Annex D
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION APPEAL
RELATING TO PROFESSOR DAVINDERPAL SINGH BHULLAR
UA 21/03—IMMINENT
EXECUTION/UNFAIR
TRIAL
INDIA—Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller (m)
Amnesty International is concerned that Davinder
Pal Singh Bhuller may be facing imminent execution. His death
sentence, handed down in an apparently unfair trial, was upheld
by the Supreme Court in August 2002. His only hope of clemency
now lies in a mercy petition filed with the Indian President,
A J P Abdul Kalam, who has the power to commute the sentence.
Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller was sentenced to
death on 29 August 2001 after being found guilty of involvement
in the 1993 bombing of the Youth Congress Office in the capital,
New Delhi. Twelve people were killed and 29 injured in the blast.
Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller sought political asylum in Germany,
but was forcibly returned to India, where he was arrested on arrival
at New Delhi airport in January 1995.
There are serious concerns that Davinder Pal
Singh Bhuller may not have been given a fair trial. He was arrested
under the now-lapsed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)
Act, which has no provision for appeals to the High Court. He
was found guilty solely on the strength of an unsubstantiated
confession he made in police custody, allegedly under intense
police pressure, which he later retracted. A second defendant
in the case was acquitted because the only evidence against him
was Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller's confession.
Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller appealed against
the death sentence in December 2001, but the appeal was rejected
by a three-member bench of the Supreme Court. This was not a unanimous
decision, because the most senior of the three judges found the
accused not guilty and directed that he should be released. In
general, in cases of a split decision, the death penalty is not
handed down. However, while the Supreme Court was considering
Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller's appeal, armed militants attacked
the Lokh Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) on 13
December 2001. Observers believe that heightened rhetoric about
the threat of "terrorism" in India and a hardening of
government policies may have influenced the judges' decision.
A review petition was filed in the Supreme Court
in December 2002, questioning the legitimacy of the rejection
of Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller's appeal. The review petition was
heard by the same three judges, who upheld their original decision.
It was again a majority decision, with the same senior judge again
expressing dissent.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive
as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
— urging that the President immediately
commutes the death sentence imposed on Davinder Pal Singh Bhuller;
— pointing out the controversial nature
of the two decisions made by the Supreme Court;
— expressing unconditional opposition
to the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and the
right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment, and emphasizing that the death penalty has never
been shown to have a special deterrent effect;
— reminding the President of the United
Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights resolution of April 1999
that governments should establish a moratorium on executions.
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