Mohammad Ahsan Untoo

Mohammad Ahsan Untoo is a human rights defender based in Indian-Administered Kashmir. Before his arrest, he was the Chairperson of the International Forum for Justice and Human Rights Jammu and Kashmir. He has worked extensively to seek justice for victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and sexual violence by the Indian Armed Forces since 1990. His work has also been instrumental in the identification of mass graves, documentation of the use of pellet guns by Indian forces on unarmed protesters, and providing legal aid to prisoners and families of victims of state violence. The human rights defender was jailed for four years in 2004 under the previous anti-terror legislation in India. He was most recently arrested in January 2022 and is jailed under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.