Disappearances in Punjab
Disappearances in punjab -- 1984 exploded in Punjab, beginning the government’s active armed oppression of Sikhs and a violent police crackdown of the Sikh insurgency
Decade of Disappearances
The decade-long police crackdown of the insurgency after Operation Bluestar led to the deaths of at least 10,000 people in Punjab. Some estimates range as high as 200,000 Sikhs killed. Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes Operation Rakshak II, the police counter-insurgency movement, as “the most extreme example of a policy in which the end appeared to justify any and all means, including torture and murder.” A system of rewards for police for the capture of militants led to an increase in disappearances and extra-judicial executions. Although all Punjabi Sikhs were vulnerable to disappearance, police especially targeted Amritdharis (initiated Sikhs), those who were politically active with the Akali Dal parties, and families and friends of suspected militants[1]
Laws Governing Detention and Disappearances
After abducting Sikh victims, police kept the detainees in unofficial interrogation and torture centers, such as houses, schools, and police buildings. Contrary to the Punjab Police Rules (1934) (PPR), the police did not report or acknowledge the detentions, much less file arrest reports. In an interview with Physicians for Human Rights/Human Rights Watch (PHR/HRW), a police officer confirmed this process: “The arrest is not recorded in the daily log which includes the names of all criminals arrested on a given day. There is no official record of the arrest or detention.” The unofficial police detention procedures violated Section 26.8 of the PPR, which requires the officer in charge of the police station to report all arrests without warrant to the district magistrate or any other magistrate designated by the district magistrate.
Despite these guidelines, the police used a variety of techniques to conceal cases of illegal arrest, detention, and execution. In direct contravention of Section 25 of the PPR, police failed to register complaints or acknowledge detention, influenced police inquiries by having police from the same branch conduct them, and falsified judicial records. The police relied on medical doctors, executive magistrates, and other officials to help them perform perfunctory post mortems, cremate bodies in secret, and suppress evidence of custodial abuse. Amnesty International received accounts of magistrates filling out reports falsely in favor of the police, in the face of overwhelming evidence of police torture. The police also failed to produce detainees before the magistrate within twenty-four hours of arrest.[1]
