•HRES 724 IH 
Whereas the Government of India has unilaterally changed 
the status of Jammu and Kashmir without a direct con-
sultation or the consent of the Kashmiri people; 
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights has reported gross human 
rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir; 
Whereas the Government of India has enforced a strict cur-
few in Jammu and Kashmir that has restricted freedom 
of expression, assembly, and movement; 
Whereas, on August 5, 2019, the Government of India en-
acted a communications blockade in Jammu and Kash-
mir that includes the suspension of landlines and shut-
down of mobile phone networks and internet access, and 
service has only been partially restored as of October 14, 
2019; 
Whereas Kashmiri Americans and Kashmiris around the 
world have had difficulty or been unable to contact their 
family members since the imposition of the communica-
tions blockade on August 5, 2019; 
Whereas press accounts and human rights observers have 
documented that the actions of the Government of India 
in imposing a communications blockade have inhibited ac-
cess to life-saving medical care; 
Whereas international human rights observers have docu-
mented the security services of the Government of India’s 
excessive use of force against civilians in Jammu and 
Kashmir, including the use of pellet shotguns, tear gas, 
and rubber bullets against protestors, as reported by the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; 
Whereas the Government of India has used the arrest and in-
definite detention of thousands of people to control civil-
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•HRES 724 IH 
ians of all ages, including minors as young as nine, in 
Jammu and Kashmir using the Public Safety Act, which 
violates article 9(2) of the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights; 
Whereas the Government of India has detained Kashmiri civil 
society leaders of all political perspectives without charge 
or trial and, as of September 25, 2019, prominent polit-
ical and business leaders remain in detention; 
Whereas detentions and harassment of journalists in Jammu 
and Kashmir has been reported by independent observers 
and journalistic organizations; 
Whereas the right to religious expression has been severely 
curtailed, including the closures of mosques and religious 
buildings; 
Whereas the Government of India has barred senior United 
States Government officials and foreign journalists from 
traveling to Jammu and Kashmir since August 5; 
Whereas the actions of the Government of India are not re-
flective of the shared democratic norms and values be-
tween the United States and India; 
Whereas the actions of the Government of India constitute 
violations of the United Nations Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights; 
Whereas the Government of India has failed to hold its mili-
tary accountable and perpetuated a state of impunity for 
members of the Indian Armed Forces and related secu-
rity services, in part through the Armed Forces Special 
Powers Act; 
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights issued reports in 2018 and 
2019 calling for the Governments of India and Pakistan 
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•HRES 724 IH 
to implement policy recommendations to safeguard 
human rights; and 
Whereas, according to the United Nations High Commis-
sioner for Human Rights ‘‘Update on the Situation of 
Human Rights in Indian-Administered Kashmir and 
Pakistan-Administered Kashmir from May 2018 to April 
2019’’, the militant groups Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e- 
Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, and Harakat Ul- 
Mujahidin have contributed to the harsh conditions and 
dire human rights situation faced by civilians in Jammu 
and Kashmir: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) opposes any use of force against civilian 
populations by governmental and nongovernmental 
actors alike; 
(2) opposes and condemns the use of pellet 
shotguns and rubber bullets as a crowd-control 
method in any case; 
(3) affirms that any changes to the status of 
Jammu and Kashmir must be made with the direct 
consultation of the Kashmiri people, who must play 
a central role in the determination of their future; 
(4) urges the Government of India to imme-
diately lift all remaining elements of the communica-
tions blockade imposed in Jammu and Kashmir, in-
cluding restoring phone and internet access and re-
fraining from any interference with the provision of 
medical treatment; 
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•HRES 724 IH 
(5) urges the Department of State to facilitate 
contact between Kashmiri Americans and their fam-
ily members in Jammu and Kashmir; 
(6) reaffirms its strongly held belief that free-
dom of religion is a central and inalienable right of 
all people as promulgated in the United Nations 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and urges 
the Government of India to ensure compliance with 
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 
Jammu and Kashmir; 
(7) urges the Government of India to exercise 
restraint when performing security and policing op-
erations and denounces the widespread use of 
threats 
and 
excessive 
force 
against 
civilians, 
protestors, and detainees; 
(8) urges the Government of India to imme-
diately release unjustly and indefinitely detained 
people in Jammu and Kashmir and to cease arbi-
trary and politically motivated detentions; 
(9) urges the Governments of India and Paki-
stan to engage in dialogue to deescalate tensions and 
protect human rights; 
(10) urges the Governments of India and Paki-
stan to renounce the use of force to settle the status 
of all disputed territories between them; 
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•HRES 724 IH 
(11) urges the Governments of India and Paki-
stan to grant representatives of the Office of the 
United Nations High Commissioner for Human 
Rights full and unfettered access to their respective 
sides of the Line of Control; and 
(12) urges the Governments of India and Paki-
stan to implement the policy recommendations of the 
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Human Rights contained in its 2018 and 2019 re-
ports. 
Æ 
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