Complaint on Sikh detainees reaches U.N. working group

New Delhi, India (December 22, 2013): According to a news reported by The Hindu: [a] complaint by the Sikh rights group, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), on release of Sikh political prisoners from Indian Jails after expiry of their term has been forwarded by the U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.

According to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Legal advisor of Sikhs for Justice, a communiqué from the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights received by them states, “Such cases clearly fall within the mandate of the U.N. Working Group and they will directly work with the rights groups in this case.”

According to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun the “Action Alert” initiated by the Sikhs For Justice and the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) on social media asking the Sikhs worldwide to email the U.N. body has led to more than 7,000 complaints so far.

The SFJ action was triggered off by the ongoing fast unto death by Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa since November 14, 2013 at Gurdwara Amb Sahib (Mohali) near Chandigarh, to secure the release of 6 Sikh political prisoners, who are lodged in different prisons in India, even after completion of their sentence.