This is a statement by UN Human Rights experts which urges India to release Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez. Mr. Parvez has been victim of a number of incidents of reprisals reportedly for sharing this information with the United Nations, as documented in various reports of the Secretary-General and communications from UN special procedures mandate holders.
Topics: arrest of Khurram Parvez
Terms: attack on human rights defenders, arrest of Khurram Parvez, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)
The amendment introduced in July 2019 to the UAPA, allows any individual to be designated as a“terrorist” , bypassing the requirement to establish membership or association with bannedgroups. This expansion of State agencies’ discretionary powers under the anti-terror law hasresulted in a worrisome rise in the number of arrests across India – and especially in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
“We regret that the Government continues to use the UAPA as a means of coercion to restrict civil society’s, the media’s and human rights defenders’ fundamental freedoms in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir as well as in the rest of the country. We therefore once again urge the Government to bring this legislation in line with India’s international legal obligations under human rights law,” the experts said.
December 2021
Originally published
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