Death row

The German link to Devender Singh Bhullar, a mechanical engineer, dates back to 1995 when he was deported from Frankfurt after his application seeking political asylum in Germany was rejected. Two years after his deportation, the decision was declared illegal by a Frankfurt court as Bhullar had indeed been facing the threat of torture and death penalty in India.

Now, the rejection of Bhullar's mercy petition has led to fresh questions being raised by human rights organisations in Germany about the decision to deport him to India, since German law prohibits deportation or extradition of individuals to countries where they could be given a death sentence and tortured in custody. "The European Union has come out very strongly against capital punishment. As far as this individual case in Germany is concerned, I think our position has not changed," says Thomas Mattusek, Germany’s ambassador to India. He adds, "We would ask the Indian government for mercy, to not implement this capital punishment. But this is a position which is not new and is consistent with our overall human rights policy."

Presidential assent

Late last month, Indian President Pratibha Patil rejected the mercy petitions of two convicts on death row, clearing the way for their executions. Bhullar from Punjab and Mahendra Nath Das from Assam were both denied mercy.

This is the first time since 2004 that the Indian president has yielded assent for a death sentence. Bhullar had been sentenced to death by a trial court in August 2001 for "plotting terror attacks" in 1993 in Delhi in which several people were killed. His mercy plea has been pending since 2002. Lawyer Bikram Jeet Batra has been campaigning against the death penalty. He believes India needs to call for the abolition of the death penalty, "especially since the capital sentencing system in India has completely failed to deliver and is completely found riddled with errors." Batra adds, "And pending abolition, we must at least declare a moratorium and call for an independent commission to inquire into the subject."

EU united

Activists of Sikh social, religious and political outfits from across the European Union (EU) are expected to participate in a protest planned outside the Indian Embassy in Berlin next week to demand the government to remit Bhullar’s execution and hand down a life sentence instead. Mattusek says that the EU as a whole is pushing Bhullar’s case "because we feel that this is a matter where the EU should take a united stand."

Once a convict's death sentence is confirmed by the Indian Supreme Court, he or she can appeal to the president for clemency. The mercy petition is accepted or rejected by the president only after seeking the advice of the Indian Cabinet. Currently there are over 300 people on death row in many of the country’s prisons and at least 25 cases of mercy petitions of prisoners on death row are pending with the president.

A total of 135 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. India has yet to follow.

Author: Murali Krishnan
Editor: Sarah Berning