Geneva, Paris – June 15, 2023 - Indian authorities
should immediately release Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram
Parvez, a group of United Nations (UN) human rights experts has said.
Mr. Parvez has been detained since his arrest on November 22, 2021
under India’s draconian anti-terrorism legislation and is currently
detained in Rohini Jail, Delhi.
In an opinion
adopted on March 28, 2023 and released on June 5, 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) said Mr.
Parvez’s detention was “arbitrary”. It called on the Indian
authorities to immediately release him and to provide him with an
“enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.”
“The UN ruling
on Khurram Parvez’s case authoritatively 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. The
Indian authorities must implement the UN’s recommendations and
immediately release Khurram,”
said Alice Mogwe, International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)
President.
The WGAD is mandated
by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate alleged cases of
arbitrary detention. The WGAD considers individual complaints and
adopts opinions on whether the detention of a particular individual
is considered to be arbitrary.
This WGAD opinion was
issued in response to a complaint
filed jointly
by FIDH, CIVICUS, FORUM-ASIA and the World Organisation Against
Torture (OMCT) to the UN body on behalf of Mr. Parvez on November 22, 2022.
“The arbitrary
and unjust detention of Khurram Parvez is not an isolated incident
but the result of India’s relentless attacks on those who expose
the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government’s discriminatory and
abusive policies. India must reverse its politics of silencing
dissent and guarantee the right to defend human rights in the
country”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General.
The WGAD expressed
serious concern about “the chilling effects” of Mr. Parvez’s
arrest and prolonged detention on civil society, human rights
defenders and journalists in India.
The WGAD found that
Parvez’s deprivation of liberty is in contravention of 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 .
The WGAD determined
that the authorities failed to establish a legal basis for Mr.
Parvez’s detention (Category I); that his detention stemmed from
his “legitimate exercise of freedom of opinion, expression and
association” (Category II); that the “violations of Mr. Parvez’s
right to a fair trial are of such gravity as to give his detention an
arbitrary character” (Category III); and that he was deprived of
his liberty on “discriminatory grounds, owing to his status as a
human rights defender and on the basis of his political or other
opinion” (Category V).
FIDH, CIVICUS,
FORUM-ASIA and OMCT welcome the WGAD’s opinion and reiterate their
calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Khurram Parvez
and all other human rights defenders currently in prison in India,
and for all charges to be dropped.
Background
Khurram Parvez is the
Program Coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
(JKCCS), the Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary
Disappearances (AFAD), and FIDH Deputy Secretary-General. In February
2023, he was awarded the prestigious Martin Ennals Award, an annual
prize which recognizes human rights defenders.
Mr. Parvez was
arbitrarily
arrested
on November 22, 2021 by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officers
following 14-hour raids on his house and the JKCCS office in
Srinagar, during which his electronic devices and several documents
were seized. Mr. Parvez has since been prosecuted
under multiple trumped-up charges related to criminal conspiracy and
terrorism, and his fundamental rights to due process and a fair trial
have constantly been violated. In addition to the charges against Mr.
Parvez under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), another
case
was filed by the NIA against him and journalist Irfan
Mehraj
in October 2020, specifically targeting JKCCS and anyone associated
with the organization.
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