On his 49th birthday, his fifth while arbitrarily detained, we, the undersigned organisations and individuals, stand in solidarity with human rights defender Khurram Parvez. We demand that the Indian authorities drop all charges against him, release him immediately and unconditionally, and cease their campaign of judicial harassment.
We have followed with concern Khurram Parvez’s detention on baseless charges since November 2021, and his continued detention without trial in Delhi’s Rohini Jail. Tomorrow, on his birthday, he will have spent 1,670 days in prison.
We remind the Indian authorities that three years ago, in June 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) determined that Khurram Parvez’s detention was arbitrary and called on the Indian authorities to release him. We are concerned that the Indian government, despite pledging to participate meaningfully with UN mechanisms as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, has not engaged with the UNWGAD in relation to Khurram’s detention.
We recognize that his detention and judicial harassment is happening in a context of longstanding, ongoing grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Jammu & Kashmir. We strongly condemn the Indian authorities’ widespread and normalized use of repressive counter-terrorism laws, such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under which Khurram Parvez is being targeted, to silence human rights defenders and dissenting voices.
We urge the government of India to immediately and unconditionally release Khurram Parvez. We also call on India’s international partners to publicly denounce Khurram Parvez’s detention and to demand that their Indian counterparts release him immediately and unconditionally.
We remain steadfast in our solidarity with Khurram Parvez and will continue to call for his release as long as he remains detained.