½geneva: The World Muslim Congress has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to revive a proposal for a separate agenda item on the right to self-determination, saying that such a step would provide peoples living under foreign occupation, including the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a formal platform to raise their concerns before the Council.

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½Speaking during an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Altaf Hussain Wani, representing the World Muslim Congress, welcomed the Independent Expert's report A/HRC/63/24.

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½Wani said that the report rightly highlighted the dangers posed by unilateralism, coercive economic statecraft and the weaponization of interdependence, which, he noted, undermine sovereign equality and the principles enshrined in the UN Charter.

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½He emphasized that an emerging multipolar international order could strengthen the multilateral system if it remained firmly anchored in international law, cooperation and respect for the rights of all peoples.

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½In this context, Wani recalled the recommendation of former UN Independent Expert Alfred de Zayas, urging the Human Rights Council to consider the right of peoples to self-determination as a separate agenda item.

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½'Reviving this proposal would provide peoples living under foreign occupation with a formal and sustained platform within the Human Rights Council to voice their concerns and seek international attention to unresolved questions concerning their political future,' Wani said.

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½He specifically drew attention to the situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where, he said, the people continue to be denied the opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination despite relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions providing for a free and impartial plebiscite.

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½Wani stressed that the credibility of the multilateral system depended on its ability to protect the rights of peoples who remain excluded from decision-making processes concerning their future.

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½'Multilateralism can fulfil its promise only when it safeguards the fundamental right of peoples to self-determination and remains responsive to those living under foreign occupation,' he said.

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½The World Muslim Congress urged the Independent Expert to support the revival of de Zayas's proposal and to examine how emerging multipolar governance could be utilized to address protracted conflicts, uphold international law and strengthen human rights protection.

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½At the conclusion of his intervention, Wani asked the Independent Expert whether he supported reviving the proposal for a separate Human Rights Council agenda item on self-determination so that peoples under foreign occupation, including the IIOJK could have their voices heard by the Council.