On Friday 15 December, 2023, Human Rights Watch called on Indian authorities to conduct thorough and impartial investigations into allegations that government agents were involved in overseas assassination plots against Sikh separatists in the United States and Canada.
The Indian government has been linked to online disinformation campaigns against academics and activists living abroad, and this has been compounded by the government’s systemic failure to prosecute security force personnel for extrajudicial killings and other serious abuses in India.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “India’s alleged involvement in assassination plots in the US and Canada suggests a new and notorious leap in extrajudicial killings. The Indian authorities’ repeated failure to hold police and military personnel accountable for unlawful killings demonstrates the need for more credible investigations.”
In September 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist leader, on June 18, in British Columbia. The Indian government dismissed the allegations as “absurd.”
On November 29, US authorities announced charges against an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, whom they allege was recruited by an unnamed Indian government official to arrange a contract killing of a Sikh separatist leader in the US. The alleged plot was foiled by US authorities, according to the prosecutors.
The public indictment refers to the Indian government official as “CC-1,” a “Senior Field Officer” with responsibilities in security management and intelligence. The intended target of the plot was widely reported to be Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the general counsel for the US-based Sikhs for Justice.
The Washington Post said that an organization linked to Indian intelligence agencies “combined fact-based research with unsubstantiated claims to paint U.S. government figures, researchers, humanitarian groups and Indian American rights activists as part of a conspiracy, purportedly led by global Islamic groups and billionaire George Soros, to undermine India.”
Human Rights Watch said that Indian laws shield Indian police and military personnel from accountability despite allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings over many years. The organisation also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has attempted to silence dissent using intimidation and harassment of critics through raids and arbitrary arrests.
Elaine Pearson said: “The Indian government needs to do a lot more than issue denials in response to alleged involvement in grave abuses both at home and abroad. The authorities need to stop silencing critics and allowing security forces to commit violations with impunity.”
Human Rights Watch called on Indian authorities to uphold international and constitutional obligations to protect the rights to life and liberty, freedom from torture, freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair trial.
On Friday 15 December, 2023, Human Rights Watch called on Indian authorities to conduct thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of overseas assassination plots involving government agents. The allegations come amid reports of serious human rights violations against activists in India, as well as systematic failures to prosecute security force personnel for extrajudicial killings and other abuses.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “India’s alleged involvement in assassination plots in the US and Canada suggests a new and notorious leap in extrajudicial killings. The Indian authorities’ repeated failure to hold police and military personnel accountable for unlawful killings demonstrates the need for more credible investigations.”
The Washington Post alleged online harassment by an organization linked to Indian intelligence agencies, and Human Rights Watch said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government has attempted to silence dissent using intimidation and harassment of critics through raids and arbitrary arrests.
Pearson added: “The Indian government needs to do a lot more than issue denials in response to alleged involvement in grave abuses both at home and abroad. The authorities need to stop silencing critics and allowing security forces to commit violations with impunity.”
Human Rights Watch called on Indian authorities to uphold international and constitutional obligations to protect the rights to life and liberty, freedom from torture, freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, and the right to a fair trial.
