Mass Violence Against the Sikh People in India: the Events of November 1984

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Mass Violence Against the Sikh People in India: the Events of November 1984

Global Diligence LLP: international law and human rights compliance www.globaldiligence.com MASS VIOLENCE AGAINST THE SIKH PEOPLE IN INDIA: THE EVENTS OF NOVEMBER 1984 A Case of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity 1 November 2019 http://www.globaldiligence.com Global Diligence LLP Kemp House, 152 City Road London EC1V 2NX UK TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION . 5 II. RELEVANT FACTS . 7 A. Background: Laying the Groundwork . 7 1. India’s History of Sikh Oppression in Punjab . 7 2. Increasing Militancy . 10 3. Operation Blue Star and the Assassination of Indira Gandhi . 11 B. A Coordinated Policy of Destruction . 12 1. Patterns of Violence: Three Days in November . 12 a. Spontaneous Violence Quickly Gives Way to Organized Bloodshed . 12 b. The Plan is Hatched . 14 c. Identification and Tracking . 16 d. Slogans of Extermination . 17 e. Anti-Sikh Rumors . 19 f. Mob Attacks on Sikh Persons, Property, Dignity, and Articles of Faith . 20 g. Sexual Violence . 22 h. Delayed Deployment of the Army . 24 i. Attacks on the Media and Censorship of the Press . 27 2. The Role of the Indian Police Service . 28 a. Police Inaction . 29 b. Police Participation . 30 c. Manipulation of Records and Investigations . 33 d. Sufficient Force and Knowledge . 34 e. The Use of the Railway and Buses . 35 3. The Role of Congress Party Leaders . 36 a. The Case Against Sajjan Kumar . 37 b. The Case Against Jagdish Tytler . 39 c. The Case Against Kamal Nath . 40 C. Commissions and Cover-Up . 41 1. Initial Obstruction . 41 2. The Aborted Marwah Investigation . 42 3. The Misra Commission of Inquiry . 43 4. Subsequent Committees . 44 5. The Nanavati Commission of Inquiry. 46 D. Lasting Impact: Impunity for Some, Continued Suffering for Others . 48 Mass Violence Against the Sikh People in India 2 III. RELEVANT LAW . 49 A. The Genocide Convention . 49 B. Individual Criminal Liability for Genocide . 51 1. Definition . 51 2. The Mental Element (Mens Rea) . 51 a. Specific Intent . 51 b. To Destroy . 54 c. In Whole or In Part . 55 d. A National, Ethnical, Racial, or Religious Group . 57 e. As Such . 57 3. The Underlying Crimes (Actus Reus) . 58 a. Killing Members of the Group . 58 b. Causing Serious Bodily or Mental Harm to Members of the Group . 59 4. Forms of Participation (Punishable Acts) . 60 5. Modes of Liability . 62 C. State Responsibility for Genocide . 63 1. Interpretations of the Genocide Convention . 63 a. Jurisdiction Under Article IX . 63 b. Obligations Imposed on the Contracting Parties . 64 c. State Liability in the Absence of Previously- Adjudicated International Criminal Liability . 65 d. Intent to Commit Genocide . 65 e. The Protected Group . 66 2. Burden, Standard, and Methods of Proof . 68 3. The Test of Responsibility . 69 a. Acts of State . 70 b. Attribution of Conduct to the State . 71 c. State Complicity . 72 d. State Failure to Prevent . 72 e. State Failure to Punish . 74 D. Crimes Against Humanity . 74 1. Chapeaux Elements . 74 2. Underlying Crimes . 76 a. Murder . 76 b. Extermination . 77 c. Torture . ..

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