wfn.org | Study Documents Torture & Trauma in Punjab, India

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

Expert Medical Study Documents Torture and Psychological Trauma Suffered by
Families of the ?Disappeared? in Punjab:
Encourages Indian National Human Rights Commission to Investigate Violations

PRESS RELEASE

October 24, 2005
408.727.6122
415.259.7214

(San Francisco, CA) Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the
Bellevue/New York University School of Medicine Program for Survivors
of Torture (Bellevue) submitted a report (www.ensaaf.org/PHR-Bellevue.html)
today in the Punjab mass cremations matter pending before India?s National
Human Rights Commission since December 1996. The report, entitled
Evaluation of Litigants Pertaining to Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 447/95
Committee
for Information and Initiative on Punjab vs. State of Punjab, is based on
structured interviews and diagnostic evaluations of 127 family members
of victims killed and illegally cremated by Indian security forces from
1984 to
1995.

A six-member PHR/Bellevue investigative team with extensive experience
in documenting torture and human rights abuses conducted this study in
Amritsar, Punjab in May and June 2005 at the request of ENSAAF, a
U.S.-based non-profit organization fighting impunity for human rights abuses
committed in India. The PHR/Bellevue assessment reveals a ?pattern of
intentional
abuse by law enforcement officials among multiple family members,?
demonstrating
that the Commission needs to investigate and adjudicate the fundamental rights
violations committed by Indian security forces, beyond the illegal
cremation of
the family member.

?As a result of the death and illegal cremation of a close family member, most
of the individuals interviewed demonstrated severe psychological disorders
including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, with nearly half of
those interviewed continuing to describe these symptoms more than ten
years after the traumas occurred,? write Dr. Allen Keller and Dr. Barry
Rosenfeld,
authors of the report. They further write, ?Many participants described
permanent
impairments and long-term disability related to the physical abuse
inflicted by
the authorities during the time period surrounding the death and cremation
of their relative.

CIIP vs. State of Punjab has proceeded before the Commission for nearly
nine years. The Commission, however, has not heard the testimony of a
single survivor in the Punjab mass cremations matter; nor has it found a
single security official or agency liable for the thousands of disappearances
and extrajudicial executions leading to illegal cremations in Punjab. The
Commission continues to flout international and domestic law by refusing
to investigate the secret cremations, ignoring fundamental rights violations
such as the unlawful deprivation of life and torture of family members. The
PHR/Bellevue report should compel the Commission to investigate the physical
and psychological trauma suffered by victim families, in addition to the
murder
and illegal cremation of their relative.

ENSAAF (<http://www.ensaaf.org>http://www.ensaaf.org), a U.S.-based
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
fighting impunity in India, works to bring perpetrators to justice,
investigates and
exposes human rights violations, and organizes survivors to engage in
advocacy.

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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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