On 18 July 2026, a District and Sessions Judge in New Delhi granted bail to Kashmiri human rights defenders Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj in a case for which they were arrested in March 2023. Khurram and Irfan were released on bail, subject to stringent bail conditions, on 22 July 2026. While this decision offers some relief after 1,703 days of arbitrary detention without trial for Khurram and 1,219 days for Irfan, harassment through legal means against them continues. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, welcome their release on bail and demand that Indian authorities immediately drop all charges against them and terminate ongoing legal proceedings.
22 July 2022. The case in which Khurram Parvez, a prominent Kashmiri human rights defender, and Irfan Mehraj, a Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender – both associated with the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) – have been granted bail involves trumped-up charges of “funding terror activities” and “propagation of secessionist agenda” in retaliation for their widely respected and recognised human rights documentation and accountability work through JKCCS. On 18 July 2026, a New Delhi District Court held the bail hearing in this case.
This decision follows a 10 June 2026 ruling by the Delhi High Court, which granted bail to Khurram in another case against him, subject to 13 conditions including a bond of 600,000 INR (approximately 5,564 Euros), mandatory residence in the National Capital Territory of Delhi - almost 900 km from his home - passport surrender, and a ban on public statements. Since then, his legal team and family have worked urgently to meet these requirements to secure his release.
Khurram Parvez, Coordinator of the JKCCS and Deputy Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has documented for years human rights violations in Indian-administered Kashmir, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. He was a long-time collaborator with UN human rights mechanisms and received the 2023 Martin Ennals Award for his tireless work pursuing justice and accountability.
Arrested on 22 November 2021 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on politically motivated charges under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) - an anti-terror law frequently misused to target human rights defenders and dissenting voices - Khurram has been detained in Rohini Jail, New Delhi, since then and repeatedly denied bail.
The Observatory recalls that in June 2023, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), in its Opinion No. 8/2023, determined that Khurram Parvez’s detention was arbitrary and called on the Indian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release him.
Although the conditional release of the two defenders comes as a relief, after a prolonged period of arbitrary pre-trial detention, the harassment through legal means against them continues, in a context of longstanding and ongoing grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Observatory calls on the Indian authorities to drop all charges against Khurram and Irfan, as they are part of politically motivated proceedings aimed at discrediting their legitimate work and the JKCCS.
The Observatory calls on the Indian authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations, cease the criminalisation of human rights work, and guarantee protection from all acts of reprisals.
