Author: Makepeace Sitlhou
Last saved by: qld_volunteer
Company: Amnesty International India

Further information on UA: 215/16 Index: ASA 20/5261/2016 India	Date: 2 December 2016

URGENT ACTION
DETAINED KASHMIRI HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER RELEASED 

Khurram Parvez, a prominent Kashmiri human rights defender, was released from administrative detention on 30 November, five days after a court ruled his detention under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act arbitrary and illegal.  
Khurram Parvez’s detention was ruled arbitrary and illegal by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on 25 November. The court declared that the District Magistrate - an executive official - had “abused its powers in ordering his detention” and ordered his immediate release. Due to a clerical error, Khurram Parvez remained in the Kot Bhalwal prison for four more days before the corrected order was served on the jail authorities on 29 November. He was then transferred to the Joint Interrogation Centre at Meeran Sahib, 20km away, by the Counter Intelligence wing of the Jammu and Kashmir police and finally released at 12 noon the next day, on 30 November 2016.
 
Khurram Parvez was first arrested on 16 September 2016, the day after he was prevented from travelling to a UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva. He was transferred to Kupwara, over 100 kilometres from his home in Srinagar, where he was placed in administrative detention for allegedly posing an imminent threat of ‘breach of peace’. Four days later, on 20 September, a court in Srinagar, one of the capital cities of Jammu and Kashmir, ordered Khurram Parvez to be released after ruling that the executive official who ordered the detention had not followed necessary procedures. 

Once released, Khurram Parvez was immediately re-arrested and later taken to the Kot Bhalwal prison in Jammu, 300 kilometres from his home. The activist was accused of encouraging people to throw stones at security force personnel in four incidents; however, none of the First Information Reports filed by the police ever mentioned his name.  

Amnesty International India will continue to monitor the situation and re-open the action if necessary.

No further action is requested from the UA network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals.

This is the first update of UA 215/16. Further information: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/4861/2016/en/  

Name: Khurram Parvez
Gender m/f: m

Further information on UA: 215/16 Index: ASA 20/5261/2016 Issue Date: 2 December 2016