The United Nations in its annual report has raised the issue of Waheed Ur Rehman Para, the youth head of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), stating that he was imprisoned after “his engagement with members of the UN Security Council.”
“On 16 March 2021, special procedures mandate holders raised concern about allegations of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment of Mr. Waheed Ur Rehman Para and other civil society actors, and reprisals against Mr. Para by Indian intelligence following his engagement with members of the UN Human Rights Council,” according to the annual report presented to the UN Human Rights Council.
The report recorded charges of reprisals and intimidation against 240 civil society individuals, activists, and journalists in dozens of countries, including India in the period May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021.
Para also met with UN Security Council members in a closed virtual meeting on July 30, 2020, where “he discussed issues pertaining to the Government of India’s activities in Jammu Kashmir, its treatment of Muslim minorities, and recent border tensions with China,” according to the report.
“Following this engagement, Mr. Para reportedly received threats from National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials indicating that he was inviting trouble by engaging in such events,” the report adds.
On 25 November 2020, Para was arrested by the NIA on alleged terrorism charges and held in their custody for one month at its headquarters in New Delhi.
In the NIA custody, Mr. Para was reportedly interrogated about the meeting with Security Council members and threatened to cease speaking against the Government. Para was interrogated and held in a dark underground cell at sub-zero temperature and was allegedly deprived of sleep, seriously physically assaulted, including beaten with rods, stripped naked, and hung upside down, the report added.
On 11 January 2021, Para was charged in “relation to financial support to terrorist groups and transferred to Srinagar under the custody of Counter-Intelligence in Kashmir. He reportedly appeared before court with a lawyer for a bail hearing, which was denied. As of May 2021, he remains in remand,” the report added.
However, the report also adds that on 20 August 2021, the government responded to the UN, “vehemently denying the alleged arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture and ill-treatment against Mr. Para by the NIA”.
“It added that the Agency’s actions should be seen in the context of the government’s efforts to combat terrorism financing. The case is currently pending before the relevant court, and in the interim, Mr. Para has received medical treatment and has been allowed to speak with his attorney while in police custody,” according to the report.