Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, an American nonprofit human rights advocacy organization, has called for the immediate release of Kashmiri human rights defender, Khurram Parvez.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Khurram Parvez on November 22. He has been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code and the UAPA including criminal conspiracy, waging or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India.
The HR body in a statement, said, “As the coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), Parvez has meticulously documented violations by border authorities and provided assistance to victims of human rights abuses. Parvez is a distinguished scholar with the political conflict, gender and people’s rights initiative at the Center for Race and Gender at University of California, Berkeley.”
“Just last year in October 2020, the NIA conducted raids of the homes and offices of several human rights defenders, nongovernmental organizations, and journalists, including at his Srinagar home and office,” the statement said.
“Year after year, Khurram Parvez has bravely documented human rights abuses and provided much-needed assistance to victims of these abuses,” Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights said.
“Instead of attempting to silence and punish human rights defenders, Indian authorities should work to end impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses. He should be released immediately,” she added.—KMS
