UN experts urge Canada to protect Sikh activist amid credible threats to his life

UN rights experts have urged Canada to take all feasible measures to protect the Sikh activist Moninder Singh, who has been repeatedly warned by the Canadian authorities of credible threats to his life.In a letter to the Canadian government, the five UN experts raised “concerning allegations of foreign intimidation and reprisals” against Singh, a Canadian national.The letter recalled that since 2022, Singh has received four “duty to warn” notices from the Canadian authorities about credible and imminent threats to his life. It urged Canada to “take all feasible measures at its disposal to protect Mr Moninder Singh and his family, as well as similarly situated individuals on Canadian soil”.It went on to say: “We also urge the authorities to accelerate the investigations into these allegations, hold perpetrators accountable, ensure adequate remedy to victims and take all steps to prevent reoccurrence.”The letter, dated 3 June and made public two months later, was written by the special rapporteurs on: protecting rights while countering terrorism; freedom of peaceful assembly; human rights defenders; freedom of religion; and the expert on promoting a democratic international order.UN special rapporteurs and experts are independent figures appointed by the Human Rights Council to report their findings. They do not, therefore, speak for the UN itself. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Indian government.Members of the Sikh community in Peshawar, Pakistan, stage a protest in 2023 after the killing Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Photograph: Muhammad Sajjad/APSingh visited the UN in Geneva earlier this year to appeal for international action against India’s alleged targeting of Sikh activists abroad and against transnational repression more broadly. Sikh activists accuse India of targeting members of their community around the world, including alleged killings using organised crime groups – charges that India denies.The best-known case was the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a friend of Singh’s who was shot dead near the Sikh temple he led in a Vancouver suburb. Canada’s then-prime minister, Justin Trudeau, publicly accused India of involvement in that assassination, a charge later repeated by Canadian intelligence.India denied the allegations but the row chilled ties between the two nations, both of which expelled a string of diplomats in 2024.Relations improved after the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, took office last year, culminating with an India visit in March to sign a string of trade deals, as Canadian authorities downplayed their previous threat assessment.Like Nijjar, Singh, 44, is part of a fringe group advocating for an independent Sikh state called Khalistan. The Khalistan campaign dates to India’s 1947 independence and has been blamed for the assassination of a prime minister and the bombing of a passenger jet. It has been a contentious issue between India and several western nations with large Sikh populations.In their letter, the experts said they were concerned that the threats against Singh “fall within a broader pattern of transnational repression by Indian authorities against Sikh activists in different countries, including Canada”.Singh said the letter was “a stark reminder of how far the Indian state is willing to go to silence Sikh voices advocating for self-determination”.“When a foreign state feels empowered to commit violence in Canada to silence dissent, it signals a profound failure to protect the rights and safety of targeted communities,” he said.“I refuse to be intimidated into silence. My leadership and advocacy for Khalistan are rooted in international law, human rights principles and most importantly the lived experiences of my community,” Singh added.