Story perspectives

UN Experts Decry Eight-Year Detention as Torture, Demand Release

4/23/2026

Summary

Story summary

Ten UN human-rights experts labeled Jagtar Singh Johal’s eight-year detention psychological torture and urged his immediate release.
The activist remains imprisoned despite a 2023 acquittal.
The UN panel of Special Rapporteurs and Working Group members sent a communication to Indian authorities and pledged to monitor the case.
India’s government rejected the torture allegation, while UK charities Redress and Reprieve and the Foreign Office called for British intervention and an investigation.

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Story summary

Ten UN human-rights experts labeled Jagtar Singh Johal’s eight-year detention psychological torture and urged his immediate release.
The activist remains imprisoned despite a 2023 acquittal.
The UN panel of Special Rapporteurs and Working Group members sent a communication to Indian authorities and pledged to monitor the case.
India’s government rejected the torture allegation, while UK charities Redress and Reprieve and the Foreign Office called for British intervention and an investigation.