| FREE KHURRAM PARVEZ! RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS IN KASHMIR! Join Twitter Storm December 22 and 23 |
| Also sign & share: Petition to Secretary-General of the UN ANTÓNIO GUTERRES |
| “He’s not a terrorist, he’s a human rights defender.” – Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders “The arrest of Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez is yet another example of how anti-terror laws are being misused to criminalize human rights work & stifle dissent in India.” – Amnesty International Indian authorities arrested Khurram Parvez on November 22, 2021. Parvez is a widely respected human rights defender. For defending human rights, the Indian state has long persecuted him and is now pretextually prosecuting him under counter-terror laws. His most recent arrest represents an escalation of India’s campaign to suppress the democratic and human rights of disfavored groups and ensure impunity for state violations. Parvez is the Program Coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Chairman of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances. He has been a respected global human rights advocate for over two decades, including in India, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, East Timor, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. His documentation and advocacy work has focused on torture, extrajudicial killings, involuntary disappearances and landmine removal. In Jammu and Kashmir, victims generally avoid reporting violations out of fear of reprisals. With the repeated seizure of records from civil society organizations (including JKCCS) and the arrest, assault and intimidation of activists (including Parvez), victims face greater risk of reprisals and less hope for accountability. In Kashmir, where there is no representative governance, no international access, no free speech, no free assembly and no access to justice, both journalism and human rights work are now effectively dead. Parvez’s arrest furthers the Indian state’s broad assault on civil society. #FreeKhurramParvez https://freekhurram.com https://twitter.com/FreeKhurram2021 https://www.instagram.com/freekhurram2021/ Organizations that would like to join in the #FreeKhurramParvez can endorse the campaign HERE. |
