On September 15th, 2016, prominent human rights activist, Khurram Parvez, program coordinator with the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), was detained by state security forces in India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir. The next day he was taken to Kupwara sub-jail, and there is a very immediate and deadly serious concern for his safety and well being.

The Indian state security and military apparatus currently occupying Jammu & Kashmir (one of the densest, highly militarized zones in the world) is known to "disappear" human rights activists and other people in Kashmir utilizing fake encounters, torture, extrajudicial killings, and fake "missing person" reports. Khurram Parvez - who has fought for human rights and has a long history of highlighting human rights violations by the Indian state - is in danger at the hands of the state's security forces.

We, the undersigned, call on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, to put pressure on the Indian Government, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister's Office as well as Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the Home Ministry - to immediately release human rights activist, Khurram Parvez.

We further demand pressure be put on the Indian government to end to all forms of militarism and state-repression in Kashmir that can then pave the way for the people of Kashmir to determine their own future in a truly democratic fashion.