Balkar Singh, son of Makar Singh

Amnesty International has obtained independent medical corroboration of torture allegations in the case of Balkar Singh, a 40-yr-old Sikh, who was living in Canada and had Canadian citizenship. He returned to India in October 1987 to visit a relative. On 2 November he was arrested at the Amritsar International Hotel, by the CRPF and taken, blindfold, to the CRPF headquarters at Mal Mandi, Amritsar.

Balkar Singh stated in a habeas corpus petition to the Supreme Court, dated Jan.19, 9188, that when he arrived at Mal Mandi he was tortured by CRPF personnel in the presence of six senior police officers. Part of this statement is reproduced below:

“The ’Petitioner’s (Balkar Singh) hands were tied behind his back and he was hamstrung from the ceiling. Thereafter the Petitioner was tied fast at the ankles and one of the members of the team conducting the torture sat in between the legs and started jumping and pulling the Petitioner and using him as a swing. After some time the Petitioner was made to sit on a chair and strapped to it.. The team began administering electric shocks first to the penis, then in the anus, thereafter under the armpits, temple of the head and ultimately the nose…

“He was made to sit on the ground with one man pressing his knees against {his} back and two others gradually Cagle spreading the legs to virtually an angle of 180 degrees. He was [then] made to lie down on his stomach with the hands behind his back and beaten mercilessly with a leather strap. These tortures continued for a period of fourteen hours.. On one occasion the Petitioner heard the officers suggesting that the Petitioner ought to be shot dead to avoid any implication while some officers were of the opinion that kerosene oil should be sprinkled and the Petitioner is burnt alive leaving no trace whatsoever of him”.

During his interrogation Balkar Singh said that he was questioned about his alleged involvement with the Sikh separatist movement, about money and weapons which the police said he had smuggled into the country and about his involvement in the 1985 Air India plane crash. Balkar Singh denied these accusations. He was then threatened that if he told anyone about his torture his relatives in India would also be tortured or killed.

Balkar Singh claims that his arrest not formally acknowledged until four days after his detention. The First Information Report, filed on Nov.6, stated that he was arrested for being a “terrorist”, and for being in possession of arms. On Nov.7 he was brought before a magistrate and remanded in custody until Nov.19. Balkar Singh said he complained to the magistrate of torture during the hearing, and requested medical treatment. A medical examination was carried out on Nov.16 by Dr. Anand Gopal Singh Bawa of the Civil Surgeon Office in on the body of Balkar Singh, one of 5cm by 4cm on the sole of his right foot and another of 5cm by 3cm on the back of his right forearm, He stated that Balkar Singh complained of pain in his inner thighs and in the left side of his chest. Dr. Anand Gopal Singh Bawa found that the injuries had occurred between Nov 11416 and that they were caused by a blunt instrument.

Balkar Singh was then transferred to the Central Jail, Amritsar, where a second medical examination was carried out on Nov.25 by the prison doctor, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma. Contrary to the findings of the first medical examination the prison doctor found there to be no sign of external injury. The report did not rule out the possibility of ill-treatment, but noted that Balkar Singh had not complained of any physical torture. The Indian Government then refused to allow an independent medical examination by an outside expert: when a representative of the Canadian High Commission and a Canadian doctor visited Balkar Singh on Nov.26, the Canadian doctor was not allowed to carry out a medical examination. The Indian government simply dismissed the allegations of torture in a communication dated Dec.14, 1989 to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture. “Balkar Singh was medically examined on Nov.16, 1987 and the Medical Officer’s report showed that the allegations of torture could not be established. Furthermore, a detailed report was also received from the Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar, in which allegations of torture were not only denied but a counter allegation was made that this was done by him deliberately $0 as to defame the Indian Police”. “In November 1987 in Amritsar, Mr. Balkar Singh appeared before a team of Canadians who had been granted consular access to him. He deliberately pretended to limp and leveled allegations of torture and illegal confinement. However, Mr.Singh could not show any visible mark of physical injury and the allegations of torture were not sustained,” (E/CN.4/1990/17 at page 25).

On Dec.3, 1987 Balkar Singh’s case was raised in the Canadian Parliament. The Secretary of State for Extremely Affairs told its members that during the visit of the Canadian team to the prison “there was evidence given by Mr Balkar Singh of physical abuse. It was the view of the Canadian doctor present that he had indeed been seriously physically mistreated”. He said the Canadian Government had lodged two formal complaints with the Indian Government about Balkar Singh’s ill-treatment and requested that he receive immediate medical attention.

After repeated representations on his behalf by the Canadian Government, Balkar Singh was eventually released on Oct25, 1988; One month after his release several Canadian doctors examined him. An independent medical examination carried out on Nov.21, 1988 found injuries compatible with the allegations of torture Balkar Singh had made:

 “Restricted neck motion, particularly rotation to the left; slightly tender lower left ribs; a 1×2 cm area of increased pigmentation on the plantar aspect of the right foot; visual acuity in the left eye and a rash consisting of large areas of depigmentation over the whole body. The area of increased pigmentation found on the bottom of Mr. Singh’s right foot is compatible with a history of being beaten on the soles of the feet.

Further examinations, by a rheumatologist and a psychiatrist found, respectively, that “the musculo-skeletal complaints that Mr Singh described were compatible with the history of torture he has described” and that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following torture.

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