Pakistan urges India to release arrested Kashmiri activist

5 Dariya News

Islamabad 27-Sep-2016

Pakistan on Tuesday "strongly" condemned the continued "illegal detention" of Kashmiri rights activist Khurram Parvez and urged India to release him immediately and unconditionally.In a statement, the Pakistan Foreign Office said Parvez has been slapped with the "draconian law 'Public Safety Act' and arrested on flimsy grounds".It said that despite the court orders for his release, "Parvez is being kept under illegal detention". Human rights organisations, like Amnesty International, have urged India for his immediate and unconditional release. Parvez is Chairperson of Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Programme Coordinator of Jammu & Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) which released a report last year highlighting "obnoxious human rights violations being committed in IOK by Indian occupational forces", it said.Pakistan also urged India "to desist from stifling the voices of human rights defenders and media personnel" in Jammu & Kashmir.