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N
E W S October
10, 2003: UK & USA
During the first week of September 2003, two police officers from Punjab were invited to attend an Anglo-Indian police conference in the UK. These two officers are said to be responsible for the torture of Sikh activists in the late 80's and early 90's. Amnesty International spokeswoman Lesley Warner told the icLiverpool online newspaper that: "Amnesty is concerned that some of the invitees to the UK-Indo Police conference in Liverpool may have been involved in cases of torture, 'disappearance' and extrajudicial executions while serving in the state of Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s." Inspector General Sanjeev Gupta is currently being prosecuted by India's Central Bureau of Investigation for the 1993 disappearance of Captain Sukhdev Singh, who was in his custody at the time. There are allegations against Mohammad Izhar Alam, Additional Director General of Police (Administration) had three witnesses tortured on his orders. In two of the witness statements, the survivors allege that Alam watched as they were strung from the ceiling, held up by their arms and administered electric shocks. In one instance, Alam is alleged to have directed other officers as to the type of torture to be inflicted. Survivors had their legs crushed when a heavy weight was rolled back and forth across their knees and their legs split apart. Acid was poured on the forearm of one survivor, and another was subjected to a mock execution. This was the first Anglo-Indian policing conference. Ironically, it was designed to share "good practice" between British and Indian police forces. A Merseyside Police spokeswoman told icLiverpool newspaper that the delegates were selected by the Indian Ministry of Home, and they had no say in the choice. She later added, "in the absence of any ongoing investigation into the officers mentioned, we do not feel it would be appropriate to reconsider the attendance of delegates." When REDRESS, an international non-governmental organization which seeks justice for survivors of torture, received reports that these two Indian police officers from the Punjab were attending an Anglo-Indian police conference, they issued a statement saying: "REDRESS is extremely concerned that these officers were invited on an official visit to the United Kingdom." Dr. Frances D'Souza, REDRESS' Executive Director said, "To our knowledge, there has been absolutely no attempt to vet these officers prior to their visit - it goes completely against the strong stance the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to take on the eradication of torture around the world. Instead, the UK Government should be raising these issues with the Indian Government at the highest levels, to ensure that all allegations of torture are fully investigated, and that perpetrators are brought to justice." "REDRESS is extremely concerned about the message this official visit sends to torturers in India and around the world. Every attempt must be made to ensure that these crimes are investigated and punished, and that the victims receive reparation'' added D'Souza. This Anglo-Indian police conference was not the first time that Indian officials who have an extensive record of human rights violations have been given a public forum to share their views with the West. In June, 2002, the Sikh Coalition wrote a letter to The American Foreign Policy Council, AFPC, expressing their "distress" for inviting K.P.S. Gill to attend its meetings in Washington, DC. Although Gill, is celebrated as a hardliner and "super cop" in India, he has been accused of excessive crimes against humanity. In light of Gill's human rights record, it is surprising that the AFPC (www.afpc.org), an organization committed to propagating democracy around the world would invite him to participate in its meetings. During his two tenures (May 1988 to December 1990 and November 1991 to December 1995) as Director General of Punjab Police in India, Gill was responsible for committing an abhorrent amount of human rights abuses against civilians. Gill actively encouraged police to engage in extreme forms of torture and extrajudicial executions by establishing a bounty system of rewards for police who killed militants and hence allowing officers to act with impunity. The chronology of police killings during Gill's tenure reveals the degree to which the constitutional rights of Punjab's citizens were trampled. Innocent civilians were arbitrarily detained, tortured and then charged with crimes. Illegal detention of civilians and forced disappearances occurred regularly. Innocent civilians were abducted and assassinated and these killings were blamed on civilians. Further more, civilians could not launch any complaints against the police as the police refused to record and investigate complaints on their behalf for a long period of time. The rampancy of human rights violations during Gill's tenure has also been recorded by many other organizations and news sources, including Human Rights Watch/Asia, Amnesty International, BBC News, Harvard Human Rights Journal, and the Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab. The number of victims who were murdered by police in such extrajudicial encounters and subsequently labeled disappeared is said to be in thousands. As documented by Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark and Human Rights Watch, common methods of torture in jails included passing large "rollers" over thighs to permanently crush muscles, frequent gang raping of women to "punish" male relatives, application of electric shocks to genitals and extremities, badly burning of skin, severe beatings, and immersion in foul water until near suffocation. The Sikh Coalition wrote, "Supporting diplomatic
alliances with such an individual sends a message that America condones
human rights violations-a message that goes against the very principles
upon which both the AFPC and the US are founded. Sikh-Americans, who form
an integral part of the American social fabric, have come to treasure
the freedoms afforded to them in this country. Those who emigrated here
to escape conditions in Punjab especially cherish the protection from
injustice guaranteed to all under the Bill of Rights. The invitation of
K.P. S. Gill by the AFPC, therefore, is a painful blow to the members
of the American Sikh community as well as Sikhs around the world. The
Sikh Coalition hopes that in the future, your organization will support
and uphold the principles enshrined in international human rights law
by ensuring perpetrators of crimes against humanity are not provided with
a platform to legitimize the oppression of innocents."
Copyright
©The Sikh Sentinel 2003 |
Public
officials in the United Kingdom and the United States are inviting Indian
bureaucrats who have been accused of serious human rights violations to
speak and to exchange information with their Western counterparts.