DHR, Cage UK, AFAD & other regional & int’l HR organizations express deep concern for life, safety & well-being of Khurram Parvez

ISLAMABAD, Nov 30 (SABAH): The Defence of Human Rights (DHR), Cage UK, AFAD and other regional and international human rights organizations have expressed deep concern for the life, safety and well-being of Khurram Parvez, one of the most prominent Human Rights Defenders based in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The joint statement by Defence of Human Rights & Cage UK, says that Khurram Parvez, one of the most prominent Human Rights Defenders based in Indian-administered Kashmir, was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 22ND November 2021. 

The statement said that Khurram Parvez is the Programme Coordinator of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and the chairperson of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD). The arrest followed hours’ long raids at Khurram’s residence in Sonwar and JKCCS office at Amira Kadal areas of Srinagar. Khurram’s electronic devices, his wife’s phone and some of his books were confiscated in the raid. While the agency took Khurram along to their office in Church Lane, Srinagar, for routine questioning, the family was later informed that he had been arrested.

The statement says that it is confirmed from news reports that the authorities have booked him under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for terrorism-related charges and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including criminal conspiracy and waging war against the state. His wife and 11-year-old son visited him in the NIA facility in order to hand over his clothes to the authorities once they were informed of the arrest and handed the arrest memo which listed the charges against him. He was later flown to New Delhi where he continues to be in NIA remand.

As the chairperson of AFAD, Khurram has led from the front and been a vocal critic of states for their role and lack of accountability for enforced disappearances. He has traveled across Asia and Europe, and enjoys wide-ranging support from the Human Rights community across countries who recognise his voice as that of a global human rights defender whose work transcends borders but is built around issues of human rights and justice for all. Together with the international community, he has interacted with AFAD member organisations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal. His words and actions have centred solidarity across borders and he has stood for families of the Disappeared, and victims of state oppression, even beyond Kashmir.

The statement says that Khurram Parvez has been thoroughly engaged in United Nations’ mechanisms and is revered by human rights defenders from across the world for his dedication to people’s rights. He has been especially vocal in conferences and international campaigns against Enforced Disappearances, particularly in Asia. Khurram-led AFAD is also among the most active members of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED), a Geneva-based human rights group of the Latin American and Afro-European organizations. In the context of Kashmir, JKCCS and Khurram’s work have been crucial in documenting varied forms of human rights violations and demanding an end to impunity as well as a persistent call for accountability from the state and its agents.

The statement says that the current action is not the first time Khurram has been arrested. In 2016, when Khurram was supposed to travel to Geneva to address the United Nations Human Rights Council. He was stopped at the New Delhi airport and arrested from his residence a day later. He was subsequently booked under the Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law, under which he was jailed for 76 days before the court termed his arrest illegal. A global campaign for Khurram’s release was led by institutions, organisations and human rights defenders for whom Khurram was a source of inspiration. His arrest now comes in the backdrop of growing tensions between India and Pakistan, two nuclear neighbouring states, over the last few years. It has also come amid reports of allegations of extrajudicial killings of Kashmiris in two incidents recently in Hyderpora and Rambagh areas of Srinagar. In a time like this, the work and voice of human rights defenders becomes all the more important in order to document violations, and amplify calls for peace in the region.

As the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights defenders, Mary Lawlor, tweeted, “He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human rights Defender.” It is important that the global community of human rights defenders comes out in support of critical voices like Khurram’s and urges the Indian government to release him immediately and drop the frivolous charges against him. The Defence of Human Rights (DHR), Cage UK, AFAD and other regional and international human rights organizations are deeply concerned for the life, safety and well-being of Khurram Parvez. It’s a blatant attack not only against Khurram but a way to silence and intimidate human rights defenders who dare to raise voice against states of oppression worldwide.

DHR and Cage UK, urge all the conscientious people of the world to stand in solidarity with Khurram Parvez and amplify the demand for protection of human rights defenders from state reprisals. Let us forge solidarities to raise voice for a prominent defender of human rights and justice.