Two international human rights groups have approached a United Nations body seeking the release of Kashmiri journalist Irfan Mehraj, saying his continued detention without trial violates international law.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) said they filed a complaint on Jan. 30 with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, asking it to declare Mehraj’s detention arbitrary and to call for his immediate release.
Mehraj, an independent journalist who has reported for both Indian and international media outlets, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on March 20, 2023. He remains in judicial custody at Tihar Jail in Delhi, with courts extending his pre-trial detention while his bail application is yet to be decided and his trial has not begun, according to the rights groups.
Investigating agencies allege Mehraj’s detention is linked to his past association with the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a Srinagar-based human rights organisation. He has been booked under terrorism- and secession-related provisions in what authorities describe as an “NGO terror funding” case.
The case stems from a wider investigation launched in 2020 against JKCCS and several other Kashmir-based organisations. The probe has drawn criticism from international rights bodies and UN experts, while Indian authorities have maintained that the action was taken under existing laws to protect national security.
Another Kashmiri human rights activist, Khurram Parvez, remains in custody under the same case.
HRF said Mehraj’s prolonged pre-trial detention amounted to what it called “trial by jail,” arguing that the legal process itself was being used as punishment. FORUM-ASIA said the journalist’s detention appeared to be linked to his reporting and human rights work and warned that the case reflected growing pressure on independent journalists and activists in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian government has consistently rejected allegations of targeting journalists and rights defenders, saying that arrests and prosecutions are carried out in accordance with the law and that those accused have access to due process through the courts.