[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

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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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