Honorable Laura Dupuy Lasserre
President
United Nations Human Rights Council
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Subject: Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar – Imminent execution of a political dissident by India
Dear Honorable Laura Dupuy Lasserre:
We are writing to you on behalf of the World Sikh Council – America Region (WSC-AR), a national organization of Gurdwaras (places of worship) and other Sikh institutions in the United States of America.
WSC-AR is very concerned that there has been a grave injustice carried out on the judgment in reference to Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar for the following reasons:
1. Prof. Bhullar’s father, maternal uncle, and best friend Balwant Singh Multani were tortured and executed by the Indian authorities through extrajudicial killings.
2. The Indian judiciary has found Prof. Bhullar guilty on many trumped up charges, yet not a single eyewitness among the over hundred presented to the court can attest to Prof. Bhullar’s guilt.
3. The recent Indian Supreme Court split decision verdict over Prof. Bhullar is an eye opener. The two Hindu judges, Justice Aggarwal and Justice Passayat pronounced him guilty and the Muslim judge, Justice A.B. Shah, pronounced him innocent.
4. Under Indian law no person can be given the death penalty if the verdict is not unanimous. This would be a first under extraordinary circumstances.
5. The judiciary has convicted Prof. Bhullar, based solely on a confession procured under severe torture, which is in itself inadmissible under international jurisprudence and furthermore has been recanted by the plaintiff.
6. We understand that the German government has admitted its error in judgment by sending a political dissident – asylum seeker to his potential death in India. We also understand the German authorities are willing to give Prof. Bhullar asylum provided India releases him.
7. Under Indian law, a life term is 14 years. Prof. Bhullar has served over 16 years, of which 10 years has been under solitary confinement thereby making him insane and on suicide watch.
8. The Indian authorities owe a public apology to Prof. Bhullar for incarcerating an innocent man for over 16 years and should compensate him for extreme suffering.
9. India refuses to sign the UN Human Rights Declaration against Torture yet claims to be the largest democracy in the world.
10. To date, India refuses to allow Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other such entities to document the sustained gross human rights abuses in Punjab and elsewhere in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children were tortured, raped, murdered and made to disappear over a period of two decades, known as the “Sikh Genocide.”
We respectfully request that the UN Human Rights Council put its full weight to bear on India for the immediate release of Prof. Bhullar and stop any further mockery of justice. Kind regards,
Sincerely,
Dr. Manohar Singh
Chairperson
World Sikh Council – America Region
http://www.sikhsiyasat.net/2011/07/...f-professor-bhullar-by-world-sikh-council-ar/
President
United Nations Human Rights Council
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Subject: Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar – Imminent execution of a political dissident by India
Dear Honorable Laura Dupuy Lasserre:
We are writing to you on behalf of the World Sikh Council – America Region (WSC-AR), a national organization of Gurdwaras (places of worship) and other Sikh institutions in the United States of America.
WSC-AR is very concerned that there has been a grave injustice carried out on the judgment in reference to Prof. Davinderpal Singh Bhullar for the following reasons:
1. Prof. Bhullar’s father, maternal uncle, and best friend Balwant Singh Multani were tortured and executed by the Indian authorities through extrajudicial killings.
2. The Indian judiciary has found Prof. Bhullar guilty on many trumped up charges, yet not a single eyewitness among the over hundred presented to the court can attest to Prof. Bhullar’s guilt.
3. The recent Indian Supreme Court split decision verdict over Prof. Bhullar is an eye opener. The two Hindu judges, Justice Aggarwal and Justice Passayat pronounced him guilty and the Muslim judge, Justice A.B. Shah, pronounced him innocent.
4. Under Indian law no person can be given the death penalty if the verdict is not unanimous. This would be a first under extraordinary circumstances.
5. The judiciary has convicted Prof. Bhullar, based solely on a confession procured under severe torture, which is in itself inadmissible under international jurisprudence and furthermore has been recanted by the plaintiff.
6. We understand that the German government has admitted its error in judgment by sending a political dissident – asylum seeker to his potential death in India. We also understand the German authorities are willing to give Prof. Bhullar asylum provided India releases him.
7. Under Indian law, a life term is 14 years. Prof. Bhullar has served over 16 years, of which 10 years has been under solitary confinement thereby making him insane and on suicide watch.
8. The Indian authorities owe a public apology to Prof. Bhullar for incarcerating an innocent man for over 16 years and should compensate him for extreme suffering.
9. India refuses to sign the UN Human Rights Declaration against Torture yet claims to be the largest democracy in the world.
10. To date, India refuses to allow Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other such entities to document the sustained gross human rights abuses in Punjab and elsewhere in which hundreds of thousands of innocent Sikh men, women and children were tortured, raped, murdered and made to disappear over a period of two decades, known as the “Sikh Genocide.”
We respectfully request that the UN Human Rights Council put its full weight to bear on India for the immediate release of Prof. Bhullar and stop any further mockery of justice. Kind regards,
Sincerely,
Dr. Manohar Singh
Chairperson
World Sikh Council – America Region
http://www.sikhsiyasat.net/2011/07/...f-professor-bhullar-by-world-sikh-council-ar/
