Sikh Human Rights Abuses

Enforced Disappearances, Arbitrary Executions and Cremations:
Victim Testimony and India's Human Rights Obligations
Interim Report

Section 2
INCIDENT REPORTS: SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

The Committee has made in-depth analysis of 838 Incident-Reports. The essential highlights of the survey are as following:

Age-wise division
Age distribution of 838 victims is shown in the following chart. The first row shows the age group, the second the number of incidents in the group. Some cases in the survey actually fall outside the listed age-groups. For example, CCDP Case No. 00430 concerns a victim who was only thirteen. The Case 00002 relates to a boy born in 1978, abducted and killed in illegal custody in 1992. One four year old child was killed in the Incident-Report CCDP 00432. One ninety years old man - case No. 00433 - was killed in the same incident.

Yearly Division
Following is the yearly division of 838 incidents. First rows of the column shows the year and the second the number of incidents in that year:

The Caste Constitution

Following is the caste constitution of 838 incidents. The significant divisions are: Jat Sikh 595, Majhabi Sikh 45, No Caste 47, Ramdasia Sikh 38, Nai Sikh 14, Ramgarhia Sikh 15, Saini Sikh 9, Hindu 9.

Occupation Profile

The occupational profile, conveyed under fifteen broad categories, is as under:

· Farmers: 398,
· Wage Earners: 81 including: Daily wage laborers 67, Factory workers 9, Farm workers 5,
· Students: 69,
· Technical self-entrepreneurs: 47 including: Carpenters 7, Cycle, scooter, car and tractor mechanics 5, Electricians 11, Masons 7, General mechanics 6, Radio mechanic 1, Lathe machine operators 3, Tailors 3, Embroiders 1, Weavers 1, Welders 2,
· Policemen and officers of security agencies: 37 including: Police constables 16,
Army 7, BSF 2, ex-servicemen 6, Gunman 1, Home Guard 2, Special Police Officers 3
· Drivers: 35 including:Taxi drivers 17, Drivers of buses 1, Combined harvesters 1,
Helpers in Punjab roadways 2, Transporters 2, truck drivers 12
· Businessmen: 31 including: Business 16, Factory owners 2, Insurance agents 2,
Property dealer 1, Salesmen 2, Shop-keepers 8
· Religious Workers: 22 including: Scripture readers called Pathis 5, Granthis 5,
Employees of the SGPC 2, Associates of Dam Dami Taksal 1, Voluntary workers at religious shrines called Kar Sewaks 3, Sewa Dars 5, Religious singers called Ragis 1
· Professionals: 22 including: Doctors 2, Registered medical practitioners 6,
Journalist 1, Laboratory technician 1, Lawyers 2, Teachers 6, Photographers 4,
· Electricity workers: 16 including: Punjab State Electricity Board employees12,
Assistant Linemen and Linemen 2, Clerk in the Electricity Board 1, Daily wage workers with the Punjab State Electricity Board 1
· Revenue and Administration: 16 including: Government servants 10,
Panchayat Secretary 2, Patwari 1, Retired Patwari 1, Central government servant 1,
Under training Patwari 1,
· Agro-enterprises: 17 including: Dairy farming 11, Animal husbandry 2, Cattle dealers 2, Milk vendors 2,
· Miscellaneous: 12 including: Private employment 5, Office peon 1, Keeper of sports ground 1, Workers of the irrigation department 2, Political workers 3,
· Bank and Accounting: 4 including: Bill clerk in a finance company 1, Cashier in the Central Cooperative Bank 1, Accountant 1
· Unemployed: 28 including: Household work 4, Housewives 8, Unemployed 2,
· Unknown: 17.

Marital Status
Out of 838 victims, 403 were married and 435 unmarried

Death Under Trauma
In 222 out of 838 incidents, one or more members of the families died under trauma.

Psychological Impact
The psychological impact of these incidents, leading to psychopathological consequences, is widespread. The presumption follows from the fact that 500 out of 838 report morbid psychological effects, including insanity, on one or more members of their families. The Committee is working on a separate report on this subject.

Destruction of Property
In 58 out of 222 cases, involving deaths of close relatives under trauma, the security forces also illegally destroyed, damaged and confiscated family properties.
In all, the security forces, mainly the Punjab police, destroyed, damaged and confiscated family properties in 224 cases.

Abductions from the Houses of Victims
More than 241 persons, who subsequently disappeared, got abducted from their houses

Eyewitnesses
There are eyewitnesses to 530 cases of police abductions.

Seen in Police Custody
In 290 cases, persons who eventually disappeared or got shown to have been killed in armed combats had been seen by their relatives in police custody subsequent to their abductions, most often in lock-ups of police stations and interrogation centers.

Juducial Recourse
Relatives of 149 victims of disappearances approached the courts, mainly the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, with petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Most petitions were dismissed following routine denials by officials. Some petitions are still pending although petitioners themselves remain ignorant about the proceedings. Majority of victim families, 689 to be exact, did not approach the courts either because of police fear or indigence.

Newspaper Reports
467 of these incidents were reported in the local newspapers, mainly on the basis of the police briefings and handouts which claimed deaths either as the result of supposed armed skirmishes, called "encounter", or as escapes from the custody.

Disclosure of More Dissearances
In 127 cases, relatives claim to possess sensitive information on other incidents of illegal abductions and custodial murders. They disclose 390 additional cases of illegal abductions leading to disappearances and custodial murders explained as encounters or escape from custody.

Multiple Family Incidents
In 193 cases, more than one member of the families got abducted, disappeared and killed.

Return of Dead Bodies
Only in 74 cases, the police returned the dead bodies to the families for cremations.

Custodial Torture
759 incidents report brutal custodial torture, including rape, not only of the victims who eventually disappeared or got killed, but also of their close relatives. The Committee is preparing a separate report on this subject.

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