashmir “fail to meet the standards required under international human rights law to limit freedom of expression.”

The statement quoted another human rights defender Michel Frost, “denying such access disrupts the free exchange of ideas and the ability of individuals to connect with one another and associate peacefully on matters of shared concern.”

The statement concludes quoting Kaye and Frost calling on government of India to “seek a solution for the social and political conflicts of the region through an open, transparent and democratic dialogue”.

The authority of the experts is limited to address human rights but the experts have moved a step ahead asking Government of India to address the political conflict. It is a welcome call as Kashmiri leadership always seeks intervention of United Nations in resolving the dispute that sadly remains at the backburner of backburners.

– Zafar Aafaq

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