Dr. Mr. Secretary: We are writing with regard to news reports that 4 well known human rights violator from India may seek a visa to enter the United States as part of India’s Olympics delegation.
Until he retired last year, Mr.K.P.S. Gill was the Director General of Police in the State of Punjab. Under Mr. Gill’s command, the Punjab police unleashed a reign of terror on the civilian population that was shocking in its scope, and that continues today, we believe that granting Mr, Gill a visa to come to the U.S. for the Olympics would send the wrong message to both perpetrators and victims of human rights abuses around the world.
The State Department Annual Human Rights Reports have clearly documented the atrocious abuses that occurred under Mr. Gill’s watch. For instance, the 1994 country report for India states that more than 41,000 cash bounties were paid to police officers in Punjab for extrajudicial killings of Sikhs between 1991 to 1993.
In addition, every major international human rights organization has condemned India for its long record of torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings in Punjab and Kashmir. Amnesty International’s recent report, determining the Fate of the Disappeared in Punjab, stated that, “the Punjab police have been allowed to commit human rights violations with impunity.” Asia Watch stated that “virtually everyone detained in Punjabis tortured.” One former Punjab police officer interviewed by Human Rights Watch/Asia said that over a five year period, “4,000 to 5,000” Sikhs had been tortured at his police station alone. A second former policeman admitted that he knew of “400 to 500” people who had been murdered at a single police station. A common tactic of the Punjab police has been to kill suspects in custody and then cremate their bodies before families are notified to cover up the manner of death, Last year, prominent human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, the general secretary of the Human Rights Wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal, published a report that over 25,000 young Sikh men had been murdered and cremated in this manner, Mr, Khalra was kidnapped from his home last September and has not been heard from since.
As the Head of the Punjab Police force until the end of 1995, Mr. Gill bears responsibility for these atrocities. Currently a member of India’s Olympic organization, he is likely to seek entrance into the U.S. for this summer’s games. The United States should send a strong signal to the world community that we will not tolerate flagrant human rights abuses by denying Mr, Gill a visa. In addition, Mr. Gill has been a target of protests and demonstrations when traveling abroad. His presence in Atlanta would certainly attract heated protests from Sikh community, His presence in Atlanta would be an unwelcome disruption and a potential threat to the general security of the athletes and spectators.
If Mr. Gill applies for a visa, we urge you to deny it. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Article extracted from this publication >>May 1, 1996
