Several international human rights organisations have issued a joint appeal demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who completes four years in detention on 22 November 2025.
Parvez has been held in Delhi’s Rohini Jail without trial under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), which the groups describe as a repressive law often used to silence dissent.
Parvez serves as the Coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and became the Deputy Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in March 2023.
The organisations noted that he spent years documenting abuses in Kashmir including enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings and worked closely with UN human rights bodies to push for justice. They also pointed out that he received the 2023 Martin Ennals Award in recognition of his efforts.
The joint statement was signed by several groups, including the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Front Line Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Kashmir Law and Justice Project (KLJP), and World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).
According to the statement, Indian authorities have repeatedly targeted Parvez because of his human rights work. They recalled that the National Investigation Agency arrested him on 22 November 2021 on charges they described as fabricated, including accusations of waging war against the Indian state, conspiring to wage war, and raising funds for terrorist activities.
The organisations also highlighted earlier reprisals against Parvez. In 2016, he was barred from attending a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva and was later detained for 76 days under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, a preventive detention law widely criticised for violating international standards. His detention was later struck down by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court as unlawful. In October 2020, the NIA conducted raids on the JKCCS office, his home, and other locations, shortly after the group released a report on the human rights consequences of the communications blackout in Kashmir, Maktoob Media reported.
Parvez was booked in a second case even as he remained in custody on allegations of “terror financing,” alongside independent journalist Irfan Mehraj, who had earlier worked with JKCCS on human rights issues.
According to the organisations that issued the statement, Indian authorities have been repeatedly misusing laws such as the UAPA to level charges against human rights defenders that appear politically driven.
UN human rights experts had already raised alarms in May 2020 about several parts of the UAPA, arguing that they did not align with international legal and human-rights norms.
The statement further highlighted that Section 43D(5) of the UAPA makes bail extremely difficult for anyone detained under the act.
The organisations also noted that since 2018, the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on reprisals has included Khurram’s case as an example of retaliation against individuals cooperating with the UN.
The organisations noted that the actions against Parvez are part of a broader pattern in Kashmir, where Indian authorities have been accused of serious, long-standing human rights abuses and of maintaining impunity for those responsible.
The statement pointed out that since August 2019, the civic space in the region which is already heavily restricted has been further shut down. Journalists, they said, continue to face harassment through arrests, travel restrictions, and passport cancellations because of their reporting. They also mentioned that access to information remains limited, in part due to arbitrary internet shutdowns. The statement referred to recent steps such as the August 2025 ban on certain academic and journalistic books about Kashmir, which authorities claimed promoted misleading narratives or secessionist content.
Khurram Parvez, who is currently held in Rohini Jail in New Delhi, has repeatedly been denied bail and kept in prolonged pre-trial detention. In March 2023, he was also hit with additional charges relating to a 2020 FIR.
The organisations urged the Indian government to immediately and unconditionally free both Parvez and Mehraj, drop all charges against them, and stop all forms of harassment targeting Kashmiri civil society and human rights defenders.
They argued that authorities must halt the misuse of laws such as the UAPA, stop criminalising journalists and dissenting voices, and bring domestic legislation in line with international human-rights standards. They also said that accountability must be ensured for violations attributed to Indian security forces in Kashmir.