Written evidence submitted by the Sikh
Federation (UK)
INTRODUCTION
1. This written memorandum on the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report on Human Rights 2004 has
been submitted following a request by the Foreign Affairs Committee.
We are delighted the Committee is holding an inquiry into this
matter and would welcome an opportunity to give oral evidence
to the distinguished members of the Committee.
2. The evidence submitted by the Sikh Federation
(UK) relates to the complete absence of any information contained
in the report about the human rights situation in India with regards
to Sikhs. We also bring together and comment on references contained
in the report to the lack of respect for human rights in India,
as we feel this is one of the shortcomings in the report that
may equally apply to many other countries.
3. We hope our submission highlights the
offence that can be caused to the likes of the British Sikh community
when our own Foreign and Commonwealth Office ignores the wealth
of information available about the human rights situation in India.
It had been hoped that officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office responsible for compiling the Annual Report on Human Rights
would have been more sensitive and in closer contact with the
British Sikh community to ensure Sikh concerns were reflected.
4. This was particularly important as 2004
marked the 20th anniversary of the massacre of Sikhs in June and
November 1984 for which there has been no justice for the Sikhs.
Many Parliamentarians have raised concerns with the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office through discussions with Ministers, correspondence,
Parliamentary Questions and Early Day Motions.
REFERENCE TO
SIKHS AND
INDIA IN
THE ANNUAL
REPORT 2004
5. The most disappointing aspect of the
Annual Report on Human Rights 2004 is there is no reference whatsoever
to Sikh human rights abuses by India in the 300+ page report.
In fact the only reference to Sikhs is at page 76, which shows
a photograph of Panjabi dancers, which the report incorrectly
refers to as Sikh dancers.
6. We did however note several observations
in the report regarding India's position on human rights.
INDIA IS
THE ONLY
COUNTRY THAT
DID NOT
SUPPORT THE
RESOLUTION AT
THE UN GENERAL
ASSEMBLY REGARDING
THE PROTECTION
OF HUMAN
RIGHTS WHILE
COUNTERING TERRORISM
7. On page 117 it is stated that India was
the only country not to vote in favour of the UN General Assembly
resolution on the protection of human rights while countering
terrorism. We are pleased the UK notes its disappointment that
the resolution could not be adopted by consensus.
8. In our opinion India's unilateral opposition
to the protection of human rights while countering terrorism highlights
a fundamental weakness in India's respect for and approach to
human rights. The Sikh community has suffered enormously in the
last twenty five years due to India's complete disregard for human
rights using the excuse of countering insurgency in Punjab.
INDIA CONTINUES
TO FAIL
TO RATIFY
THE INTERNATIONAL
CRIMINAL COURT
9. The report also notes India's failure
to accede to the Rome Statute which established the International
Criminal Court (ICC). We fully agree the ICC represents a major
advance in international justice and the fight against impunity
for perpetrators of international crimes. We applaud the 37 lobbying
exercises carried out by the EU from July 2003 to June 2004 urging
states to ratify the Rome Statute.
10. However, the British Sikh community
regards the failure of India to ratify the Rome Statute as most
disappointing and another example of India's refusal to accept
international law, which they breached with the massacre of tens
of thousands of Sikhs in June and then in November 1984 and the
continued abuse of human rights for the last twenty years. Many
accept these wrongdoings constitute the most serious international
crimes since Indian independence.
HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS BY
INDIAN SECURITY
FORCES CONTINUE
IN KASHMIR
AND PUNJAB
AND THE
UN AND INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS
ORGANISATIONS CONTINUE
TO BE
DENIED ACCESS
11. On page 144 it is stated "We remain
however concerned at the credible reports of human rights violations
by Indian security forces operating in Kashmir. In our contacts
with them, we urge the Indian authorities to investigate all abuses
of human rights, and to bring the perpetrators to justice. We
also encourage the Indian authorities to permit international
human rights organisations to operate effectively in Kashmir."
12. We are most disappointed that the report
fails to make any mention of human rights violations of the Sikhs
in Punjab and India's failure to allow Amnesty International and
the UN Rapporteur on Torture access to Punjab since 1984. This
is particularly worrying as these issues have been raised publicly
by MPs in Parliament in the last two years via Early Day Motions
(Annex A) and Parliamentary Questions (Annex B).
INDIA DEFIES
THE UN AND
ENDS THE
MORATORIUM ON
THE DEATH
PENALTY
13. On page 189 the report states "The
EU lobbied strongly against the execution of Dhanomjoy Chaterjee
on 14 August, which ended the long-standing moratorium on the
death penalty in India." British Sikhs find India's position
on the death penalty totally unacceptable and the ending of the
moratorium as a most backward and retrograde step.
14. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
is very much aware of the death penalty imposed on the Sikh activist
Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar who was returned to India
from Germany. This matter has been raised by many Parliamentarians
in the UK and at the EU level. As British Sikhs we are deeply
concerned with the case of Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar
and would have expected the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to
use the likes of the Annual Report to highlight such cases so
India feels UK pressure on the issue of the death penalty and
the specific case of the Professor (Annex C). There are around
one hundred Sikh political prisoners that are known to British
Sikhs that are still languishing in Indian jails, some have been
held for many years without yet being charged or convicted.
HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS OF
SIKHS IN
INDIA
15. In this section we draw your attention
and that of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to reports and
press statements recently issued by:
— Human Rights Advisory Group to the
Panjabis in Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group.
16. References to other independent sources
over the last decade are also given (Annex E). Our aim is to demonstrate,
without going into the details, that there are many independent
references we would expect the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
to consider if it is to provide a rigorous exposé of the
human rights situation in a country like India.
17. The importance of published documents,
such as the Human Rights Annual Report 2004 and related Home Office
reports, was most recently demonstrated to us last week by the
asylum case of Sikh activist Bharpoor Singh in Japan.
18. The Ministry of Justice in Japan are
quoting reports produced by the UK Government to suggest Sikhs
do not face any threats in India. They are using this information
to try and expel Bharpoor Singh (39), his wife Gursharan Jeet
Kaur (29), five year old son Gursewak Singh, two one year old
twins Mohanbir Singh and Antarjot Kaur.
19. Based on the experiences in similar
cases Bharpoor Singh, if returned to India, will almost certainly
face imprisonment, torture and his life will be in great danger.
This case demonstrates why reports produced by the UK Government
must be comprehensive and accurate.
US STATE DEPARTMENT
2004 REPORT
20. The US State Department in its latest
India Country Report published on 25 February 2004 points out
in the introduction that numerous serious problems remain in India.
"Significant human rights abuses included: Extrajudicial
killings, including faked encounter killings, custodial deaths
throughout the country, and excessive use of force by security
forces . . . ; torture and rape by police and other agents of
the Government; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicado
detention . . . ; continued detention throughout the country of
thousands arrested under special security legislation; lengthy
pre-trial detention without charge; prolonged detention while
undergoing trial; occasional limits on freedom of the press and
freedom of movement; harassment and arrest of human rights monitors."
21. The report also states; "Punjab's
Human Rights Commission (PHRC) in 2002-03 received 995 complaints
of human rights violations." It further states: "During
the year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) commended the Committee for
Coordination of Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP), a Punjab-based
human rights organisation, for its 634-page report documenting
672 of the "disappearance" cases currently pending before
the National Human Rights Commission."
22. We are surprised the Annual Report on
Human Rights 2004 makes no reference to any of the points above
considering the human rights situation in India.
PRESS STATEMENTS
FROM HUMAN
RIGHTS WATCH
AND AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
23. More recently Human Rights Watch (HRW)
and Amnesty International both issued press statements at the
end of October 2004 (Annex D). Human Rights Watch in its press
statement "India: Prosecute Killers of Sikhs—End two
decades of impunity" called for an end to political protection
for organisers of violence against tens of thousands of Sikhs.
Amnesty International in its press statement "India: Punjab—Twenty
years on impunity continues" urged the Indian authorities
to ensure that the perpetrators of the violence carried out against
the Sikh community, in 1984, be brought to justice. Amnesty International
also called on the Indian authorities "to end impunity for
perpetrators of human rights violations carried out in Punjab
state between the mid 1980's and 1990's. Until justice is delivered
to victims and their families the wounds left by this period remain
open."
24. Whilst the release of these press statements
may have come too late for the Annual Report on Human Rights 2004.
Neither should come as a surprise to the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office. We are extremely disappointed the Annual Report makes
no mention of 1984 and the lack of justice for Sikhs in the last
twenty years.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
REPORT 2003—INDIA:
BREAK THE
CYCLE OF
IMPUNITY AND
TORTURE IN
PUNJAB
25. In 2003 Amnesty International issued
a 60-page report "India: Break the cycle of impunity and
torture in Punjab." This detailed the torture and custodial
violence that continues to be regularly reported in Punjab. Amnesty
International found that regular incidents of torture and custodial
violence in the Punjab occur even today.
26. The Amnesty International report highlighted
the continuation of serious human rights violations due to the
way the police and the criminal justice system function in Punjab.
Amnesty pointed to the fact that virtually none of the police
officers responsible for a range of human rights violations—including
torture, deaths in custody, extra-judicial executions and "disappearances"
have been brought to justice, creating an atmosphere in which
state officials appear to believe that they can violate people's
fundamental rights with impunity.
27. Amnesty International pointed out that
"thousands of families were still waiting to know the fate
of relatives who have "disappeared". Until justice and
truth is delivered to these families, the wounds . . . will remain
open." Amnesty issued a Public Statement later in 2003 expressing
solidarity with the families of those disappeared in Punjab.
28. Given this relatively recent Amnesty
International report specifically relating to impunity for police
officers and the continuing incidents of torture and custodial
violence in Punjab it is surprising the Annual Report on Human
Rights 2004 remains totally silent on the situation in Punjab.
HUMAN RIGHTS
ADVISORY GROUP
2004 REPORT—TWENTY
YEARS ON—A
CALL FOR
ACTION
29. The Human Rights Advisory Group of the
Panjabis In Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group recently released
a report "Twenty years on—A call for action".
The report reflects the views of UK MPs. At the launch of the
report one MP describing the report said "it's horrifying,
it chills your blood and it's worth reading, it's a very sobering
report".
30. The report concludes by recommending
the following measures be taken by the international community:
— A UN investigation should be set
up to investigate the persistent failure of successive Indian
Governments to ensure the prosecution of those alleged to be responsible
for the killings and destruction. That UN initiative should require
the Indian authorities to:
— Take action against those responsible
including proportionate criminal sanctions.
— Ensure that the victims (or their
families) are adequately compensated and provided for.
— Appropriate sanctions (trade and
diplomatic) should be applied, both by the UN and by individual
states, in case of default by the Indian authorities in relation
to these UN requirements.
— All Governments should ensure that
those reportedly responsible for these gross human rights violations
are denied entry to their respective States until such time they
have been subjected to the due processes of investigation and
criminal proceedings. Failure to do this will encourage a sense
of impunity for the perpetrators. If any such persons are found
to have entered the territory of any State, consideration should
be given to prosecuting those persons under applicable local and
international law.
— Threats of violence and intimidation
against those championing the rights of the victims and their
families and seeking prosecution of the guilty should be roundly
condemned. The international community must require India to secure
the safety of human rights defenders so that justice can be done.
31. The recommendations in this report demonstrate
the strength of feeling of UK Members of Parliament from all the
main political parties about the need for action against India.
It is regrettable that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office chooses
to ignore the views of UK MPs and not reflect it in the Annual
Report on Human Rights 2004.
CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
32. Given the United Kingdom currently plays
a leading role in the fight against terrorism, supports the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and rejects the notion that criticism
of a country's human rights record means interfering in it's internal
affairs we believe the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual
Report on Human Rights 2004 should not have remained silent on
the continued abuse of Sikh human rights that many independent
human rights groups have documented. In addition, we believe it
is incumbent on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the Annual
Report should reflect the views of the British Sikh community
and our democratically elected representatives.
33. We suggest the UK call for an independent
international investigation into the Sikh human rights abuses
that have occurred over the last twenty five years and India's
response and progress is reflected in the Annual Report for 2005.
The investigation should address the following issues that are
of concern to the British Sikh community:
— Full independent investigations into:
— torture allegations against the
police;
— current detention procedures;
— current medical examination procedures
for torture victims;
— interrogation procedures currently
used; and
— failings in India's criminal
justice system.
34. The independent international investigation
will hopefully provide an opportunity to achieve important safeguards.
It is suggested that this should include:
— Greater openness and co-operation
by India with international human rights organisations.
— Implementation of safeguards and
procedures for arrest, detention, medical examination and interrogation
of detainees.
— Implementation of effective human
rights training to Indian police.
— An increase in legal aid assistance
in the Punjab for justice of victims.
— A plan to solve institutional problems,
which facilitate torture.
— Prosecution of those responsible
for torture.
— Reparation to victims of torture.
35. Until action is taken by India and the
international community Sikh's will continue to be tortured and
denied their basic human rights. Immediate action must be taken
to stop the "ethnic cleansing" and elimination of Sikhs.
Greater honesty and changes to fuller and more accurate reporting
of human rights abuses is an absolute must.
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