[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 96 (Thursday, July 21, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: July 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL EXPOSES INDIAN HUMAN-RIGHTS ABUSES
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HON. DAN BURTON
of indiana
in the house of representatives
Thursday, July 21, 1994
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, repression in Indian-occupied
Khalistan continues. On July 7, Amnesty International issued its annual
human rights report. In it, Amnesty strongly censured India's ongoing
denial of basic liberties in the Sikh homeland, Khalistan. The report
belies India's claim that there is ``peace'' in Punjab, Khalistan. The
only ``peace'' there is enforced by the barrels of guns wielded by half
a million occupying troops.
According to the report, ``in Punjab [Khalistan], officials continued
to falsely attribute deaths under torture to `encounters' between armed
militants or to `escapes'.''
The report also states that ``in Punjab most `disappearances' were
carried out by the police.'' A recent case in point is that of
Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti, a lawyer practicing in the district court at
Sangrur. On May 12, Mr. Bhatti was abducted from a bus by men in plain
clothes in an unmarked van with no numbered plates, the usual method of
the Indian police. Mr. Bhatti has not been seen since. Efforts by
family members and friends to locate him have been unsuccessful. The
attorneys at the Sangrur court have gone on strike to protest Mr.
Bhatti's disappearance. Mr. Bhatti's ``crime'' was that he defended
Sikh youths brought to trial on political charges. He is the fourth
attorney to disappear. Twenty-eight more lawyers who are in imminent
danger of disappearing just like Mr. Bhatti have filed a complaint. I
am including that complaint and the names of these 28 attorneys in the
Record.
I have spoken previously about the case of Kanwar Singh Dhami, the
Sikh activist whose wife was tortured and lost her unborn baby after
Mr. Dhami refused to read a scripted ``surrender'' the regime had
written for him. Unable to break Mr. Dhami any other way, the brutal
Indian occupiers have now gone after his ex-wife, Surinder Kaur,
seeking her testimony against Mr. Dhami. Mrs. Kaur is a language
teacher in the government school in Dhamian Kalan in the district of
Hoshairpur. She has been harrassed and pressured so much by the regime
that she suffered a nervous breakdown.
Gurdev Singh Kaonke, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht, or high trustee
of the Sikh religion, was murdered by Indian police last January. The
Indian regime alleges that Jathedar Kaonke ``escaped'' from police
custody, yet he never returned home. Jathedar Kaonke died as the result
of brutal torture by the Punjab police. Yet calls to clean up the
Punjab police were rejected by Punjab's chief minister on the specious
grounds that it would hamper ``anti-terrorist operations.'' The Amnesty
report says that ``no prosecution for human rights violations took
place in Punjab [Khalistan].'' The State Department reports that
between 1991 and 1993, 41,000 cash bounties were paid to police
officers for killing Sikhs.
Mr. Speaker, this is the true face of Indian ``democracy.''
Amnesty International also criticized India's National Human Rights
Commission, which was created under heavy pressure from the U.S.
Congress. The Commission's effectiveness is negated, the report says,
by the fact that ``the Commission's mandate effectively excludes
investigation of particularly widespread violence committed by army
and paramilitary forces.''
India is being exposed as one of the most oppressive regimes in the
world. Its continuing pattern of torture has caused the world to sit up
and take notice.
On October 7, 1987, the free and proud Sikh nation declared itself
the independent country of Khalistan. The leadership of the 21-million
strong Sikh nation has declared their movement to be peaceful,
democratic, and nonviolent. Yet India's brutal repression continues
unabated.
On July 4, Afghanistan recognized Khalistan's independence. This
country has come to the conclusion that real liberty for the Sikh
nation will be restored only when Khalistan is free. Under the current
repression in India, Khalistan appears to be the last viable option for
achieving true liberty for the Sikhs. America looks forward to
celebrating the day when Sikhs have this freedom. It is time for India
to recognize the inevitable and end its brutal occupation of Khalistan.
Annexure--A. List of Lawyers of Punjab Who Are Vulnerable to Police
Wrath
chandigarh high court
1. P.S. Hundal.
2. A.S. Chahal.
3. Ranjan Lakhanpal.
4. Rajvinder Singh Bains.
5. Balwant Singh Guliani.
6. Navkiran Singh.
7. Prof. Bhupinder Singh.
8. Harbhajan Singh.
9. Baldev Singh Brar.
10. Daljit Singh Rajput.
11. Ashok Chauhan.
12. Arunjeev Singh Walia.
13. Harshinder Singh.
patiala
1. Jagmohan Singh Saini.
2. Birjinder Singh Sodhi.
ropar
1. Santokh Singh Gill.
2. Sarbjit Singh.
sangrur
1. Gurjeevan Singh.
ludhiana
1. G.S. Bal.
kapurthala
1. Harjit Singh Sandhu.
mansa
1. Ajit Singh Bhangoo.
jalandhar
1. Amarjit Singh Shergill.
2. Balbir Singh Cheema.
khanna
1. Jagmohan Singh.
anand pur sahib
1. Gajjan Singh.
hoshiarpur
1. Harjinder Singh Dhami.
kharar
1. Anil Kaushik.
nabha
1. Nikka Singh.
This list is inclusive not conclusive please.
Council of Khalistan,
Washington, DC, July 8, 1994.
Amnesty Exposes Indian Tyranny Against Sikh Nation
Washington, DC, July 8, 1994.--In its annual report
released yesterday, Amnesty International censured ongoing
human rights violations by the Indian government in the Sikh
homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. The report strongly disputes the
idea that there is ``peace'' in Punjab, Khalistan.
The report said that ``in Punjab, most `disappearances'
were carried out by the police.'' This past December, Amnesty
published a special report, An Unnatural Fate: Disappearances
and Impunity in the Indian States of Jammu and Kashmir and
Punjab, which detailed 80 cases of `disappearances' in the
Sikh homeland, Punjab, Khalistan. According to journalists in
occupied Khalistan, ``for every case documented by a human
rights organization . . . there are thousands which go
unreported.''
Yesterday's report also stated that deaths officially
attributed to police ``encounters'' with so-called
``militants'' were mostly caused by police torture of Sikh
political detainees. Notably, the report cited the case of
Gurdey Singh Kaonke, the Jathedar of the Akal Takht or high
trustee of the Sikh religion, who was brutally murdered by
police in January after he allegedly ``escaped'' from police
custody. He never returned home.
``Today India is under an international microscope,'' said
Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of
Khalistan. ``Amnesty's report flies in the face of everything
the Indian government maintains about Khalistan. There is no
peace in the Sikh homeland. This report proves that there is
only peace enforced by the barrel of a gun.''
Amnesty International also criticized India's National
Human Rights Commission, which human rights activists have
called an ``eyewash''. It said that the commission's
effectiveness is negated by the fact that ``the Commission's
mandate effectively excludes investigation of particularly
widespread violations committed by army and paramilitary
forces . . .''
``India cannot expect to spill the blood of Sikhs with
impunity,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``There is one human rights
standard, and India is being exposed as one of the most
bloodthirsty regimes in the world. The world community sees
the brutality India inflicts on the Sikh nation. Afghanistan
has just recognized Khalistan. Support for Khalistan is
growing.''
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