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Sikh Diaspora groups Calls for Immediate Release of Kashmiri Activist Khurram Parvez

September 21, 2016 | By Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Ottawa, Canada: The World Sikh Organization of Canada has expressed its concern at the detention of Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez. Parvez was arrested one day before he was scheduled to travel to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, where he was to raise concerns about Indian security forces’ human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

On Tuesday, a local court in Srinagar set aside his detention order and issued directions for his immediate release, however, police have refused to free him.

The WSO has called upon Indian authorities to follow the rule of law and immediately release Parvez.

Parvez serves as chair of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and program coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS). He has documented cases of enforced disappearances and unmarked graves of civilians.

WSO President Mukhbir Singh said today, “we call on government authorities to immediately release Khurram Parvez. Freedom of speech, freedom of movement and freedom of association are fundamental human rights; there is no clear reason why Parvez has been deprived of these rights. For Sikhs, this case draws some alarming parallels to the case of Jaswant Singh Khalra who travelled abroad, including to Canada, to speak about human rights violations and disappearances in Punjab but was then himself disappeared by security forces upon his return in 1995. Rather than trying prevent Parvez from speaking about human rights issues in Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India must take serious action to ensure security forces immediately halt the use of torture and enforced disappearances and ensure guilty officials are prosecuted.”

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Related Topics: Human Rights, Indian Politics, Indian State, Kashmir, Kashmir Agitation, Kashmir Issue, Kashmir Killings, Kashmir Protests, Khurram Parvez, Sikh Diaspora, Sikh News Canada, Sikhs in Canada, United Nations, World Sikh Organization of Canada

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