Parvez Imroz

Parvez Imroz is a Kashmiri human rights lawyer and a civil rights activist in Srinagar, the summer capital of the Jammu and Kashmir, India.

He is the founder and President of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) that works to build local alliances between Kashmiri civil society groups, runs advocacy campaigns, documents rights violations and provides legal assistance to victims.[1][2] He is also convener of International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-administered Kashmir alongside Angana Chatterji, Gautam Navlakha and Zaheer-Ud-Din.[3]

He has filed thousands of habeas corpus actions on behalf of families who claimed their relatives had vanished while in the custody of the Indian security forces. In 2008, along with his team, he first discovered the huge number of mass graves in J&K. Reportedly his group exposed more than 7,000 mass graves in the region over the years, on which no action has yet been taken by the government.[4][2]

Awards

He was awarded the eleventh Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize by Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France and the European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE) in 2006, that was first given to Nelson Mandela.[5] In 2017, he was awarded the Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize for Human Rights along with Parveena Ahanger.[6][7][8]

Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS)

Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) is a group of organizations and individuals in Jammu and Kashmir whose main focus of area is human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. It was founded on 20 June 2000. The society consists of individuals like Parvez Imroz (founder and President) and Khurram Parvez, and organisations like Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), Public Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) and the International Peoples’ Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK).[9][10]

Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society is a regular opinion leader and their statements are featured in various articles related to issues in Jammu and Kashmir. JKCCS also comes out with various reports, and conducts documentation and legal proceedings related to human rights issues in Jammu and Kashmir.[11][12][13]

Members of JKCCS have won various domestic and international awards for human rights work done in Jammu and Kashmir such as Khurram Parvez who won the Reebok Human Rights Award in 2006,[14] and other members of JKCCS are well known human rights defenders such as Natasha Rather, a Front Line Defender, who also co-authored the book 'Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora?'.[10]

The organization was awarded the 23rd Tji Hak-soon Justice and Peace Prize for work on protection of human rights and promoting justice and peace.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Q&A: 'Element of fear is gone' for Kashmir's youth". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b Fahad Shah. "Exposed: India's Silence Over Human Rights Violations in Kashmir". The Diplomat. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  3. ^ "Conveners, Legal Counsel, and Liaison". kashmirprocess.org. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  4. ^ Scott-Clark, Cathy (9 July 2012). "The mass graves of Kashmir". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Parvez IMROZ - Ludovic-Trarieux International Human Rights Prize 2006". ludovictrarieux.org. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Parveena Ahangar, Parvez Imroz Awarded Norway's Rafto Prize for Human Rights". The Wire. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Parveena Ahangar & Parvez Imroz". The Rafto Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  8. ^ "Parveena Ahangar, Parvez Imroz Awarded Norway's Rafto Prize for Human Rights". The Wire. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Who we are – Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS)". jkccs.net. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b "NATASHA RATHER - HRD, WRITER Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS)". Front Line Defenders.
  11. ^ "'Tip of the iceberg'". www.frontline.in. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Terrorized: Impact of Violence on the Children of Jammu and Kashmir". jkccs.net. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  13. ^ "J&K: 318 children killed since 2003, most shot dead, reveals report". The Indian Express. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  14. ^ "J&K activist gets Reebok Human Rights Award". Rediff. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  15. ^ "South Korean Human Rights Award to Rafto Laureate 2017 Parvez Imroz". The Rafto Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.