Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj released on bail | Human Rights Issues

Indian authorities released the two men after years in prison, although both remain under court-imposed bans.

Indian authorities have released Kashmiri human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj on bail after years in prison on “terrorist” financing charges, although both remain under court-imposed bans.

The two men were released from a New Delhi jail on Wednesday, their relatives said, as India’s National Investigation Agency seeks to recover their ransom – the latest headline in what rights groups call New Delhi’s. temporary stress on activists, journalists and dissidents in India who are controlled by Kashmir since 2019 when they renounced the independence of the region, which was granted by the Constitution of India.

Parvez, program coordinator of Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was was built in 2021 and the National Investigation Agency at his residence in Srinagar.

Mehraj, a freelance journalist who works with the same freedom group as a researcher, was arrested in 2023.

Both are charged with “supporting terrorism” and “spreading separatist propaganda” under India’s strict “antiterrorism” laws, which allow authorities to detain people indefinitely without trial.

The National Investigation Agency accuses the duo of using JKCCS to finance terrorist activities and promote a separatist agenda. Both men deny the allegations.

A lower court granted them bail last week, but the agency appealed. The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to stay the verdict even as it imposed stricter restrictions on the men’s movements and activities while it hears the appeal.

Under bail, the two must prepare to stay in the capital, where they are being tried, and cannot travel to Kashmir, according to a court document seen by news agency AFP. Hearings in the case will continue in the coming weeks.

Violation of human rights

JKCCS has been writing for many years violation of rights and Indian government forces in Kashmir, including torture and unlawful killings, and pointed to countless mass graves along the border suspected of holding “enforced disappearances”.

Human rights organizations around the world, including the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, have been calling for the men’s release, saying they were imprisoned for their work.

In 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that Parvez’s arrest was “retribution for his human rights work, and an attempt to silence him and all Kashmiri organizations”.

After their release, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Paris-based World Organization Against Torture said the pair had been arrested on “false charges” and called on the Indian authorities to drop the case, calling it politically motivated.

Journalists in Indian-administered Kashmir have reportedly faced harassment and arrests since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the region’s autonomy.

From 2019 to 2023, more than 3,600 people were arrested there under anti-terrorism laws, more than half of whom remain in prison, according to government statistics.

The Muslim majority of Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since they gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both countries claim the entire region.

Terrorist groups have been fighting the Indian government since 1989, demanding independence or an alliance with Pakistan. The war has killed thousands of people, mostly civilians.