Bangkok rights summit urges release of jailed Kashmiri activist
At the global civil society summit, activists highlight shrinking civic space and demand justice for Khurram Parvez and other detained rights defenders
BANGKOK, Thailand (MNTV) — Hundreds of human-rights defenders from across the world have rallied behind jailed Kashmiri activist Khurram Parvez, calling his imprisonment under India’s anti-terror law an assault on the right to document state abuses.
The expression of solidarity came during the opening session of the 16th International Civil Society Week (ICSW), a five-day global summit taking place in Bangkok from November 1 to 5, convened by CIVICUS and the Asia Democracy Network.
The forum, which gathered more than 1,300 activists, scholars, and advocacy groups, opened with a collective appeal for Parvez’s release through the #StandAsMyWitness campaign — a global initiative defending persecuted rights workers.
Parvez, one of South Asia’s most prominent human-rights defenders, has been held without trial since November 2021 under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The campaign described his continued detention as “the incarceration of a people’s right to remember,” saying his work exposed enforced disappearances, torture, and the discovery of unmarked graves in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Organizers said Parvez symbolizes “the institutional memory of Kashmir’s human-rights movement” — a memory the state seeks to erase by criminalizing fact-finding and archiving. “When defenders are accused of terrorism, campaigns like this reclaim the moral vocabulary that repression tries to erase,” read the statement issued by FORUM-ASIA, one of the summit hosts.
Parvez heads the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), serves as Chair of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), and is Deputy Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). His investigations into mass graves and civilian killings have earned him global honors, including the Martin Ennals Award in 2023 and the Reebok Human Rights Award in 2006.
Participants at the summit said his imprisonment is part of a broader global pattern where states weaponize national-security laws to silence civil society. “Defending rights is not terrorism,” the statement affirmed, urging governments to respect the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
Parvez, currently detained at New Delhi’s Rohini Jail, has repeatedly been denied bail. Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj and other JKCCS members face similar charges, reflecting what observers describe as a sustained crackdown on independent documentation in Kashmir since the region’s semi-autonomy was revoked in 2019.
ICSW organizers said campaigns like #StandAsMyWitness and #SpreadingTheEcho have previously helped free jailed activists worldwide and vowed to keep Parvez’s case visible. “The state’s problem is not Khurram’s freedom — it is his relevance,” one declaration read.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
