July 26, 2015 by admin

US-based group files complaint against Capt

Jalandhar, July 26 Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based human rights group, has filed a complaint against former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, alleging that he protected police officials accused of torture after Operation Blue Star. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, legal advisor of the SFJ, said, “We have sought criminal prosecution of the former Chief Minister of Punjab for reinstating, promoting and protecting police officials named repeatedly by Sikh victims and human rights groups as perpetrators of torture, disappearances and extra-judicial executions during counter-insurgency operations in 1990s.” The case has been filed just after the MP from Amritsar announced his plans to visit the USA and Canada in September to get support from the Punjabi diaspora for the 2017 Assembly elections. The complaint has been filed with the US Attorney General under Section 509 B of the Human Rights Enforcement Act of 2009. The SFJ representative said they had cited reports to strengthen the case against Amarinder, which includes a decade-long police crackdown on insurgency that “led to the deaths of at least 40,000 people in Punjab” (Committee for Coordination on Disappearances in Punjab (CCDP), June 2003), “including 10,000 civilians” The group has also alleged that in 2006, while Amarinder was the Chief Minister, DGP SS Virk publicly admitted using government commandos, known as “black cats”, to kill Sikh nationalists in fake and staged encounters.