wfn.org | India's Punjab Police Fabricating Terrorism

[World Sikh Council - America Region <contact@worldsikhcouncil.org>]

New Report Documents Abuses by Punjab Police in Recent Upsurge of
Militancy-Related Arrests

PRESS RELEASE
October 5, 2005
Ensaaf: 408.727.6122, ensaaf@ensaaf.org

Punjab Police:
Fabricating Terrorism Through Illegal Detention and Torture
(June 2005 to August 2005)

(San Francisco, CA, October 5, 2005) ENSAAF today released
its report, Punjab Police: Fabricating Terrorism through Illegal
Detention and Torture (June 2005 to August 2005)
(http://www.ensaaf.org/ft-report.html). This report details human
rights violations committed by Indian security forces in recent
militancy-related arrests. From June 2005 to August 2005, Indian
police claim to have arrested several dozen individuals intent on
reviving or supporting militancy in Punjab. These arrests center
around the apprehension of Jagtar Singh Hawara, the main
accused in the 1995 assassination of Punjab¹s chief minister.

In August and September 2005, ENSAAF documented 28 cases
of detention of Punjabis accused of militancy-related activities. Its
study reveals that, in contravention of international and domestic
laws, Indian security forces routinely resorted to illegal and
incommunicado detention. Further, the Punjab police frequently
tortured the detainees. Torture methods included electric shocks,
tearing the legs apart at the waist and causing pelvic and muscle
injury, and pulling out the hair and beard of the detainees, among
other techniques. The police also threatened and detained immediate
family members of the targeted individual.

The majority of detainees whose experiences are discussed in this
report remain in the custody of Indian security forces and continue
to be at risk of illegal detention and torture, among other custodial
abuses, said ENSAAF Executive Director, Jaskaran Kaur.
Government officials have not publicly acknowledged, investigated,
or redressed the violations, she said.

The Indian police have constructed and presented elaborate stories
of thwarted militant crimes, recovered weapons, captured human bombs,
and the discovery of an international network to revive militancy in
Punjab. These stories have concealed the escalation in human rights
abuses committed in the name of national security and indicate that
police fabricated evidence to support criminal charges. Because of
conflicting reports between the government and families of detainees
regarding dates and circumstances of arrest and detention, these
cases should be investigated immediately by an impartial body.

ENSAAF (http://www.ensaaf.org) is a 501(c)(3) organization based
in the United States that fights impunity in India. We work to bring
perpetrators to justice, investigate and expose human rights violations,
and organize survivors to engage in advocacy. ENSAAF has four
programs: Community Organizing, Documentation & Education,
Legal Advocacy, and United Nations. ENSAAF, which means justice
in many South Asian languages, acts to implement the international
rights to knowledge, justice, and reparation.

(ENSAAF has also released the September issue of its quarterly newsletter,
ensaaf DISPATCH, available at: http://www.ensaaf.org/dispatch-sep05.pdf
This newsletter contains articles on the 10th anniversary of the
"disappearance" of human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra, recent op-eds
published on Punjab human rights issues, the Nanavati Commission report, and
The Spinning Wheel Film Festival, among other issues.)

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World Sikh Council ­ America Region (WSC-AR)
P.O. Box 3635, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA
Phone: 614-210-0591, Fax: 419-535-6794
Email: contact@worldsikhcouncil.org
Website: http://www.worldsikhcouncil.org

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