Geneva

Geneva is where the United Nations' human rights offices sit, and Sikh organisations have used it to put before the world body what they say Indian courts have not delivered: justice for the November 1984 killings, and later, a charge of repression reaching Sikhs abroad. Human Rights Watch reported in 2014 that only about 30 people had been convicted over the Delhi killings, with no police officer among them.

Key moments

• 30 October 2013: at the Geneva press club, speakers for Sikhs for Justice say a petition with more than one million signatures will ask the UN to investigate the killing of Sikhs across India in the first week of November 1984 and to recognise it as genocide, and that it will be handed to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay.
• 1 November 2013: a large crowd gathers at the UN's Geneva offices. Organisers claim 10,000 people and police say 4,000, according to AFP. Sikhs for Justice deliver the petition, which they describe as carrying a million signatures; AFP did not verify this. The delegation includes Sikhs for Justice, the All India Sikh Students Federation and European gurdwaras, and asks the UN to treat 1984 as genocide. Indian diplomats decline to comment, saying India's position is well known and its justice system has dealt with the matter.
• 13 March 2026: on the sidelines of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, Sikh Federation International and the Baku Initiative Group present a report, “Beyond Borders”, at the Geneva Press Club. The organisers say it documents a systemic campaign by state actors against Sikh dissidents abroad, and the speakers include Moninder Singh, Prabjot Singh and Jaswinder Singh Khatkar. These are the organisers' claims, and the notice carries no independent verification.

What it means today. Geneva is the place the diaspora goes to ask for recognition when it believes the road at home is closed. The sources opened for this page show petitions and reports being presented there, not a finding by the UN that the 1984 killings were genocide.