Our Programs
United Nations
“The pressure of international public opinion can challenge impunity in India.”
— Sikh torture survivor
Ensaaf utilizes various UN human rights forums to advocate for the promotion and protection of human rights in India. We bring critical human rights issues, through special communications and meetings, to the attention of individual UN member nations and UN human rights bodies and mechanisms, such as working groups, special rapporteurs, independent experts, commissions, and committees. Ensaaf works within the UN system in order to increase international pressure on India to abide by its international human rights obligations.
Project Highlights
- Universal Periodic Review
- Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances: 2007
- Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti
- Kulvir Singh Barapind
- 2004 UN Commission on Human Rights
Universal Periodic Review (UPR): In November 2007, Ensaaf submitted information for consideration by the UN Human Rights Council in its UPR of India in April 2008. Under the UPR mechanism, the Human Rights Council is required to assess the fulfillment of human rights obligations and commitments by all UN member states. Ensaaf submitted its recent joint report with Human Rights Watch, Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India, as well as a letter (pdf) summarizing gross human rights violations perpetrated in Punjab and the government's failure to provide effective remedies for these violations.
Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), 2007: On November 21, 2007, Ensaaf met with the WGEID in Geneva, Switzerland, to present general allegations against India for its role in perpetrating enforced disappearances. This visit followed a submission (pdf) of general allegations as well as 32 individual cases that Ensaaf jointly made with two other prominent human rights groups – REDRESS and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at New York University School of Law (CHRGJ).
Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti: On May 12, 2006, the 12th anniversary of the disappearance of Punjab human rights attorney Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti, Ensaaf submitted communications to the UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders and the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, providing a detailed summary of Bhatti’s case, identifying key perpetrators, and describing the operation of an unofficial interrogation center. Both mechanisms acted on Ensaaf’s submissions, sending separate communications to the Indian government urging a thorough investigation into the disappearance.
Kulvir Singh Barapind: On January 5, 2006, Ensaaf submitted a communication to the Special Rapporteur on Torture, requesting him to urge the US Secretary of State to withhold the extradition of Kulvir Singh Barapind to India because of his substantial likelihood of torture upon return. The communication discussed the evidence establishing the risk of torture, and the loophole in US extradition regulations that allow the US to circumvent its obligations under the Convention Against Torture.
UN Commission on Human Rights: In April 2004, Ensaaf attended the UN Commission on Human Rights, focusing its advocacy on issues of forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and the Punjab mass cremations case proceeding before the National Human Rights Commission.
