[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 108 (Tuesday, August 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1533-E1534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CONGRESS CALLS FOR RELEASE OF HUMAN-RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 4, 1998

  Mr. TOWNS: Mr. Speaker, on July 31, several of my colleagues and I 
sent a letter to President Clinton asking him to get involved in trying 
to free some human-rights defenders in India. Those of us who signed 
the letter thank the Washington Times for its excellent coverage of it 
in the August 4 issue.
  Jaspal Singh Dhillon helped Jaswant Singh Khalra put together his 
report on mass cremations in Punjab. He came to the United States in 
1993 and visited the White House. The Indian government arrested him in 
1993 but was forced by international pressure to release him. Now he 
has again been arrested on trumped-up charges. Not only that, but his 
attorney, Daljit Singh Rajput, has been arrested in the same case. It 
is virtually certain that they are being tortured.
  Rajiv Singh Randhawa was kidnapped along with a friend of his in 
broad daylight. He was picked up because he saw the kidnapping of Mr. 
Khalra and had identified the police officers who were involved. This 
is what happens to you were you cross the police in democratic India.
  Kuldip Singh is a former low-level police employee who heard the 
murder of Mr. Khalra. He reported the gruesome details to the press. He 
was getting some water for Mr. Khalra when he heard a shot and ran 
back. Khalra was bleeding and had stopped breathing. He, too, has to be 
protected from the police.
  Human-rights worked like Jaspal Singh Dhillon and witnesses like 
Kuldip Singh should not live in fear of the police. The United States 
must take the strongest possible action to bring about the prompt 
release of these innocent Sikhs and to see to it that the Indian 
government prosecutes and punishes those responsible for these 
atrocities.
  I am inserting the Congressional letter and the Washington Times 
article into the Record. I urge my colleagues to read them carefully.

                                     House of Representatives,

                                    Washington, DC, July 31, 1998.
     Subject: Arrest and fear of disappearance and torture of 
       human-rights activist Jaspal Singh Dhillon and others.
     Hon. Bill Clinton,
     President of the United States, The White House, Washington, 
         DC.

       Dear Mr. President: We are very disturbed by the July 23 
     abduction of Jaspal Singh Dhillon, who worked with human-
     rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra on his report exposing 
     the mass cremations of Sikhs by the Punjab police. Earlier 
     the police abducted Rajiv Singh Randhawa, a key eyewitness to 
     the kidnapping of Khalra. Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, the 
     President of the Council of Khalistan, informed us that these 
     individuals may be in danger of being murdered and listed as 
     ``disappeared'' like tens of thousands before him, as Mr. 
     Khalra documented.
       Jaspal Singh Dhillon was picked up on a false charge that 
     he was involved in a conspiracy to blow up the Burail jail to 
     free and alleged ``militant.'' His vehicle was also seized. 
     We are afraid that the police will plant false evidence in 
     the vehicle. Jaspal Singh Dhillon has testified before the 
     United Nations about the human-rights violations in Punjab. 
     He has even been to the White House. Mr. Dhillon was picked 
     up five years ago and severely tortured. It is only because 
     you and other Western leaders intervened that Mr. Dhillon was 
     released at that time.
       Mr. Randhawa was picked up on July 15 from his home in 
     Amritsar by plainclothes police who held a gun to his head, 
     tied him up with his own turban, and took him away along with 
     a friend of his. The police officials who kidnapped and 
     murdered Khalra are due for a hearing on July 28. Clearly, 
     the Randhawa kidnapping is an attempt to remove the one 
     witness who can do the most damage to them.
       In addition to these cases, a police witness, Kuldip Singh 
     has had to turn to the Central Reserve Police Force for 
     protection because he is afraid that the Punjab police will 
     try to eliminate him. Kuldip Singh said that he was getting 
     water for Jaswant Singh Khalra in the Chhabra police station 
     when he heard a shot. He ran back and Khalra was bleeding. He 
     had stopped breathing and he was dead. As you know Jaswant 
     Singh Khalra was kidnapped in 1995 after he exposed India's 
     policy of mass cremations of Sikhs.
       In a democracy, human-rights activists like Jaspal Singh 
     Dhillon and witnesses like Kuldip Singh and Rajiv Singh 
     Randhawa should not have to live in fear of the police. We 
     call on you to intervene with the government of India to 
     ensure the release of Mr. Dhillon and Mr. Randhawa 
     immediately and call on them to begin an immediate 
     prosecution of those who abducted them. We strongly urge you 
     to protect these innocent Sikhs and to work with the Indian 
     government to make sure that those responsible for the crimes 
     against these Sikhs are punished.
           Sincerely,
         Edolphus Towns, M.C.; Dan Burton, M.C.; Dana Rohrabacher, 
           M.C.; Richard Pombo, M.C.; Frank R. Wolf, M.C.; Jack 
           Metcalf, M.C.; Bill Redmond, M.C.; Wm. J. Jefferson, 
           M.C.; Sheila Jackson-Lee, M.C.; Peter T. King, M.C.; 
           Donald M. Payne, M.C.; Roscoe Bartlett, M.C.; Lincoln 
           Diaz-Balart, M.C.; John T. Doolittle, M.C.; Jerry 
           Solomon, M.C.; Cynthia McKinney, M.C.; Barbara Kennedy, 
           M.C.; Gregory Meeks, M.C.; Bernard Sanders, M.C.; Wally 
           Herger, M.C.; Dale E. Kildee, M.C.; Esteban E. Torres, 
           M.C.; J.C. Watts, Jr. M.C.; Merrill Cook, M.C.; 
           ``Duke'' Cunningham, M.C.; Duncan Hunter, M.C.; Ileana 
           Ros-Lehtinen, M.C.; Phil Crane, M.C.; Bill Paxon, M.C.; 
           Ron Lewis, M.C.; Sandford D. Bishop, Jr., M.C.; Ron 
           Packard, M.C.


[[Page E1534]]



               [From The Washington Times, Aug. 4, 1998]

 House Members of Both Parties Ask Clinton's Help in Freeing Four Sikhs

                            (By Tom Carter)

       A bipartisan group of 33 legislators has written to 
     President Clinton urging him to get involved in protecting 
     four Sikh human rights activists arrested in India last 
     month.
       ``There is reason for concern that their detention is 
     without merit and that they are at risk of torture while in 
     detention,'' wrote Rep. Constance A. Morella, Maryland 
     Republican, in a letter dated July 30.
       ``I hope that your administration will urge Indian 
     authorities to undertake an independent investigation of 
     these cases, urging them to review these arrests and to act 
     to protect the physical integrity of those detained,'' she 
     wrote.
       In a separate letter, sponsored by Edolphus Towns, New York 
     Democrat, 32 members of Congress urged Mr. Clinton to involve 
     the government of the United States in securing these men's 
     release.
       ``In a democracy, human rights activists . . . should not 
     have to live in fear of the police. We call on you to 
     intervene with the government of India,'' said the letter 
     dated July 31.
       Others who added their names to the letter included 
     Republicans Dan Burton of Indiana, Frank R. Wolf of Virginia, 
     Peter T. King of New York, Philip M. Crane of Illinois and 
     Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida. Democrats who signed the 
     letter included Reps. Esteban E. Torres of California, 
     Cynthia A. McKinney of Georgia and Barbara B. Kennelly of 
     Connecticut.
       The Council of Khalistan, which advocates independence for 
     Sikhs in Punjab, faxes copies of the congressional appeals to 
     news organizations over the weekend.
       The four human rights activists were arrested last month in 
     Punjab on what Mr. Towns described as ``false charges.''
       Jaspal Singh Dhillon, Rajinder Singh Neeta, Kulbir Kaur 
     Dhami and Daljit Singh Rajput were arrested for what Indian 
     authorities claimed was their involvement in an plan to help 
     free ``militants'' by blowing up a jail.
       A State Department official, asked to comment on the 
     matter, said the U.S. Embassy in India was aware of Mr. 
     Dhillon's case.
       ``They have made informal contact with the Indian 
     authorities and they are monitoring it,'' the official said.
       The Indian government yesterday had no comment on the 
     specifics of the case.
       ``The police wouldn't have acted just like that. They will 
     have done their work. There is rule of law in Punjab,'' said 
     Amar Sinha, press spokesman of the Indian Embassy.
       On July 24, Amnesty International issued an ``urgent 
     action'' on the four men.
       According to the Amnesty release, Mr. Dhillon worked with 
     Jaswant Singh Khalra, a well-known human rights activist who 
     ``disappeared'' in September 1995 after his arrest after 
     exposing the mass cremations of unidentified Sikhs.
       Nine police officials have been charged, but not 
     prosecuted, in the arrest and ``disappearance.''
       ``There is a fear that [Mr. Dhillon] may disappear too,'' 
     said Jurjit Chima of Amnesty International yesterday.
       Gurmit Singh Aulakh, director of the Council of Khalistan, 
     which advocates independence of Sikhs in Punjab, said the men 
     were arrested to prevent them from testifying at a ``People's 
     Commission'' human rights forum to be held Aug. 8 through 10.

     

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