UN human rights experts are calling for the immediate release of Kashmiri rights defender Khurram Parvez who was arrested on November 22, 2021. He is being held in Delhi’s Rohini prison under India’s draconian anti-terrorism laws.

Geneva, Paris, June 15, 2023. In an opinion adopted on 28 March 2023 and published on 5 June 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) described Parvez’s detention as arbitrary. He called on Indian authorities for his immediate release and “recognition of enforceable rights to compensation and other compensation”.

” The UN ruling in the case of Khurram Parvez officially confirms that his detention is an act of reprisal for his human rights work and an attempt to silence him and Kashmiri civil society as a whole. Indian authorities must implement UN recommendations and release Khurram without delay “say Alice Mogwe, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

WGAD was given a mandate by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged cases of arbitrary detention. It studies individual grievances and adopts opinions on the arbitrary aspects of the detention of such and such persons. This opinion was issued by the WGAD rules on HYPERLINK complaints “https://www.fidh.org/fr/regions/asie/inde/inde-plainte-aux-nations-unies-suite-a-la-detention-d-un -eminent “eHYPERLINK “https://www.fidh.org/fr/regions/asie/inde/inde-plainte-aux-nations-unies-suite-a-la-detention-d-un-eminent” filed for municipality by FIDH, CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) before the UN agency in the Parvez case, on 22 November 2022.

” The arbitrary and unjust detention of Khurram Parvez is not an isolated case, but the result of India’s relentless attacks on those who denounce the discriminatory and abusive policies of the government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. India must end its policy of silencing dissent and must guarantee the right to defend human rights in this country “say Gerald Staberock, General Secretary of OMCT.

The WGAD has expressed concern about the effect the farce of Parvez’s arrest and prolonged detention is having on civil society, human rights defenders and journalists in India. WGAD found that Mr. deprivation of liberty Parvez violated Articles 2, 7, 9, 11, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and 2, 9, 14, 15, 19, 22 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

WGAD found that the authorities had no legal basis to detain Parvez (category I); that his detention resulted from “the lawful exercise of freedom of opinion, expression and association” (category II); that “the violation of Mr. Parvez’s right to a fair trial was sufficiently serious to render his detention arbitrary” (category III); and that he is deprived of his liberty on “grounds of discrimination connected with his status as a human rights defender and on the grounds of political or other opinion” (category V).

FIDH, CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA and OMCT welcome WGAD’s opinion and renew their call for the immediate and unconditional release of Khurram Parvez and other human rights defenders currently in prison in India, and for dropping all charges against them.

Context

Khurram Parvez coordinates the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Society Coalition (JKCCS) program, chairs the Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD) and serves as Deputy Secretary General of FIDH. In February 2023, he received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award, an annual award recognizing human rights defenders.

Parvez was arbitrarily arrested on 22 November 2021 by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers after 14 hours of intensive searches of his home and JKCCS office in Srinagar, which resulted in his electronic devices and some documents having been confiscated. Since then, Parvez has been indicted on several trumped-up charges relating to criminal conspiracy and terrorism. His basic rights to a due process of law and a fair trial are constantly being violated. In addition to the charges against Parvez under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act (UAPA), the NIA opened another case against him and journalist Irfan Mehraj in October 2020, specifically targeting JKCCS and anyone associated with the organization.