UK MPs Release Report

ON NOVEMBER 1984 ANTI-SIKH POGROMS

"TWENTY YEARS ON - A CALL FOR ACTION"

The organisers of the Sikh Lobby Day the Sikh Federation (UK), Young Sikhs, National Council of Gurdwaras, Khalsa Human Rights and the Sikh Secretariat invited Rob Marris MP to officially launch the report titled: "Twenty years on - A call for action".

The Human Rights Advisory Group of the Panjabis In Britain All Party Parliamentary Group produced the report. The report was circulated to UK MPs that attended the presentations in the Attlee Suite in Portcullis House on 11 November. The report is currently being made more widely available to UK MPs and Lords and will be invaluable for a parliamentary debate that is being planned .

Rob Marris MP describing the report said "it's horrifying, it chills your blood and it's worth reading, it's a very sobering report". He then called for a minute's silence for the tens of thousands of Sikhs that were massacred in 1984. The minute's silence was observed with utmost dignity by the 250 or so that packed the room.

The report concludes by recommending the following measures be taken by the international community:

A UN investigation should be set up to investigate the persistent failure of successive Indian Governments to ensure the prosecution of those alleged to be responsible for to the killings and destruction. That UN initiative should require the Indian authorities to:

- Take action against those responsible including proportionate criminal sanctions

- Ensure that the victims (or their families) are adequately compensated and provided for

Appropriate sanctions (trade and diplomatic) should be applied, both by the UN and by individual states, in case of default by the Indian authorities in relation to these UN requirements.

All Governments should ensure that those reportedly responsible for these gross human rights violations are denied entry to their respective States until such time they have been subjected to the due processes of investigation and criminal proceedings. Failure to do this will encourage a sense of impunity for the perpetrators. If any such persons are found to have entered the territory of any State, consideration should be given to prosecuting those persons under applicable local and international law.

Threats of violence and intimidation against those championing the rights of the victims and their families and seeking prosecution of the guilty should be roundly condemned. The international community must require India to secure the safety of human rights defenders so that justice can be done.



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