“In order to escape accountability for his crimes, the perpetrator does everything in his power to promote forgetting. Secrecy and silence are the perpetrator’s first line of defense. If secrecy fails, the perpetrator attacks the credibility of his victim. If he cannot silence her absolutely, he tries to make sure that no one listens... After every atrocity one can expect to hear the same predictable apologies: it never happened; the victim lies; the victim exaggerates; the victim brought it upon herself; and in any case it is time to forget the past and move on.”
– Judith Herman
This page identifies many of the senior officials who reportedly perpetrated gross human rights violations in Punjab, India. Victim profiles that directly implicate these officials in abductions and/or enforced disappearances or extrajudicial executions are linked to each perpetrator. Ensaaf is now developing more detailed dossiers for officials; those officials are earmarked below. Additional dossiers will be released over the next few years.