Sikhs for Justice to seek UN help to save Bhullar

“The 62nd session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. The resolution called upon all states that maintain the death penalty to completely abolish it,reminding that the use of the death penalty undermines human dignity and any miscarriage or failure of justice in the implementation of the death penalty is irreversible and irreparable. The resolution was reaffirmed by another resolution at the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly,’’ said Sikhs for Justice Legal Advisor Gurpatwant S Pannun. He added that India is not a signatory to the UN Convention against Torture.

A representation wa also given on Tuesday by various Sikh organisations,including the Dal Khalsa,to the Indian ambassador in Germany to convey to the Indian government the “outrage,anxiety and concern over the insensitive rejection of the appeal by the President for commutation of the death penalty to life imprisonment of the long-time detenue Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar living on the death row in solitary confinement.

“Also,to continue the effective moratorium on death penalty in India,as no hanging has taken place since 2004 and even prior to that the only one was in 1997,amend the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to abolish death penalty from the statute and India must ratify the Optional Protocol on International Civil and Political Rights and other international treaties and conventions,’’ said Resham Singh and Satnam Singh.

It further states that the extradition treaty between India and Germany prohibits death penalty in case a person is deported to India,where death penalty is still awarded as a punishment. Awarding and executing the death penalty to Bhullar would be a clear violation of the European Charter of Human Rights.

“We,therefore believe that India would put Germany and the European Union to ridicule if it bypasses and ignores the call of the German government,the appeal of the Human Rights Committee of the German Bundestag,appeal by Amnesty International,human rights bodies worldwide,its obligation under the European Human Rights conventions,the clauses in the Indo-German Extradition Treaty and the implied acceptance of all these by India when it sought the deportation while he was detained at Frankfurt airport,’’ said Dal Khalsa Human Rights Wing Chairman Prithpal Singh Switzerland.