Detained Kashmiri Activist Khurram’s NGO Wins Human Rights Award

Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez has been in detention under Public Safety Act since September 2016.

Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Pervez. (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@ak_ym1)

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), headed by Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez, was recently named as the winner of the 2016 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award.

The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy will present the award to AFAD “for the courage, leadership and vision it brings to the world.”

A statement from AFAD said that the recognition comes at a “sensitive time” as Parvez has been booked and detained under the “notorious and draconian” Public Safety Act since September 2016.

“Khurram Parvez, AFAD’s chairperson, is a well-known Kashmiri human rights defender, who has been very vocal in protesting against the countless human rights violations committed by the Indian government in Kashmir over the past years, and with increasing violence this year,” the statement read.

He was barred from boarding a flight to Geneva to attend a UN Human Rights Council session on 15 September 2016 and later arrested from his residence in Srinagar.

Many individuals and international organisations – including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Coalition against Enforced Disappearances, et - had demanded his immediate release but to no avail.

Also read: Detention of Kashmiri Activist Parvez Raises Fears of Mass Arrest