[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 30, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 30, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         SIX SIKH PRISONERS TORTURED, MURDERED BY PRISON GUARDS

                                 ______


                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to bring to the 
attention of the U.S. Congress, the Government of the United States and 
the American people an extreme injustice brought upon the Sikh nation. 
According to the Agence France Press, Indian prison guards at the 
Pilibhit prison in Uttar Predesh murdered six Sikhs. Other reports 
indicate that as many as 30 have been tortured. Four of the six Sikhs 
killed were witnesses tot he cold-blooded murder of 12 Sikhs last year 
who were shot in the head at point blank range by Indian police after 
being pulled off a bus in Pilibhit. All of these Sikhs were scheduled 
to be released from the Pilibhit prison within a few days of their 
murder. It is now evident that the Indian government wanted to silence 
them. Initial reports suggested that the prison murders were a result 
of an attempted prison break. Later, when the truth came out, it was 
revealed that the murders were premeditated.
  This is an intolerable state of affairs, Mr. Speaker. For years, this 
House has had access to numerous reports concerning India's brutality 
against the Sikhs. The Pilibhit prison murders are only the tip of the 
iceberg. Brutality and torture against the Sikh populace are rampant 
throughout Punjab. That is one of the reasons that a broad band of 
prominent Sikh leaders have called for a separate Sikh homeland. The 
time has come to take action. I call on Congress to take the following 
action.
  First, cut aid to India until it stops its brutal reign of murder, 
torture, and rape against the Sikh people.
  Second, pass a resolution supporting the Sikh nation's rights to a 
free and fair plebiscite on self-determination.
  Third, demand that India stop killing Sikhs and allow international 
human rights organizations within its borders to conduct human rights 
investigations unencumbered by governmental interference.
  I am submitting for the Record a news release from the Council of 
Khalistan regarding the prison murders in Pilibhit, Uttar Predesh. Also 
submitted is the wire service report released by Agence France Presse 
on November 16 concerning the same, which shows how the Indian 
government manipulates and befools even the international press.

             [From the Council of Khalistan, Nov. 29, 1994]

       Six Sikh Prisoners Tortured and Murdered By Prison Guards

       Washington, DC, November 29--Indian guards at the Pilibhit 
     prison in the Indian state of Uttar Predesh tortured and 
     murdered six Sikh prisoners on November 8 just days before 
     they were to be released on bail, according to the Agence 
     France Presse. Another 30 Sikhs were tortured but did not 
     die. Four of the Sikhs killed witnessed the cold-blooded 
     murder of 12 Sikhs last years who were shot in the head at 
     point blank range by Indian police after being pulled off a 
     bus. Officials initially tried to cover up the prison 
     murders. An Agence France Presse wire service report on 
     November 10, said that the Sikhs were killed while attempting 
     a prison break. On November 16, however, the same wire 
     service revealed that signs of torture, like crushed 
     genitals, had been discovered on victims' corpses. The 
     murders had obviously been premeditated.
       ``It is clear that the prison guards wanted to kill those 
     Sikhs who witnessed the Pilibhit bus massacres last year. 
     They wanted to silence them for good,'' said Dr. Gurmit Singh 
     Aulakh, president of the Council of Khalistan. ``India did 
     not want to let them free at the risk that they would expose 
     its brutality against the Sikhs and help advance the struggle 
     for an independent Khalistan. But India's designs have 
     backfired. The government may control the flow of information 
     in India, but somehow the truth gets out. India is now being 
     exposed.''
       Well respected international human rights investigators 
     have fully documented India's pattern of cover-ups regarding 
     the murder of Sikhs as part of its effort to crush the 
     Khalistan movement. According to a 1993 Amnesty International 
     report, the modus operandi of Indian police is to deny any 
     wrong-doing concerning the murder of Sikhs and simply claim 
     ``that the victim `escaped' from custody or has been killed 
     in an `encounter.''' According to Dead Silence: The Legacy of 
     Abuses in Punjab, published jointly by Human Rights Watch/
     Asia and Physician for Human Rights, most Sikhs killed by the 
     Indian government ``were summarily executed in police custody 
     in staged `encounters.' These killings became so common, in 
     fact, that the term `encounter killing' became synonymous 
     with extrajudicial execution.''
       Indian prison guards apparently attempted to follow the 
     same pattern of murder and denial at the Pilibhit prison on 
     November 8. Original reports said that four Sikhs tried to 
     escape from the jail using their unfurled turbans as ladders. 
     Prison officials claimed that they had cut through iron bars 
     and stabbed and wounded three prison guards who had stopped 
     to challenge them. Local reports, however revealed the truth 
     that the Sikhs were murdered in cold blood.
       ``This is the kind of systemic brutality Sikhs have been 
     struggling against for years,'' said Dr. Aulakh. ``The Sikh 
     nation declared independence from India on October, 7, 1987 
     forming the separate country of Khalistan. Incidents like 
     this simply show the urgency of our demands. Sikhs will never 
     be assured of their right to life as long as we live under 
     India's brutal rule. I hope the world seriously looks at this 
     incident and understands that it is just the tip of the ice 
     berg. India's record of savage abuse against the Sikhs is a 
     mile long. The time has come for the world to send a message 
     to the Indian government that it will no longer stand for its 
     brutality against the Sikhs. The time has come for the 
     liberation of Khalistan.''
                                  ____


               [From Agence France Presse, Nov. 16, 1994]

     Sikh Prisoners Tortured To Death In North Indian Prison: Daily

       NEW DELHI, Nov. 16.--Six Sikh militants previously reported 
     to have died while trying to escape from a high-security 
     prison in north India were actually tortured to death for 
     protesting corruption in jail, a daily alleged Wednesday.
       The Telegraph said the six who were reported to have been 
     shot dead during a jailbreak in Pilibhit, in the state of 
     Uttar Pradesh, had in fact been killed by guards for raising 
     the issue of venal warders.
       ``Circumstantial evidence suggests the murders were 
     premeditated,'' it said, and cited witnesses who claimed the 
     prisoners had been tortured and their genitals crushed.
       Earlier reports said the six had been shot dead on November 
     8 while trying toto fashion a cloth ladder from their turbans 
     after cutting through iron bars in the barracks.
       ``Escape is ruled out by the presence of a 30-foot (nine-
     metre) wall encircling the prison,'' it said. The prisoners 
     ``had received their bail orders and were to be released very 
     soon.''

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