25.05.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Impunity of police in Punjab ("Annual Report 2005") [#32264],  [ID 7568]

"[...]In Punjab the vast majority of police officers responsible for serious human rights violations during the period of militancy in the mid-1990s continued to evade justice, despite the recommendations of several judicial inquiries and commissions. In response to 2,097 reported cases of human rights violations, the National Human Rights Commission had ordered the state of Punjab to provide compensation in 109 cases concerning people who were in police custody prior to their death. The culture of impunity developed during that period continued to prevail and reports of abuses including torture and ill-treatment persisted.[...]"

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10.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Human Rights Comissions in Punjab ("Country Report - October 2004") [#28325],  [ID 7569]

"[...]
Punjab State Human Rights Commission
6.118 According to the Punjab Tribune dated August 1998, the Punjab State Human Rights Commission started work in July 1997 under the chairmanship of Justice V.K. Khanna, a former Chief Justice of the north east States. The Commission had intervened in a number of cases of police excesses, torture and custodial deaths, and the Punjab Government has been forced to pay compensation. The Commission had started to inspect jails, with prior notice being given to the State Government, but the Commission wanted the power to make unannounced visits. [12a] 6.119 According to an article published on ‘Human Rights in India’ (last updated on 23 January 2004), the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) receives between 200 and 300 complaints per day. It is reported that the powers of the PSHRC are severely limited, in that, it can only examine cases that fall within the one-year statute of limitations. [73]

The Committee for Co-ordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP)
6.120 As cited in a report on Current Human Rights Efforts dated 1 October 1998, this Committee came into existence in November 1997, when a variety of human rights organisations and political groups came together. Its purpose was to develop a voluntary mechanism to collect and collate information on disappearances in Punjab; to evolve a workable system of State accountability; and to lobby for India to change its domestic laws to conform to UN instruments on torture, enforced disappearances and accountability. The Committee was set up following the demand of Indian human rights groups that the independent and thorough investigation into complaints of disappearances in Punjab be allowed to proceed unhampered. [20](p13)

6.121 When asked for their views on the occurrence of disappearances, by the Danish Immigration Service on their fact-finding mission of March - April 2000, two members of the Committee observed that extrajudicial executions no longer took place in Punjab. However, a third member of the committee interviewed by the Danish mission did not believe that disappearances and extrajudicial executions had stopped. Therefore, the Danish mission concluded that disappearances and extrajudicial executions almost never occur. This conclusion was found not to be because of a change in the attitude of the police but because there was no terrorism left in Punjab. [37](p42)

The People's Commission on Human Rights
6.122 According to Amnesty International’s report India – Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab January 2003, in December 1997 the CCDP called on the new Punjab government to set up a Truth Commission, following the refusal by the Government of Punjab to set one up. Its purpose was to investigate all complaints of human rights violations, according to its election manifesto. In April 1998 the CCDP announced its intention to set up a three person People’s Commission on Human Rights Violations in Punjab, headed by a former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. “The first hearing of the People’s Commission was therefore held from 8-10 August 1998”. However further hearings were cancelled because in 1999 the Punjab and Haryana High Court set limits on the work of the People’s Commission claiming that it set up a parallel judicial system. Subsequently in May 2000 the People’s Commission was wound up following the Supreme Court upholding the High court judgement that the CCDP was establishing a parallel judicial system. [51](p.13)
[...]"

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10.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Human rights concerns in Punjab - additional Information ("Country Report - October 2004") [#28325],  [ID 7570]

"[...]6.106 The US Citizenship and Immigration Services in a response to a query, (last updated on 22 September 2003) noted that,
“Several observers suggest, though, that while Punjab police may be serious about pursuing Sikhs anywhere in India whom they view as hard-core militants, in practice only a handful of militants are likely to be targeted for such long-arm law enforcement. While noting that Sikhs who are on police lists for past involvement with armed groups could be at risk even if not presently active, the Indian human rights attorney said in his May 2003 e-mail to the RIC that, "[t]he number of persons who figure in such lists is really very small and I do not think the police and intelligence agencies have in the last years been adding many names" (Indian human rights lawyer 4 May 2003). A South Asia expert at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research said that it is unlikely that Punjab police are currently pursuing many Sikhs for alleged militant activities given that the insurgency there was crushed in the early 1990s (U.S. DOS INR 25 Apr 2003).” [86] (p.2)
[...]

The current situation in Punjab
6.123 According to Amnesty International in their report India – Break the cycle of impunity and torture in Punjab January 2003, the majority of the armed opposition groups are currently inactive in Punjab and AI have received no reports of acts of torture perpetrated by their members after the end of the militancy period which was mid 1990s. “Similarly, the issue of impunity for abuses committed by these groups during the militancy period is marginal, as most of their members in the state were arrested or killed by security forces in counter insurgency operations in the early 1990s.” However Amnesty International raised concerns about the continuation of abuses committed by the police in the Punjab. [51](p1) This opinion was confirmed by the USSD 2003, who noted that, “In Punjab the pattern of disappearances prevalent in the early 1990s has ended, however, hundreds of police and security officials were not held accountable for serious human rights abuses committed during the counterinsurgency of 1984-94.” [2c] (p7)

6.124 As cited in the joint Danish Immigration Service/ Danish Refugee Council fact finding report of April 2000, “According to Ravi Nair, Director of the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, a case involving a human rights violation will usually be reported at the local police station. The police will undertake an investigation and on that basis will decide whether a case should be brought. If no case is brought, the individual may bring a civil suit to the lower (district) court. Nair added that the case often stops there, as the court does not always proceed with the case”. However, he remarked that it was easier to have a case heard in the courts than previously. [37](p30)
[...]"

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23.06.2004 - Source: Asian Centre for Human Rights

Punjab: police and paramilitary forces torture and enjoy impunity ("Torture in Punjab (ACHRF/26/04)") [#23612],  [ID 7571]

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26.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Annual Report 2004 (covering 2003) ("Annual Report 2004") [#22668],  [ID 7574]

"In Punjab a culture of impunity, developed within the criminal justice system during the period of widespread armed political opposition in the mid-1990s, continued to prevail. This was strengthened by provisions contained in special security laws and the Protection of Human Rights Act, and by the frequent failure to implement recommendations issued by various commissions of inquiry.

* In 1996 the Supreme Court had ordered the NHRC to examine the findings of the Central Bureau of Investigations that 2,097 people had been illegally cremated by police officials in Amritsar district. The cremations took place following widespread “disappearances” in police custody and possible extrajudicial executions in the mid-1990s. Seven years after this decision, the state of Punjab had only just begun to file its affidavits on cases under examination by the NHRC."

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04.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Human rights concerns in Punjab ("Country Report - April 2004") [#22427],  [ID 7575]

"6.94 Various human rights organisations have strongly criticised the Punjab police for their misuse of power during the 1980s and early 1990s. Amnesty International reported in a 1991 report on Human Rights Violations in Punjab: Use and Abuse of the law, that those who were arrested were…” detained for months or years without trial under provisions of special legislation suspending normal legal safeguards…”, and reports of torture during interrogation were said to be common. “The arrest and detention of some detainees remained unacknowledged for weeks or months. Amnesty had received reports that many people simply “disappeared”, with the security forces refusing to admit that they had ever been arrested. It was” feared that many of them had been killed in custody”. [3a](p2)
6.95 According to Amnesty International’s 2003 report India, Break the cycle of impunity in Punjab, “Torture and custodial violence continue to be regularly reported in Punjab, despite the end of the militancy period.” Amnesty claim that torture continues in police custody and says that the majority of the armed opposition groups are inactive in Punjab today and AI has received no reports of acts of torture perpetrated by their members after the end of the militancy period. “Similarly, the issue of impunity for abuses committed by these groups during the militancy period is marginal, as most of their members in the state were arrested or killed by security forces in counter insurgency operations in the early 1990’s.”[51](p2)
6.96 Amnesty International’s January 2003 report on the Punjab stated that “The 1980 National Security Act (NSA) amended in 1984 because of “the extremist and terrorist elements in the disturbed areas of Punjab and Chandigarh”, provided powers to preventively detain people suspected of activities “prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign posers or the security of India” for up to two years in Punjab and up to one year in the rest of India. The Terrorist Affected Areas (special Courts) Act followed the NSA in 1984. The Terrorist and Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, in force from 1985 to 1995, subsequently provided the police in Punjab with sweeping powers of arrest and detention. These laws left the heaviest legacies of the militancy period on policing methods in the state and the rest of the country. They explicitly freed the police from accountability to the criminal justice system for actions undertaken in “good faith”, allowing officers to believe themselves beyond the reach of law.”[51](p4-5)
6.97 Amnesty International reported in 2003 in the Punjab report that ”Human rights violations by the police during the decade of militancy were widespread. Indiscriminate and arbitrary arrests continued in this period, setting a pattern which continued until the mid-1990’s. Civilians were often arrested solely for being related to or living in the same village as members of armed opposition groups.” Unofficial blacklists were circulated to all police stations and persons on this list were liable to be rearrested during militant activity in the area. Arrests frequently occurred to reach a quick resolution or to fill quotas. Procedures were often not adhered to and often not logged leaving detainees vulnerable to abuse. Detainees were moved around, making tracing them difficult. Torture was widespread, used as both punishment and as a substitute for investigation. Following death in custody, police organized post-mortems and cremations eliminating the possibility of independent investigation into the cause of death. Undercover agents were reportedly used to infiltrate militant groups to kill and discredit militants. “Disappearances and the killing of armed opposition groups and their supporters by the police in real or staged “encounters” were frequent. They were tolerated by the police authorities and government as a part of a policy to eliminate armed opposition groups.”[51](p5)
6.98 Amnesty International stated in their 1991 Punjab report, “Most detainees in Punjab were arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) [which lapsed in 1995], which allowed detention for up to one year without charge for investigation into broadly defined offences. Prisoners held under the Act could be tried in camera [i.e. in private] and the burden of proof was shifted onto the accused to prove his or her innocence”. [3a](introduction-p2)
6.99 Amnesty cited in an August 1999 report, India: a Vital Opportunity to End Impunity in Punjab, “ in the aftermath of the violence, many relatives of victims came forward to pursue redress in the courts through the filing of petitions in cases of “disappearance” and other human rights violations…However in attempting to pursue redress through the courts, many families have faced direct harassment from the police and long delays in the judicial process.”… [3g](p2)
6.100 Amnesty International reported in the 2003 report on the Punjab “In January 1995 the human rights wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal party alleged that it had evidence showing that, during the period of militancy, Punjab Police had carried out secret cremations of hundreds of “unclaimed” bodies in the crematoria of Amritsar district.” Some of the bodies were allegedly those of people who had disappeared and been extrajudicially executed in police custody.”[51](p9)
6.101 According to Amnesty International’s 2003 report, “In April 1995 the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (CIIP), a non-governmental human rights organization based in New Delhi, successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for an investigation of these allegations.” The Supreme Court instructed the CBI to carry out investigations into the allegations and on analysis of the evidence available in three crematoria in Amritsar, found that 2,097 bodies had been illegally cremated by police. In December 1996 the Supreme Court ordered the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to examine the CBI’s findings. In January 1999 the NHRC stated that it would limit its investigations to the cremations of 2,097 bodies investigated by the CBI in Amritsar district and invited claims for monetary compensation from victims’ families.[51](p10)"

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25.03.2004 - Source: BBC News

Punjab: Indian police have arrested a radical Sikh leader who they say was planning to disrupt a political rally being made by the deputy prime minister ("Indian police hold radical Sikh") [#20782],  [ID 7577]

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23.03.2004 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Report on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (English, French and Spanish) ("Civil and political rights, including the questions of: Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; Report of the Special Rapporteur, Theo van Boven; Addendum: Summary of information, including individual cases, transmitted to Governments and replies received [E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.1]") [#23236],  [ID 7576]

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25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

USDOS: Torture ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 7572]

"[...]In Punjab, cases of torture were inadequately prosecuted, and victims frequently refused to accept compensation out of fear of retribution. Allegations by human rights activists that victims were hounded and harassed by government agents were common. [...]"

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25.02.2004 - Source: US Department of State

USDOS: "Disappearance" cases ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2003") [#19765],  [ID 7573]

"[...]In Punjab, the pattern of disappearances prevalent in the early 1990s has ended; however, hundreds of police and security officials were not held accountable for serious human rights abuses committed during the counterinsurgency of 1984-94. In June, the Committee for Coordination of Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP), a Punjab-based human rights organization, completed its 634-page report documenting 672 of the "disappearance" cases currently pending before the NHRC. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed to be pursuing actively charges against dozens of police officials implicated in the "mass cremations" in which police in Amritsar, Patti, and Tarn Taran district secretly disposed of approximately 2,000 bodies of suspected militants. The militants were believed to have been abducted, extrajudicially executed, and cremated without the knowledge or consent of their families. Although 6 years have passed since the Supreme Court ordered the NHRC to investigate 2,097 cases of illegal cremation in Punjab's Amritsar district, by year's end, no significant progress was made in identifying the cremated bodies or bringing to justice those responsible for the killings. [...]
For example, Punjab's Human Rights Commission (PHRC) in 2002-3 received 995 complaints of human rights violations. According to AI, the Commission was understaffed and seriously limited by the PHRA, which limited its powers to investigate individual cases of human rights violations. The People's Commission, a separate body to investigate disappearances, was established by retired Supreme Court Justice Kuldip Singh to highlight the fate of more than 2,000 persons who "disappeared" during the period of political unrest in Punjab (see Section 1.b.); it continued to receive little cooperation from state government authorities. During the year, HRW commended the Committee for Coordination of Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP), a Punjab-based human rights organization, for its report documenting 672 of the "disappearance" cases currently pending before the NHRC (see Section 1.b.). Six years ago, the Indian Supreme Court directed the NHRC to investigate 2,097 cases of illegal cremation in Punjab's Amritsar district. NHRC has yet to hear testimony for any case. [...]"

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03.02.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Punjab: at least 100 individuals including social activists, human rights defenders and lawyers are being illegally detained in connection with the escape of four detainees from Burail Jail (also known as Model Jail), Chandigarh ("India - UA 35/04") [#19161],  [ID 7578]

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2002 - Source: Harvard Human Rights Journal

Report on the disappearance of Sikhs in Punjab on hand of the police ("A Judicial Blackout: Judicial Impunity for Disappearances in Punjab, India") [#21835],  [ID 7579]

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29.08.2001 - Source: Amnesty International

Around 1100 people have "disappeared" in Jammu and Kashmir since 1990/ "disappearances" are used by security forces and police to combat insurgency ("India: Day of the "disappeared" - still no justice for the victims") [#3809],  [ID 7580]

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