Ottowa: While the attention of the international community is focused on the former Yugoslav Republic, India continues to persecute its own minorities with relative impunity. The World Sikh Organization regrets that after nine years of state terrorism, the Government of India is still able to justify its repressive actions under the guise of national security. India, as a signatory to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Human Rights, must be held accountable by the international community for the persecution of its minorities. Cases of human right violations in India have been documented by internationally respected organizations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch. Such cases occur with alarming regularity and are not limited to “troubled” states, For instance, Amnesty International, in its 1992 report on India, notes, “torture is pervasive and a daily routine in every one of India’s 25 slates.” The time has come for the international community, and especially the Western countries, to hold India accountable for these human rights violations, As a first step, Aid India Consortium should stop all aid to Insinuates it at lows organizations like Amnesty International and Asia Watch to freely enter the country and document cases of all forms of torture and human rights violations in the country. The Western Democracies should take up India’s record on human rights at the forthcoming World Human Rights Conference in Vienna (Austria) from June 14 25,1993.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 11, 1993
