The Indian government must take concrete steps to hold accountable members of its security forces who killed, “disappeared,” and tortured thousands of Sikhs during its counterinsurgency campaign in the Punjab.
That is the message from Human Rights Watch and Ensaaf in a new report released recently.
Impunity in India has been rampant in Punjab, where security forces committed large-scale human rights violations without any accountability, according to the report.
MANGLER RETFÆRDIGHED
The 123-page report, “Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India,” examines the challenges faced by victims and their relatives in pursuing legal avenues for accountability for the human rights abuses perpetrated during the government’s counterinsurgency campaign.
The report describes the impunity enjoyed by officials responsible for violations and the near total failure of India’s judicial and state institutions, from the National Human Rights Commission to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to provide justice for victims’ families.
FORESLÅR SÆRLIGE RETSINSTANSER
In order to end the institutional defects that foster impunity in Punjab and elsewhere in the country, the government should take new legal and practical stepS.
That includes the establishment of a commission of inquiry, a special prosecutor’s office, and an extensive reparations program.
BEGGE PARTER LIGE SLEMME
Beginning in the 1980s, Sikh separatists in Punjab committed serious human rights abuses, including the massacre of civilians, attacks upon Hindu minorities in the state, and indiscriminate bomb attacks in crowded places.
In its counterinsurgency operations in Punjab from 1984 to 1995, Indian security forces committed serious human rights abuses against tens of thousands of Sikhs.
None of the key architects of this counterinsurgency strategy who bear substantial responsibility for these atrocities have been brought to justice.
Kilde: www.hrw.org
