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INDEPENDENT PEOPLE's TRIBUNAL (IPT) Punjab Disappeared INDEPENDENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL (IPT) On Punjab Disappeared: Extra-Judicial Executions & Enforced Disappearances Venue: Indian Academy of Fine Arts, MM Malviya Road, Amritsar, Punjab 14300, (Opposite Ram Bagh Gardens) Date: 1st and 2nd April 2017 The Punjab Documentation & Advocacy Project (PDAP) IN COLLABORATION WITH The Punjab Human Rights Organisation, Human Rights Law Network, Lawyers for Human Rights International, Khalra Centre for Human Rights Committee for Co-ordination on Defenders, Disappearances in Punjab, Sikhs for Human Rights, Khalra Mission Organisation And Other Lawyers, NGOs & Human Right Organisations TRIBUNAL JURY PANEL Justice Suresh Babloo Loitongbam Retired Judge Bombay High Court Director Human Rights Alert, Manipur Justice A K Ganguly Soni Sori Former Chairman of the West Bengal Human Rights and Retired Judge Supreme Court of India Tribal Activist & Human Rights Defender, Colin Gonsalves Chattisgarh Senior Supreme Court Lawyer and Director of Human Tapan Bose Rights Law Network Secretary General of South Asia Forum for Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra Human Rights and documentary film maker. KMO, Wife of Jaswant Singh Khalra Kavita Srivastava President, People’s Union for Civil Liberties Parveena Ahanger Chairperson of Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, Kashmir EXPERT WITNESSES PANEL Amar Singh Chahal Rajwinder Singh Bains Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court Lawyers For Human Rights International, Chandigarh Punjab Human Rights Organisation Gurtej Singh Navkiran Singh Committee for Co-ordination on Advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court Disappearances in Punjab Lawyers for Human Rights International Jagjit Singh Harshinder Singh Advocate, Batala Advocate, Committee for Co-ordination on Disappearances in Punjab Satnam Singh Bains Balbir Saini Barrister and Advocate Advocate, Ambala Jagjit Singh PDAP Mohinder Singh Baljinder Singh PDAP PDAP And other Punjab Lawyers, Activists and NGOs For Further Details Contact: [email protected] | +91-8860268853 | +91-8196930612 | +91-9810615811 1ST AND 2ND APRIL 2017 - INDIAN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, AMRITSAR PUNJAB DISAPPEARED - INDEPENDENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL 1995 to 2017: The 22 Year Struggle for Justice and Accountability in Punjab DISAPPEARED, DENIED BUT NOT FORGOTTEN The Punjab Documentation and the practice of disappearances “the contention… that the Advocacy Project (PDAP) in and extra-judicial killings by commission should undertake an collaboration with Human taking a victim based investigation of all alleged police killings in Punjab, apart from being Rights Law Network, Committee approach, offering a platform extremely expansive in nature, does for Co-ordination on for the victims to depose before not seem to… be reconcilable with the express terms of the court’s Disappearances in Punjab, the panel their experiences. remit“ – The NHRC’s restricted Lawyers for Human Rights The IPT will hear experiences mandate International, the Punjab of lawyers, activists and NGO’s In the 22 years of these Human Rights Organisation, who have pursued cases and proceedings not a single witness Khalra Mission Organisation, struggled for justice and has deposed or given evidence before the Commission. Not a Sikhs for Human Rights and accountability in Punjab. single police officer, nor many other NGO’s and activists The Punjab mass government official, has ever been cross-examined or given are holding a two-day disappearances during the evidence despite 3 Sub- Independent People’s Tribunal Punjab conflict have not commissions of enquiry (Bains (IPT) on the issues of enforced received the importance and Committee, Bhalla Committee and Kang Committee). Over disappearances, fake attention they deserve. An two decades of litigation, 525 encounters and two decades overwhelming number of persons are still classified and remain unclaimed/unidentified. of the denial of justice and victim’s voices have never Not a single case outside of the accountability in Punjab. been heard in the public three cremations grounds was The IPT will hear testimonies domain. The majority have considered for compensation, which ignores over 25,000 other of hundreds of forgotten victims been awaiting basic unclaimed/unidentified cases whose loved ones were acknowledgement, throughout Punjab. disappeared and many of accountability and redress. In a whom were cremated as tiny minority of cases, which Our distinguished panel will “unclaimed and unidentified” could be pursued through the critically examine the present by the Punjab Police in 22 of Courts, the victims have been state of affairs; examine the Punjab’s districts. The Tribunal grounded down by the endless findings of the PDAP report of will provide a unique insight into facades of litigation. large scale human rights For Further Details Contact: [email protected] | +91-8860268853 | +91-8196930612 | +91-9810615811 1995 TO 2017: THE 22 YEAR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUNJAB violations, hear direct testimony and accountability in Punjab states in India, there has never been an NHRC led enquiry that from affected victims (including The IPT seeks to lay bare the has ever visited Punjab to those who have had no judicial endemic failures of the judicial investigate and consider the recourse and those whose process to investigate, accuracy of thousands of cases have been protracted or prosecute, and hold to police killings in so-called stayed for a period of over account those responsible for encounters. twenty years); the State’s mass state violence. It will responsibility under domestic critically analyse the apathy The PDAP builds upon the and International law and and indifference of the Indian considerable and ground finally, the enforceable right to judiciary in perhaps the worst breaking work done by the justice; effective and adequate cases of mass state killings ever Committee for Co-ordination remedies including immediate litigated in independent India. on Disappearances in Punjab, compensatory relief. The “Punjab Mass Cremations Human Rights Law Network, Twenty-two years since the Case” before the NHRC Sikhs for Human Rights, Khalra disappearance, abduction and (National Human Rights Mission Organisation the Punjab killing of Sardar Jaswant Singh Commission), remains one of Human Rights Organisation, Khalra, a human rights activist the most protracted and Lawyers for Human Rights who uncovered mass unresolved cases in Indian legal International, Committee for cremations of 2097 individuals, history. The IPT will analyse why Information and Initiative on we return to Amritsar. The IPT will none of the miniscule number Punjab, as well as many revisit and examine the fate of (around 30 cases out of 1513), committed and tenacious those 2097 “unclaimed and investigated by the CBI have Advocates, NGO’s and unidentified” disappeared in resulted in a single conviction Activists. Amritsar’s three cremation and are themselves currently grounds and other subject to judicial stays. The PDAP travelled to over disappearances across Punjab 1400 villages in Punjab share their expertise. Instead of The IPT will consider why the investigating thousands of learning the lessons of Punjab’s NHRC has made no comment cases and draws on seven bitter experience similar in a single case concerning the years of documentation patterns of gross human rights 1513 identified cases, as to through corroboration with violations have been mirrored in whether they were genuine victim’s testimony, eyewitness other conflict states in India. encounter killings using legally accounts, records, data and The IPT will hear Expert sanctioned lethal force or evidence. It examines the evidence from the leading whether they were extra-judicial patterns, which emerge in the human rights lawyers in Punjab killings (fake encounters). Whilst litigation undertaken by human of their own bitter experiences the NHRC has conducted high rights advocates and and long struggles for justice profile “fact findings” in other organisations in identifying what For Further Details Contact: [email protected] | +91-8860268853 | +91-8196930612 | +91-9810615811 1995 TO 2017: THE 22 YEAR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUNJAB happened to thousands of one of India’s most serious as to what can be done victims, who ended up with the challenges and has clear through a distinguished panel ignominious title “lawaris” and implications for accountability.” of retired judges, human rights “unpechathi” (unclaimed and activists, lawyers, media and unidentified). With a specific reference to others who have advanced the Punjab, he pointed out cause of truth, justice and The PDAP has investigated “lengthy and ineffective accountability. and re-examined thousands of proceedings exist in Punjab enforced disappearances and where large-scale enforced The IPT is the latest step in a extrajudicial killings in disappearances and mass concerted effort to uncover the Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur cremations occurred between truth and for truth, justice, and other affected areas. the mid-1980s and 1990s. The reconciliation and rehabilitation lack of political will to address for the affected people of A report will set out the these disappearances is Punjab. preliminary findings in a number evident in a context where of these cases. A detailed set of steps to ensure accountability findings will be presented, that have been reportedly “I am a member of the human the overwhelming majority of inconclusive.” rights movement in Punjab. I the
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