SAN FRANCISCO: In recent weeks, three members of the All India Sikh Student Federation (AISSF) won political a8ylum in the United States, according to Robert Jobe, the attomey for the three men.

 On December 14,1991, Judge Phillip Lead better granted asylum to Ashok Singh, an AISSF activist from Nathana, Punjab. In January 1991, five members of the Punjab Police arrested Singh from his home. They escorted Singh to the Nathana police station, where they accused him of sheltering armed Sikh militants and brutally tortured him. The police stripped Singh of his clothes, bound his feet, and forced him to lie face down on the interrogation room floor. They then repeatedly beat Singh’s back, legs and feet with a wooden rod and poured hot water on his legs. When Singh continued to deny that he had sheltered Sikh militants, the police blindfolded him and threatened that he would be killed in a “false encounter”. The police released Singh when his father and several members of the panchayat intervened on his behalf, Two months later, Singh fled from India to the United States.

On December 3, 1991, Judge Lead better granted asylum to Charanjeet Singh, an AISSF member from Jallandhar, Punjab, who has suffered arrest and brutal torture at the hands of the Punjab Police on two separate occasions.

In March 1990 and May 1990, the Punjab Police arrested Singh and 10 other AISSF activists as they were demonstrating in favor of Khalistan in front of Sports College in Jallandhar. Following each of his arrests, Singh was interrogated about the AISSF and the whereabouts of other AISSF members, during the interrogation, the police punched him in the face and knocked him to the floor. They forced him to lie on the floor of the interrogation room and repeatedly beat his back, buttocks and feet with a wooden rod and leather belt. When Singh continued to refuse to divulge information regarding the whereabouts of other AISSF members, the police tortured him with a fiery hot metal rod. After testifying about the torture that they had suffered, Singh lifted his shirt and displayed to Judge Lead better three scars —in the shape of a hot iron rod — that he has carried since the day of his torture.

On November 13, 1991, Judge Bernard Hombach granted asylum to Harpal Singh, an AISSF activist from Amritsar, Punjab. Harpal Singh joined the AISSF in 1981, when he was just 14 years old. In June 1984, he was arrested by the Punjab Police while celebrating Shaheede Gurpurab Day at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The police forcibly transported him to a torture center in Amritsar, where he remained for 6 days. He was placed in a windowless room where his hands and feet were chained to the floor. Each day, the police severely beat him with bamboo sticks and iron pipes. The police also rolled a heavy metal pipe (4 feet long and weighing 7080 pounds) on his legs, slowly crushing the muscle tissue of his legs. Following his release, Harpal Singh fled from Amritsar to Chandigarh, where he lived until he fled India in 1991.

Judge Hombach found that although Harpal Singh had not been arrested during the seven years that he lived in Chandigarh, he would not be able to remain free from arrest and torture in Chandigarh indefinitely. The only reason Singh was not arrested after 1984, Judge Hombach said, was that the Punjab Police were not able to find him.

Robert Jobe, attorney for the winning AISSF activists, was elated with the success that his Sikh asylum applicants are having, “The recent reports from Asia Watch and Amnesty International have made the judges realize that torture and extrajudicial killings are rampant in Punjab,” he said. “I believe that persecuted Sikhs will continue to have great success in the asylum process”.

For additional information, contact:

Robert B.Jobe

235 Montgomery Street, _ Suite #327

San Francisco, CA 94104

Telephone (415) 956-5513

Fax (415) 956-0850

Article extracted from this publication >> December 20, 1991