Manila, 02 March 2022—The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) strongly reiterates its call for the immediate release of its Chairperson Khurram Parvez from arbitrary detention. The Government of India has detained Khurram without charges for exactly 100 days today.

Khurram, a prominent human rights defender who is also the programme coordinator of Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) based in Kashmir, was arrested by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), following raids on his home and office in Srinagar on 22 November 2021. He was apprehended under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) allegedly for his involvement in terror-related activities. Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, was quick to come to Khurram’s defense publicly and emphatically stating that, “He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender”.