Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais Wilson
52 rue des Pâquis
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.

Re: Urgent action needed to end state violence in Indian-controlled Kashmir

With the Rio Olympics in full swing and news about countless human rights violations connected to the recent building of sports stadiums spilling out, the August 1972 decision to ban Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from the Olympic games comes to mind. 1972 was a particularly difficult year and remembered for the horror of the Munich Massacre. But four days before the Olympic games were set to start in Munich, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted 36-31 to exclude Rhodesia from the athletic competition.

Yesterday afternoon, El Salvador’s Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that could change the face of justice in the country. The court found a 1993 amnesty law—which blocks investigations and prosecutions of crimes committed during El Salvador’s civil war—to be unconstitutional.