Sikh News

Amnesty’s Report Terms Indian Govt’s SIT on 1984 Carnage Cases- a Disappointment

October 31, 2017 | By Parmjeet Singh

New Delhi: Amnesty International India today released a report called “Chauraasi Ki Nainsaafi: the continuing injustice for the 1984 Sikh massacre”. Commenting about Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Narendra Modi led central government of India, Amnesty said that it was a disappointment.

In its report, the international human rights body said: “In February 2015, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), acting on the recommendations of a government-appointed committee, constituted a three- member special investigation team (SIT), comprising two senior police officers and a retired judge. The SIT’s terms of reference included reinvestigating criminal cases filed in Delhi in relation to the 1984 Sikh massacre, and filing charges against accused persons where there was sufficient available evidence”.

“The SIT was given six months to complete this work. However, its functioning was marked by an almost-complete lack of transparency and baffling delays. For over two years, the SIT sought one extension after another. In 2017, it finally stated that it had closed 241 cases and filed charges in just 12 cases”.

“In June 2017, Amnesty International India filed a Right to Information application seeking information on the reasons for the closure of cases by the SIT. No information was provided. In August, the Supreme Court set up a panel comprising two former judges to examine the SIT’s decisions to close cases”.

“33 years after the massacre of thousands of Sikhs in broad daylight, only a few of those responsible have been brought to justice. No police officer has been convicted. Not a single prosecution for rape has taken place”.

“The impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of the 1984 massacre has been used to justify the lack of progress in punishing those responsible for other organized massacres and communal riots in India. As long as the perpetrators of the 1984 massacre remain unpunished, the rule of law in India will remain weakened”.

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Related Topics: 1984 Sikh Genocide, Amnesty International, Amnesty International India, November 1984

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