The following is the Statement from Parveena Ahangar pertaining to the NIA raid on APDP’s office and seizure of APDP’s documents on 28th October 2020.
Recent Updates
120 Days: 5th August to 5th December — A Report by APDP
This report is a narrative of the situation that arose in Kashmir valley, after the events of August 5th 2019. The report sheds light on the impact of the abrogation of Article 370 in the Indian Administered State of Jammu of Kashmir. The report highlights the political history of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and outlines its accession to the Union of India. Further, it looks into the history of Article 370 and its incorporation into the Indian Constitution. It also makes a detailed study into its constant erosion by the Indian State, from time to time.
Universal Periodic Review Response – APDP Press Release
The response of the Indian state to the recommendations as laid down during the UPR3 in 2017 has come. The member countries like Pakistan, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Germany, Norway etc have recommended certain measures to be taken to improve the existing laws in India. Some countries like Pakistan and Germany had shown displeasure over the draconian laws like AFSPA that have been implemented in Kashmir in particular.
Indian state, like always, has responded in vague. It has again repeated to rectify some treaties like it had promised in the last two UPR’s. It has provided certain justification to the continual implementation of AFSPA in certain parts of India and in Kashmir.
India in its response has justified the presence of AFSPA by playing the card of national security interests and linked it with terrorism. However, we maintain that this is a ploy to dodge the repeal of AFSPA.
Universal Periodic Preview – APDP Press Release
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. The UPR is a State-driven process, under the auspices of the Human Rights Council, which provides the opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situations in their countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations. As one of the main features of the Council, the UPR is designed to ensure equal treatment for every country when their human rights ssituations are assessed.
The UPR was created through the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by resolution 60/251, which established the Human Rights Council itself. It is a cooperative process which, by October 2011, has reviewed the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States. Currently, no other universal mechanism of this kind exists. The ultimate aim of this mechanism is to improve the human rights situation in all countries and address human rights violations wherever they occur.
My World is Dark — State Violence and Pellet-firing Shotgun Victims from the 2016 Uprising in Kashmir
This report records testimonies from 23 victims of pellet gun injuries. These testimonies reveal how the injuries have completely transformed the victims’ lives and destroyed their futures, rendering people unemployed and impoverished, in a helpless state.
Researchers from the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a human rights organization based in Srinagar, Kashmir, have collected nearly 300 testimonies of pellet gun victims. This is only a fraction of the total number of victims. When placed within the context of stepped-up state repression following popular protests in 2016, they portray a state of total war against a civilian population.
2017 Rafto Prize for Human Rights – Parveena Ahangar and Parvez Imroz
Parveena Ahangar and Parvez Imroz have long been at the forefront of the struggle against arbitrary abuses of power in a region of India that has borne the brunt of escalating violence, militarisation and international tension.
Their long campaign to expose human rights violations, promote dialogue and seek peaceful solutions to the intractable conflict in Kashmir has inspired new generations across communities. Parveena Ahangar protests against enforced dissapearances and challenges the perpetrators of violence. She is the founder and leader of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) which arranges peaceful protests and offers practical assistance to victims.
The Dear Disappeared (2018) – Iffat Fatima
The Dear Disappeared (2018) – is a film about the enforced disappearance of Fayaz Ahmad Beigh, Srinagar, Kashmir in 1990. This film has been partially funded through Dr. Goldie Osuri’s collaborative project with The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (The project was funded by the University of Warwick’s Social Sciences ESRC Impact Acceleration Account).
August 30, 2018 – APDP Press Release
APDP commemorates the struggles of the victim families to seek justice. APDP wants the world community to pressurize the Indian state to look into the systemic and systematic enforced disappearances and bring the perpetuators to the book and punish them.
APDP also commemorates thanks the people of Jammu Kashmir for supporting it for the pursuance of justice. Without the peoples help in the movement, the continuing of the demand for justice would not have been possible.
The Endless Wait for Justice: Enforced Disappearances in Kashmir – by Video Volunteers
Nadiya Shafi reports from Jammu & Kashmir for Video Volunteers. Parveena Ahangar has united victims across the valley to demand that the state gives them back their disappeared family members.
July 10, 2018 – APDP Press Release
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) welcomes the recent human rights report of United Nations on Kashmir published on 14th June 2018 by the Office of High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) . The OHCHR report highlighted the gross human rights violations done by the military apparatus of India in Kashmir, including enforced disappearances, unlawful killings of the civilians, rapes, torture, unlawful detentions and maiming of civilians by the forces besides other things. The OHCHR recommended to India to take a serious note of these violations and stop them.