UN, Global Rights Bodies Call For Release Kashmir Activist Khurram Parvez.

NIA’s raid on Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and subsequent arrest of Kashmir based Human Rights Activist Khurram Parvez has drawn criticism with human rights bodies in India and abroad calling for release of the activist.

Indian human rights organisation People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has called for immediate released of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez.

In a statement, the PUCL has said that Parvez’s arrest is a continuation of the government misuse of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act “to arrest, detain and jail human rights defenders for long periods without any trial”.

Parvez’s arrest cannot be seen in isolation, the statement continues, and is emblematic of the state’s harassment of human rights defenders:

“PUCL firmly believes that the present action is one more attempt on part of the present establishment to silence peaceful, non violent dissenters. In the context of what has happened in recent times concerning cases of Bhima Koregaon, Delhi riots, Tripura violence, farmers protest, the tool kit case, Siddique Kappan case and various others across the country, Khurram’s arrest is one more instance of a brutalizing state machinery being used against human rights defenders.”

In Jammu and Kashmir, PUCL says, such state action is even more extreme:

“This is all the more significant in the context of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Central Government steamrolled the State’s autonomy guaranteed under Article 370 of the Constitution without taking into account the democratic aspirations of the people of the State and the converting of Jammu and Kashmir into a union territory directly ruled from Delhi with complete bulldozing of all human rights of the ordinary people. The population has been already subjected to other massive violations including total militarization, long internet shutdowns, use of draconian laws such as Public Safety Act, AFSPA and UAPA. In this context it is very crucial that alternate narratives of ground level reality be brought before the world. This is precisely what JKCCSS and Khurram were doing.

Several rights activists also condemned the government’s move to arrest Mr. Parvez.

“The arrest of Parvez should be a matter of shame. A life-long human rights defender is now being accused of terrorism and will be in jail without trial. In 2016, after being jailed for more than two months, the court called his detention ‘illegal’. Will the State never learn?” Yogendra Yadav, a political activist, said.

World Reacts To Khurram’s Arrest.

Rights bodies and activists, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur have also reacted strongly to the arrest of Khurram Parvez.

“I’m hearing disturbing reports that Khurram Parvez was arrested today [Monday] in Kashmir and is at risk of being charged by authorities in India with terrorism-related crimes. He’s not a terrorist, he’s a human rights defender,” Mary Lawlor, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, said in a tweet.

The Rafto Foundation, a body working for the global promotion of human rights, in a statement, appealed to India to “immediately release Mr. Parvez,” who was working as programme coordinator of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Chairman of the Board of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD).

“We observe with regret that the Indian government intimidates citizens working to secure the values and norms enshrined both in the Constitution of India and in international treaties ratified by the government itself. We appeal to Indian authorities to respect Mr. Parvez’s habeas corpus rights and release him from detention without delay,” Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt, Director of the Rafto Foundation, said in a statement.

The World Organization Against Torture, based in Geneva, also expressed its deep concern. “We are deeply concerned about the high risk of torture while in custody. We call for his immediate release,” the organisation said.