Five independent experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council have urged Canada to take all feasible steps to protect Sikh activist Moninder Singh and his family after repeated police warnings that their lives may be at risk. The experts made the request in a letter dated 3 June that was published two months later. It records that Singh, a Canadian citizen and prominent campaigner for an independent Sikh state, has received four duty-to-warn notices from Canadian authorities since 2022 concerning credible and imminent threats.

What the experts asked Canada to do

The letter calls on Canadian authorities to provide protection, accelerate investigations, hold any perpetrators accountable and ensure remedies for victims. It also asks the government to take preventive action for other people in similar circumstances. The signatories hold mandates covering human rights while countering terrorism, peaceful assembly, human rights defenders, freedom of religion and democratic international order. They are independent figures appointed by the Human Rights Council. Their communication is therefore not a formal finding by the United Nations itself. A copy of the letter was also sent to the Indian government. The experts said the threats appeared to fit a broader alleged pattern of transnational repression against Sikh activists in several countries. India has repeatedly denied allegations that it directs violence against Sikh campaigners abroad.

Singh and the duty-to-warn notices

Singh is the chair of the Sikh Federation of Canada and has been active in campaigns supporting Khalistan, a proposed independent Sikh state in the Punjab region. The movement is lawful to advocate in Canada but is banned in India, where authorities associate parts of it with political violence and terrorism. In February, Singh said a Vancouver police officer had warned him that a credible threat extended to his wife and children. He shared a recording of the visit with Canadian media. Police warnings of this kind are designed to alert a potential target when authorities believe there is a serious risk, but they do not necessarily disclose the intelligence source or identify who is responsible.

The Nijjar case

The warnings are being assessed against the background of the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar was a friend and political associate of Singh. Canada's government and intelligence agencies later alleged Indian involvement in the assassination, a claim India denied. The dispute led both countries to expel diplomats and caused a severe breakdown in relations. Ties improved after Mark Carney became Canadian prime minister and visited India for trade talks, but the security concerns raised by Sikh organisations have not disappeared.

The Canadian policy test

The new intervention puts pressure on Ottawa to explain how repeated warnings translate into practical protection. A duty-to-warn notice can help an individual change routines or improve security, but campaigners argue that the state must also investigate the source of the threat and disrupt any network behind it. Canada must balance several obligations: protecting citizens and lawful political speech, preserving evidence for criminal proceedings, managing intelligence that cannot always be disclosed and maintaining a working diplomatic relationship with India. The experts' letter does not decide who is responsible for the threats. It does make the risk itself an international human rights issue and asks Canada to show what it is doing to prevent another attack. The next significant development will be the response from the Canadian and Indian governments. Until then, reports should distinguish the confirmed police warnings from allegations about who directed them, while recognising that four notices over four years represent an unusually persistent threat picture.