A/HRC/42/30
the High Court of New Delhi held a last hearing on 2 May 2019 and the matter is still
pending. The case had been posted to 30 July 2019.
59.
The situation of Mr. Khurram Parvez, Chairperson of the Asian Federation Against
Involuntary Disappearances and Program Coordinator of the Central Jammu and Kashmir
Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was included in the 2017 and 2018 reports of the
Secretary-General (A/HRC/36/31, paras. 36; A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, paras 23–24). Mr.
Parvez was reportedly subjected to travel bans, arbitrary arrest and detention in relation to
his cooperation with the Human Rights Council, the Working Group on Enforced and
Involuntary Disappearances, and the UPR. Mr. Parvez was a source of information
collected for an OHCHR report published in June 2018 on the human rights situation in the
State of Jammu and Kashmir138 and has reportedly suffered reprisals for this. The police
filed “First Information Reports” before a court in Srinagar for three cases, for which
hearings were held in March 2019, April 2019, and May 2019. At the time of writing, it
was reported that no witnesses had been produced and the outcomes of the hearings were
pending.
14.
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
60.
The case of Ms. Raheleh Rahemipor was included in the 2017 (A/HRC/36/31, para.
37 and Annex, paras. 41–42) and 2018 (A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, paras. 25–27) reports of
the Secretary-General concerning allegations of continuous judicial harassment for her
efforts in seeking the truth about the fate and whereabouts of her brother, Mr. Hossein
Rahemipor, and his infant daughter, raised by special procedures mandate holders (IRN
9/2018). Their disappearances have been registered with the Working Group on Enforced
and Involuntary Disappearances since June 2016. In 2017, Ms. Rahemipor was sentenced to
a year in prison “for spreading propaganda against the system” and arrested while her first
case was under appeal. During interrogation, she was allegedly pressured to withdraw the
complaints to the Working Group, which she refused. The situation was addressed by
several special procedures (IRN 23/2016; IRN 29/2016; IRN 3/2017; IRN 27/2017) as well
as in the February 2018 Secretary-General’s report on the human rights situation in Iran
(see A/HRC/37/24, para. 47).
61.
The Government responded on 4 September 2018 stating that the allegations were
false and that Ms. Rahemipor had circulated fabricated claims with the help of a terrorist
group. However, her sentencing had not been finalized and she was not in prison.139
According to reports, on 9 April 2019 Ms. Rahemipor was informed that her previously
imposed prison sentence had been changed to a fine.
15.
Iraq
62.
The situation of Mr. Imad Amara of Al Wissam Humanitarian Assembly was
included in the 2016 (A/HRC/33/19, para. 24), 2017 (A/HRC/36/31, Annex II, para. 4), and
2018 (A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, para. 28) reports of the Secretary-General in relation to his
arbitrary arrest, interrogation and ill-treatment for his and others’ documentation of cases of
enforced disappearances and submission of information to the UN human rights
mechanisms. In May 2019, it was reported that Mr. Amara was continually prevented from
carrying out his peaceful human rights work. He and two other Al Wissam Humanitarian
Assembly volunteers were arrested by plain-clothes officers during a peaceful
demonstration against corruption in Tahrir Square in Baghdad. The officers handcuffed and
blindfolded them before taking them to an unknown location. The three men were then
insulted, severely beaten and questioned about their involvement with Al Wissam
138
139
OHCHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of
Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad
Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit – Baltistan (14 June 2018).
Response from Government: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/
DownLoadFile?gId=34541.
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