NEW YORK (Jan. 30, 2026) — Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) submitted an individual complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Irfan Mehraj, urging the group to declare his detention arbitrary and in violation of international law. Mehraj was scheduled to appear in court today.
Mehraj, an independent journalist who has reported for international and local news outlets, was arrested on March 20, 2023 by agents of India’s counter-terrorism agency, the National Intelligence Agency. Nearly three years later, he remains in prolonged pre-trial detention in a maximum-security prison in New Delhi, more than 500 miles from his home city of Srinagar. Indian courts have relentlessly extended his pretrial detention, while his bail application remains undecided and his trial has yet to begin.
“Mehraj’s case exemplifies India’s practice of ‘trial by jail,’” said HRF Legal and Research Officer Hannah Van Dijcke. “Dissidents are subjected to indefinite pre-trial detention, whereby the legal process itself becomes the punishment.”
Indian officials allege Mehraj’s detention is linked to his past association with the human rights organization Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), leveling accusations of terrorism and secessionism against him in connection with the so-called “NGO terror funding case.” These allegations form part of a broader investigation launched against JKCSS and other Kashmiri NGOs in 2020, which have been widely criticized by international observers, including the WGAD itself. Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez remains detained under the same case.
Contrary to the government’s narrative, Mehraj’s journalism reflects an unwavering commitment to documenting human rights concerns in Kashmir. His reporting has covered a wide range of issues, including young women volunteering during the 2014 floods in Srinagar, human rights abuses faced by Pandits, Kashmir’s Hindu minority, and ongoing violations by authorities in the region.
“The continuing arbitrary detention of Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Irfan Mehraj under the so-called ‘NGO terror funding case’ amounts to a serious violation of the rights of journalists and human rights defenders,” denounces Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, FORUM-ASIA’s executive director. “His detention appears to be in retaliation for his legitimate journalistic and human rights work and reflects a broader pattern of persecution targeting independent voices in Indian-administered Kashmir. Alongside the continued detention of Khurram Parvez, his case highlights India’s failure to protect freedom of expression and to meet its international human rights obligations.”
In their submission, HRF and FORUM-ASIA urge the WGAD to investigate Mehraj’s case, to declare his detention arbitrary and in violation of international law, and to call on the Indian government to immediately and unconditionally release him. As Mehraj wrote in a 2022 message to the people of Kashmir, “Every day we live, a new hope is born.”
Supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
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