British man detained in India enduring ‘psychological torture’, say UN experts

A British man who has spent eight years in “arbitrary detention” in India is enduring “a form of psychological torture”, UN experts have said.

They said there is no rationale for the continued detention of Jagtar Singh Johal, and that the case reflects a “profound miscarriage of justice”.

Mr Johal, from Dumbarton near Glasgow, was arrested by Indian authorities in 2017, just weeks after his wedding in the country, and has been detained there ever since.

The 39-year-old was acquitted last year in a case in which he was accused of financially supporting a terror group, but he still faces federal charges by the Indian authorities.

Ten UN experts have now released a statement calling on the Indian government to drop the remaining charges and release Mr Johal without delay.

In a statement they said: “Eight-and-a-half years of arbitrary detention without a clear path to trial is not justice, it is unlawful suffering.

“The prolonged uncertainty alone is a form of psychological torture.”

They added: “International law is unequivocal: torture includes severe mental suffering caused by prolonged uncertainty while awaiting trial.”

Mr Johal’s imprisonment was recognised by a UN panel as arbitrary detention in 2022 and he has claimed to have been tortured.

Indian authorities have previously denied the torture claim and have repeatedly maintained due process is being followed.

In the statement published on Wednesday, the UN experts said: “Time is not neutral.

“The long wait for an outcome has already caused intolerable anxiety and stress, and constitutes an unacceptable harm prohibited under international human rights law.”

The UN experts have sent a new communication about the case to Indian authorities and said they will monitor developments.

The 10 experts are the UN Special Rapporteurs on torture, on freedom of religion or belief, on minority issues, on the promotion and protection of fundamental rights while countering terrorism, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on the situation of human rights defenders, and four members of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Mr Johal’s brother Gurpreet Singh Johal met Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper in December and he has this week reiterated his calls on the UK Government to take action to secure his sibling’s release.

He said: “This is the strongest intervention yet from the UN. It is clear as day to legal experts that my brother should not be in prison and that keeping him there for eight years without any evidence is a terrible injustice.

“The Foreign Secretary talks about respecting India’s ‘independent legal system’ when the truth is that my brother is trapped in a hell of endless hearings where no evidence is presented against him and no progress made.

“Last time a group of UN experts called for Jagtar to be released, Sir Keir Starmer strongly agreed and wrote to (then prime minister) Boris Johnson to say so. Now he is Prime Minister himself, will he do everything in his power to get my brother home?

“When Jagtar was fully acquitted of all charges in the first case against him, we put forward a clear strategy to the UK Government to secure his release, but it’s been more than a year and they haven’t done it – all I hear is the same old excuses for their failure to act.”

Mr Johal is represented in the UK by the legal charities Redress and Reprieve, which have also called for action from the UK Government.

Rupert Skilbeck, director of Redress, said: “The UK Government should be doing more to end this injustice against a British citizen.”

Reprieve deputy chief executive Dan Dolan said: “This important intervention should be a wake-up call for the UK Government, which is not doing nearly enough to help this young British man.”

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “We continue to raise concerns about Mr Johal’s prolonged detention at every appropriate opportunity with the government of India, and we have made clear that faster progress is needed to reach a resolution, including a full investigation into Mr Johal’s allegations of torture.”