Fear of Disappearance/Fear of Torture
of
Jaswant Singh Khalra
Human Rights Activist

Jaswant Singh Khalra, General Secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Akali Dal political party has not been seen since 9:15 AM on 6 September, 1995, when he was arrested by police while washing his car outside his home in Kabir Park, Amritsar, Punjab, India. He has not been produced before a magistrate and his relatives have not officially been informed of his whereabouts. Amnesty International is extremely concerned for his safety. In January 1995, the Human Rights Wing of Akali Dal filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court concerning the deaths of hundreds of unidentified individuals. The Human Rights Wing produced records from cremation grounds in Amritsar district, showing how several hundred "unclaimed" bodies had been cremated during 1992 and alleged that many of these were individuals who had "disappeared" following their arrest by Punjab police and whose fate was unknown (see background below). The court dismissed the petition on the grounds that the families of the "disappeared" individuals should themselves file petitions. Shortly after the filing of this petition Jaswant Singh Khalra was reportedly threatened by a member of the Punjab police who stated that it "was easy to make one more disappear". BACKGROUND INFORMATION Amnesty International regularly receives reports that alleged members or sympathizers of armed opposition groups, or their relatives, in Punjab, India, have "disappeared" or been killed in police custody, often after torture. Officials later wrongly attribute their deaths or "disappearances" to "encounters" between militants and the police, to "escapes" during such "encounters" or to other improbable causes. Amnesty International has also received reports of several lawyers being arrested and illegally held by police in the past. In July 1995, Amnesty International wrote to the Chief Minister of Punjab and the Union (Federal) Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Chavan, calling on the government to order an impartial and independent investigation into recent reports of emerging new evidence (including the petition filed by the Human Rights Wing of the Akali Dal in January 1995) about the fate or whereabouts of hundreds of people who "disappeared" in Punjab between 1991 and 1993. To date, no response has been received from the government. Even though legal safeguards against unacknowledged detention exist in India's ordinary criminal law and procedural code, they are often simply not adhered to, and prisoners are held in unacknowledged detention for weeks and sometimes months. In cases of unacknowledged detention or "disappearance" brought before the courts in Punjab, legal proceedings are extremely slow and police often fail to comply with the orders of the court. RECOMMENDED ACTION Please send faxes/letters/telegrams/telexes expressing concern for the safety of Jaswant Singh Khalra who has not been seen since his arrest in Amritsar by Punjab police on 6 September; in light of the repeated failure of police officials to comply with court orders in cases of "disappearance", urging the government to ensure that officials of the Punjab police comply with any future court orders concerning the detention of Jaswant Singh Khalra; urging the government to immediately order an independent and impartial inquiry to establish his whereabouts; seeking assurances that, if in police custody, he be allowed immediate access to lawyers and relatives and be promptly brought before a magistrate; seeking assurances that he is not being ill-treated and that he be immediately released if he is not to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence. UPDATE 15 November,1995 On 15 November 1995, the Supreme Court of India ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the "disappearance" of Jaswant Singh Khalra. The order followed persistent denials by police officials that Jaswant Singh Khalra was taken into custody on 6 September. The CBI has been ordered to report to the Supreme Court within three months. The Supreme Court also ordered the transfer of the Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran, who is alleged to have been involved in the abduction of Mr Khalra. 2 October, 1995 Punjab police failed to produce Jaswant Singh Khalra even on the second hearing. This time they entered an affidavit saying that Punjab police is working sincerely to find the whereabouts of Mr. Khalra; it mentioned three leads that Punjab police is working on, first two looks like excuses and in the third one they said that, "may be some Punjab police officer abducted him." Mr. Navkiran Singh, an advocate in Chandigarh, said that they have witnesses who recognised Taran Tarn police officials. It is clear from their accounts, that Punjab Police has Mr. Khalra and either they already eliminated him or he is tortured so badly that he cannot be produced in the court immediately. 12 September, 1995 Amnesty International in a recent press release said that a habeas corpus petition concerning the "disappearance" of Jaswant Singh Khalra was filed by his wife in the Supreme Court in New Delhi on 12 September. The Supreme Court reportedly summoned the State gevernment to explain his "disappearance" but when police officials appeared before the court they denied that he was in police custody. The Supreme Court has now set the next hearing for 30 September at which they have ordered the Punjab police to produce Jaswant Singh Khalra.