Resolutions passed by Sikhs from across Europe at the 25 June Conference in the European Parliament

London, UK: Resolutions passed by Sikhs from across Europe at the Conference on Human Rights Abuses and the Death Penalty in India in the European Parliament on 25 June 2013:

Resolution 1 –Recognising the 1984 Sikh Genocide

Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948), the Geneva Convention (1949), and the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights (1966) recognises the events of June 1984, the mass human
rights violations against the Sikhs in Punjab by the Indian authorities and the
massacre of innocent Sikhs in November 1984 collectively as the 1984 Sikh
Genocide and reiterates its concern and dismay as we enter the 30th anniversary of these events that India has failed to prosecute police officers, politicians and others responsible for this genocide.

Resolution 2 – Abolish the death penalty in India

Having regard to the European Parliament’s Human Rights annual resolutions condemns recent executions by India after an eight year hiatus that run counter to the regional and global trends to abolish capital punishment; recognises the UN Special Rapporteur on extra judicial, summary or
arbitrary executions conclusion on India that the death penalty is being
imposed for a growing number of crimes; calls upon the Indian Government to put forward an immediate moratorium on the death penalty; reconsider the May 2012 recommendations of United Nations Human Rights Council related to the abolition of the death penalty and calls on the 27 Member States of the European Union, in particular the two permanent members of the UN Security Council, to collectively raise the need for India to abolish the death penalty at the earliest opportunity at the United Nations General Assembly.

Resolution 3 – Release Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar

Having regard to the European Parliament’s July 2011 Resolution on India and the death sentence on Professor Davinderpal Singh Bhullar, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty, the EU-India Dialogue on Human Rights, Amnesty International calls on 12 April 2013 for the Professor’s death sentence not to be carried out, to remove him from death row immediately and retry his case in proceedings that comply with international fair trial standards; observes the inconsistent approach by the Supreme Court of India who in the case of Mahendra Nath Das on 1 May 2013 granted clemency on the grounds of inordinate delay as his mercy petition against his execution was kept pending by the President, but two weeks earlier rejected a similar petition filed by Professor Bhullar who waited for eight years for a decision by the President; reiterates its concern that recent independent medical reports commissioned by the Indian authorities regarding the Professor’s mental and physical health suggest that on compassionate and moral grounds his death sentence should be commuted; further urges India to release the Professor without further delay given he has spent more than 18 years in prison following a controversial conviction where M B Shah, the Presiding Judge in the Supreme Court had acquitted the Professor based on the evidence presented; recognises this has become more pressing given the unprecedented move by the special public prosecutor, senior advocate Anoop G Chaudhari, who had appeared against the Professor in the Supreme Court in 2002 to state in April 2013 that a judicial error had been made in awarding the death sentence against the Professor and S S Virk, the former Director General of Punjab Police stating in May 2013 that the Professor was not guilty of what he was being accused of and he deserves justice as he and his family have been wronged.

Resolution 4 –Continued human rights violations in India and the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India

Having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union is deeply concerned about the continued human rights violations in India against the minority Sikh community; calls on the Indian Government to prosecute police officers responsible for torture, disproportionate and excessive use of force, illegal detention and extra-judicial killings of Sikhs, calls on the international community to prosecute those in India responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity and calls on the European Commission to end the negotiations with the Government of India for the creation of the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India.

Resolution 5 –Unquestionable right of Sikhs to self-determination and to have their own independent Sikh homeland

Having regard to Articles 1, 55 and 56 of the Charter of the United Nations and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966); objects to India’s continued reservation to the right toself-determination and applauds the objections raised by France, Germany and the Netherlands against India’s reservation to reiterate self-determination applies to all people; stresses India has also lost the right to argue the limitation of territorial integrity with regards to Sikhs as the Indian State when it enacted its first Constitution in 1950 it failed to deliver any safeguards or political rights for the Sikhs as a people or nation and has oppressed the Sikhs and other minorities through gross human rights violations; recognises the unquestionable right of Sikhs to self-determination and to have their own independent Sikh homeland; stresses that peaceful and non-violent means are the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace between Sikhs and the Indian State, calls for direct talks between the International Coalition for a Sikh Homeland and the Indian State; and calls on the Council, the Commission and EU Member States to support and deliver assistance to Sikh institutions and development projects with the aim of protecting and strengthening the Sikh population.

Source: Sikh Federation UK