Feb
5
Fears of Torture of Accused Jailbreak Mastermind
February 5, 2004 | Comments Off on Fears of Torture of Accused Jailbreak Mastermind
A series of articles in Indian papers implicitly raise concerns about the use of torture in the interrogation of the accused mastermind of the Punjab Burail jail break.
Inspector General (Operations) Sumedh Singh Saini is managing the police investigation of the jailbreak. He has also been in charge of interrogating Narain Singh Chaura, the accused mastermind. Chaura’s counsel states he has been severely tortured by the police. The police prevented the media from entering the courtroom when Chaura was produced there on January 31. A senior police officer stated that “extraordinary” efforts were used “to prise open the main conspirator Narain Singh Chaura.” HRW documents (pdf) several cases implicating Saini in human rights abuses.
Major General (Retd.) Narinder Singh replied to attempts to implicate him in the jailbreak, highlighting state terrorism and also stating that he did not meet the alleged escapees the day before their jailbreak. Meanwhile, human rights defenders have met and decided to form an organization called the Punjab Human Rights Defenders Committee.
On its first day, the three-member committee established to investigate the jail break, led by R.S. Gupta, announced it would not explore the role of the police. The minister of state for home affairs protested against this decision.
Gupta called up former Punjab DGP K.P.S. Gill for advice. HRW characterized the counterinsurgency operations established by Gill as “the most extreme example of a policy in which the end appeared to justify any and all means, including torture and murder.” Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab documents the systematic human rights abuses under Gill’s tenure.
Our Jan. 31 post discusses the illegal detention of Chaura.
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