Thousands to Protest at UN Monday:India's Imminent Execution

New York, NY --Thousands will attend an historic protest rally on Monday, July 25th from Noon-2:00 p.m. at the United Nation’s Headquarters (47th Street, Between 1st & 2nd Avenues) to demand the U.N. intervene to stop India’s planned execution of Professor Devenderpal S. Bhullar, an innocent man that has been repeatedly tortured by the Indian government.

Professor Bhullar was taken into custody in January 1995 and immediately tortured and forced to sign blank sheets of paper which were later used to engineer his “confessional statement” which forms the sole basis of his conviction. Professor Bhullar was sentenced to death, by a split decision of the Supreme Court of India, solely on the basis of this fraudulent “confession” and without any independent corroborating evidence or witnesses.

He was tried and convicted under the notorious TADA -Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act - of India, a law that has been condemned as completely unacceptable by attorney, Sir Nigel Rodely, a member of the U.N. Human Rights Committee. Professor Bhullar is the son of U.S. citizen, Ms. Upkar Kaur, whose husband Balwant Singh (Professor Bhullar’s father) was tortured to death by the police in India in 1991. Ms. Kaur will be present at the rally.

Bhullar’s conviction endorses extracting confessions via torture; his 16-year detention and planned execution violate the U.N.’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its 2008 Resolution 62-149 calling for a moratorium and abolition of the death penalty. Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is submitting the attached memorandum to the U.N. Secretary General asking for its prompt intervention.

The following organizations are supporting the commutation of the death sentence against Professor Bhullar’s: Amnesty International, World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, International Commission Against the Death Penalty.

The rally, organized by Sikhs for Justice is a U.S. based Human Rights Organization, is being supported by the Gurudwara Temple Management Committees across the United States.

ENDS

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