A public call to end Khurram Parvez’ arbitrary detention

Category: Statements

(18 June 2026) 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.

Organisations:

  1. ACAT-France
  2. Activate Rights
  3. Al-Haq
  4. Amnesty International
  5. Armanshahr / OPEN ASIA
  6. Asia Alliance Against Torture (A3T)
  7. Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA)
  8. Asia Justice and Rights
  9. Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)
  10. Asian Human Rights Commission
  11. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España (APDHE)
  12. Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM)
  13. Association for Democracy in the Maldives (ADM)
  14. Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM)
  15. Association Tchadienne pour la Promotion et la défense des droits de l'homme (ATPDH)
  16. Bridging for Sustainable Development (BSD)
  17. Bytes For All, Pakistan
  18. Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR)
  19. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC)
  20. CENIDH
  21. Center for Civil Liberties
  22. Center for Prisoners' Rights
  23. Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH)
  24. Centro de Políticas Públicas y Derechos Humanos (Perú EQUIDAD)
  25. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  26. Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN)
  27. Collectif de Sauvegarde de la Ligue Algérienne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme
  28. Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
  29. Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) (Northern ireland)
  30. Community Self Reliance Centre (CSRC)
  31. Defence of Human Rights Pakistan
  32. DITSHWANELO - The Botswana Centre for Human Rights
  33. Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO)
  34. Forum Against Repression, Telangana
  35. FORUM-ASIA
  36. Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer
  37. Front Line Defenders (FLD)
  38. Hindus for Human Rights
  39. Hivos
  40. Human Rights Association (IHD)
  41. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)
  42. Human Rights Defenders' Alert - India (HRDA)
  43. Human Rights Online Philippines (HRonlinePH)
  44. Human Rights Watch
  45. IMPARSIAL, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor
  46. India Labour Solidarity (UK)
  47. Indian Alliance Paris (IAP)
  48. Indian Social Action Forum
  49. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the

Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

  1. International Legal Initiative Public Foundation
  2. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
  3. International Solidarity with Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India)
  4. Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
  5. Justiça Global
  6. Karapatan
  7. Kashmir Law and Justice Project
  8. Kazakhstan International Bureau for human rights
  9. Kirithavar Vazhvurimai Iyakkam (Christian Rights Forum - India)
  10. Lawyers for Human Rights (South Africa)
  11. League for Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)
  12. Liga Voor Mensenrechten
  13. Liga voor de Rechten van de Mens
  14. Ligue Burundaise des droits de l'homme Iteka
  15. Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (LDH - France)
  16. Ligue Djiboutienne des Droits Humain (LDDH)
  17. Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA)
  18. Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN)
  19. Nonviolence International
  20. Odhikar
  21. Organisation Marocaine des droits humains (OMDH)
  22. People's Watch
  23. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
  24. Progressive Voice (PV)
  25. Project South
  26. Public Association "Dignity"
  27. Public Committee against Torture in Israel
  28. Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
  29. Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO)
  30. Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn (SOFA)
  31. South Asia Justice Campaign
  32. South Asia Solidarity Group
  33. South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR)
  34. SUARAM
  35. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)
  36. The Advocates for Human Rights
  37. The Canadian BDS Coalition and International BDS Allies
  38. The Sudanese Human Rights Monitor (SHRM)
  39. Think Centre
  40. University of Madras, Criminology Students
  41. World Organization against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Individuals:

  1. Kulandaisamy
  2. Ahmed Aloui
  3. Aissa Rahmoune
  4. Alexis Deswaef (President of FIDH)
  5. Allarassem Yemingar
  6. Angana Chatterji
  7. Appandairaj Jain
  8. Asiya Arif
  9. Ather Zia
  10. Bela Bhatia
  11. Bernadette Hamenyimana
  12. Cecille Baello (Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND))
  13. Cedric Prakash
  14. Clifton D' Rozario
  15. David Kaye (former UN Special Rapporteur)
  16. Dean Accardi
  17. Dhayanithi Raj Jeganathan
  18. Diana Alzeer
  19. Dr Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan
  20. Frazer Mascarenhas
  21. Emma Brännlund (Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Mid Sweden University)
  22. Farhatullah Babar
  23. Fatima Babu
  24. Fernand de Varennes (former UN Special Rapporteur)
  25. Fionnuala Ni Aolain (former UN Special Rapporteur)
  26. Alex Maria Chelliah (OFM Cap)
  27. Giulia Ganovelli
  28. Hafidha Chekir
  29. Haley Duschinski
  30. Hariprasath V
  31. Harsh Mander
  32. Immanuel Kalaiselvan
  33. Johanna Chardonnieras
  34. Joseph Xavier
  35. Karan Singha
  36. Khadija Errebah
  37. Krishnakant Chauhan
  38. Kumar Prashant
  39. Lotika Singha
  40. Mamadou Sy
  41. Maryse Artiguelong (former FIDH Vice President)
  42. Mody Watt (General Secretary, ONDH/ Sénégal)
  43. Mona Bhan
  44. Namdev Dagam
  45. Nandita Narain
  46. Navsharan Singh
  47. Oli D'Cruz
  48. Omer Aijazi
  49. R Shameer Basha
  50. Rajeev Singha
  51. Rajni Shah
  52. Rakshith M R
  53. Raqib Naik
  54. Ruki Fernando
  55. Saba Ismail
  56. Sam Kamalesan
  57. Shahindha Ismail
  58. Shyama Sivadas
  59. Siddeeqa Iram
  60. Somasekhara sarma
  61. Sruti Bala
  62. Stephen J. Rapp
  63. Suchitra Vijayan
  64. Sudarshan Ramiengar
  65. Suresh M
  66. Théobald Rutihunza
  67. Vijay S P
  68. M
  69. Yoojung Hong
  70. Zainab Jamil
  71. Zia Ur Rehman
  72. Zohra Yusuf

 Download official document here: A public call to end Khurram Parvez’ arbitrary detention