[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 117 (Wednesday, September 27, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1604-E1605]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DENOUNCES ARREST OF WITNESS TO POLICE KIDNAPPING 
             OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST JASWANT SINGH KHALRA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 26, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, police tyranny in Punjab has reared its ugly 
head again. Rajiv Singh has been arrested in Amritsar on false charges 
of robbery and murder. At the time of his arrest, Mr. Randhawa was 
attempting to hand a petition to Jack Straw, the Home Secretary of the 
United Kingdom, in front of the holiest shrine of Sikhism, the Golden 
Temple, which was invaded and desecrated by the Indian military in June 
1984. The petition asked for intervention of the British government in 
the matter of human rights in Punjab.
  Mr. Randhawa was arrested once before on false charges. He has been a 
target of police harassment since he saw the Punjab police kidnap Mr. 
Khalra, who was General Secretary of the Human Rights Wing (SAD). Mr. 
Khalra was subsequently murdered in police custody and no one has ever 
been charged or otherwise held responsible in the Khalra case. In that 
light, there is reason to believe that Mr. Randhawa's life and his 
safety may be in danger.
  September 6 was the fifth anniversary of the Khalra kidnapping. Mr. 
Khalra conducted an investigation which proved that the Indian 
government had kidnapped, tortured, and murdered thousands of Sikhs, 
then declared their bodies ``unidentified'' and cremated them. No one 
has been held accountable for these atrocities either.
  This is merely the latest action by the police against anyone who 
speaks up for human rights in Punjab, Khalistan. It is clear from this 
action that General Narinder Singh, a human-rights leader in Punjab, 
was right when he said that ``Punjab is a police state.''
  Amnesty International has issued a press release and an Urgent Action 
bulletin denouncing the lawless actions of the police. I will be 
introducing them at the end of my statement, and I urge my colleagues 
to read these chilling documents.
  Mr. Speaker, the Indian Prime Minister is visiting the United States 
to meet with the President and address Congress. Our government must 
press Prime Minister Vajpayee on the Randhawa case, on human-rights 
violations, on self-determination, on the release of political 
prisoners, on nuclear proliferation, and on the Indian government's 
efforts to construct a security alliance ``to stop the U.S.,'' as the 
Indian Express reported last year. If the responses are not 
satisfactory, then we must take action to ensure freedom in South Asia. 
This Congress should put itself on record in support of a free and fair 
plebiscite in Punjab, Khalistan, in Kashmir, in Nagalim, and everywhere 
that the people are seeking freedom. We must maintain our sanctions on 
India and cut off its aid. And we should declare India a terrorist 
state.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit the Amnesty International press release and 
Urgent Action bulletin that I mentioned before into the Record for the 
information of my colleagues.

              [From Amnesty International, Sept. 6, 2000]

                             Urgent Action

       A key witness in the trial of police officers accused of 
     abducting a human rights activist has been arrested by Punjab 
     police. Amnesty International fears this is an attempt to 
     prevent him testifying, and is extremely concerned for his 
     safety in police custody.
       Rajiv Singh was arrested as he attempted to hand a petition 
     to UK Home Secretary Jack Straw in Amritsar, Punjab, on 5 
     September. The petition reportedly called on the UK 
     government to persuade the Indian authorities to take action 
     over human rights violations in Punjab.
       He was held overnight and brought before a magistrate the 
     next day and reportedly charged with the murder of two people 
     who were killed in a bank robbery in Amritsar. He was 
     remanded in police custody until 8 September.
       This is the third time that Rajiv Singh has been arrested 
     by Punjab police and charged with serious offences. Earlier 
     this year the Punjab Human Rights Commission ruled that 
     police had ``concocted'' previous charges to persuade him not 
     to testify against them. He had been accused in July 1998 of 
     setting up an organization to fight for a separate Sikh state 
     of Khalistan, called Tigers of Sikh Land. The Commission 
     recommended that the police officers involved should face 
     criminal charges and that there should be further 
     investigations. Rajiv Singh was awarded compensation for 
     being illegally detained.
       Today is the fifth anniversary of the ``disappearance'' of 
     human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who unearthed 
     evidence that Punjab police had illegally cremated the bodies 
     of hundreds of people who had been arrested and then 
     ``disappeared''. A number of Punjab police are now on trial 
     for his abduction, and Rajiv Singh is a key eyewitness in the 
     case.
       RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/
     express/airmail letters in English or your own language: 
     expressing grave concern about the arrest and detention of 
     Rajiv Singh on 5 September in Amritsar; expressing concern 
     that since the Punjab police have unlawfully detained and 
     charged Rajiv Singh before, to try to prevent him from 
     testifying in the case of Jaswant Singh Khalra, the current 
     charges against him may be false, and that he is at grave 
     risk of further harassment or torture in police custody; 
     calling for an immediate review of the charges against him by 
     a judicial body; and calling for commitments from the 
     authorities in Punjab to ensure that he will not be ill-
     treated in custody.
       APPEALS TO:
       Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Punjab, Office 
     of the Chief Minister, Chandigarh, Punjab, India.
       Salutation: Dear Chief Minister
       Fax: +91 172 740936
       Telegrams: Chief Minister, Punjab, India
       Mr. S. Sarabjit Singh, Director General of Police, Office 
     of the Director General, Police Headquarters, Punjab, India.
       Saluation: Dear Director General
       Telegrams: Director General of Police, Punjab, India
       COPIES TO:
       Mr. L.K. Advani, Minister of Home Affairs, Ministry of Home 
     Affairs, North Block, New Delhi 110 001, India.
       Salutation: Dear Minister
       Fax +91 11 301 5750
       and to diplomatic representatives of India accredited to 
     your country.
       PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the 
     International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending 
     appeals after 18 October 2000.

          (Amnesty International Press Release Sept. 7, 2000)

    India: Arrest of Witness Points to Continuing Police Harassment

       A key eyewitness to the ``disappearance'' of a human rights 
     activist has been arrested in Amritsar, India. Rajiv Singh 
     Randhawa was attempting to hand a petition to UK Home 
     Secretary Jack Straw in front of the Golden Temple when the 
     arrest took place on 5 September. Amnesty International today 
     expressed serious concern for his safety while in police 
     custody.
       The petition called on the UK government to intervene with 
     the Indian government on the matter of human rights 
     violations in Punjab.
       Rajiv Singh Randhawa has since been charged with robbery 
     and murder as well as offences under the Arms Act in 
     connection with a robbery at a bank in Amritsar in which two 
     people were killed. The magistrate remanded him to police 
     custody until 8 September. Amnesty International has appealed 
     to the authorities in Punjab for assurances that he will not 
     be subjected to torture or ill-treatment while in police 
     custody.
       ``This case highlights the continuing lawlessness of 
     sections of the police in Punjab. Amnesty International is 
     seriously concerned that these charges against Rajiv Singh 
     Randhawa, like other charges brought in the past, are merely 
     a means of harassing and intimidating him,'' the organization 
     said.
       Rajiv Singh Randhawa is a key eyewitness in the case of the 
     ``disappearance'' of human rights activist Jaswant Singh 
     Khalra. Yesterday, 6 September, was the fifth anniversary of 
     the ``disappearance'' of Khalra who unearthed evidence that 
     hundreds of bodies of individuals who had ``disappeared'' 
     after arrest in the 1980s and early 1990s had been illegally 
     cremated by Punjab police. Amnesty International has learned 
     that a hearing in the case was scheduled for 21 September at 
     which evidence, including that of Rajiv Singh, was due to be 
     recorded.
       This is the third time that Rajiv Singh Randhawa has been 
     arrested by Punjab police and charged with serious offenses. 
     On the last occasion, he was accused of setting up an 
     organization to fight for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan, 
     the Tigers of Sikh land. In July this year the Punjab Human 
     Rights Commission ruled that those charges against Rajiv 
     Singh were ``concocted'' by police as a means of dissuading 
     him from giving evidence against police in the Khalra

[[Page E1605]]

     case. The Commission recommended that criminal cases be 
     registered against the police officers and further 
     investigations carried out. Rajiv Singh was awarded 
     compensation for his illegal detention.
       Amnesty International believes that the failure by the 
     state to systematically investigate a pattern of grave human 
     rights violations in Punjab during the 1980s and early 1990s 
     has led to a climate of impunity within the police force and 
     continuing illegal actions of police in the state. Attempts 
     by human rights organizations in the state to seek justice 
     for victims of human rights violations have been met with 
     harassment, intimidation and official obstruction to redress.
       ``The silencing of Rajiv Singh Randhawa in front of a 
     foreign dignitary shows how desperate sections of the Punjab 
     police are to suppress evidence in this case. We call on the 
     international community to intervene in this case,'' Amnesty 
     International said.

     

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