Five persons were killed, over1,000 injured across the country in clashes between police and activists of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies on January 29 and 30, 2012. Police opened fire in Chandpur, Lakkhipur and Rajshahi killing all five persons belonging to BNP and Jamaat. Ruling party cadres also took side of the police to disrupt the demonstration elsewhere in the country.

The clashes became inevitable as meetings and processions were banned following the calling of parallel programs by the ruling Awami League in the capital city Dhaka in order to foil the opposition party’s mass procession program which was announced by the leader of the opposition and BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia on January 12 while addressing a huge rally in Chittagong. Police put restrictions saying that neither of the parties would be allowed to hold their programs as they have intelligence report that both the parties could carry out subversive activities and law and order might be disrupted.

BNP wisely announced that they will hold the program on the following day and the Awami League also did the same. This kind of behavior from the ruling party has created question that what they really want? Do they want to eliminate the opposition and encouraging some quarter to come forward and help them to launch one party system as they had done it back in 1975?

Political observers think that measures to squeeze the scope of democratic forms of protest by putting restrictions on rallies and demonstrations is not endorsed in a democratic polity. Intolerance and confrontation can only push democracy to destruction. The government, the executive organ of the state, bears the main responsibility to ensure safety of its citizens.

The BNP and its allies called mass-procession program on January 29 across the country mainly demanding reinstatement of the Caretaker Government system. The ruling party later on announced similar demonstration program in the city on the same day. Right to lodge peaceful protest against government’s decision, accepted in all democracies, was thus barred and denied. The agitation and violence is unfortunate for the nation. The victims of violence are the ultimate sufferers. Unfortunately, we have not been able to put in place a system that will ensure organization of regular and credible elections acceptable to all major political parties.

It appears that we are again heading towards a crisis on the issue of holding of the next parliamentary elections, as the two major political forces cannot come to an agreement on the basic rules of the game. The party in power has the responsibility to maintain democratic norms, principles and culture. The promise of a new beginning reflected the Awami League’s election manifesto ‘Charter for Change’ that gave the hope for a new beginning is not upheld by lack of tolerance. There are allegations that police took the side of the ruling party during clashes. This should not happen.

The BNP and its allies were originally scheduled to bring out processions in divisional and district headquarters on January 29 demanding immediate restoration of the caretaker government system for supervising the next polls, besides other demands. But the alliance had deferred the program in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Pabna, Bogra and Sirajganj for January 30 after a ban was imposed on processions and rallies.

Alomost everywhere except Dhaka police obstruction triggered pitched battles between the law enforcers and opposition men that left Jamaat activist Shafiqul Islam, dead and over 100 others injured in Rajshahi.  Police had fired at least 20 rounds of bullet and also tear gas to disperse the protesters. A large contingent of police backed by Rapid Action Battalion and armed police kept BNP-Jamaat activists confined in particular places and did not allow them to demonstrate on the roads.

In the capital Dhaka, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia led a peaceful mass procession with a large number of activists of the opposition alliance participating. Activists of BNP, Jamaat and other parties of the alliance joined the program. When the head of the procession, guarded by a large contingent of law enforcers, reached Moghbazar crossing, its end still remained at a point between Kakrail and Nightingale crossings, witnesses said. Traffic in the city’s main streets was thin as many opted not to drive fearing violence.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is a New York based organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government has taken no significant steps to investigate and prosecute torture in custody and extra-judicial killings during 2011 and showed an increasing intolerance for criticism, says Human Rights Watch. The government also missed the chance to ensure trials that meet international standards for the country’s independence-era atrocities, observed the New York-based rights watchdog in its World Report 2012 released recently. The 676-page World Report 2012 also said found that though the number of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) killings has dropped following domestic and international criticism, there was a sharp increase in enforced disappearances.

The enforced disappearances led to concerns that security agencies have replaced one form of abuse with another, the HR report observed. The report also accused the government of violating the right to a fair trial of the accused of 2009 Pilkhana carnage. “It (the government) staged mass trials for thousands being held for the 2009 massacre of army officers by troops in the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). Human rights organizations, journalists, trade unions, and civil society activists remained at risk, with some suffering attacks,” the report added. “The government of Sheikh Hasina has made repeated promises to end abuses and ensure justice and accountability, yet the security forces remain above the law,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“In the past year the government has moved from saying it would take action against abusive forces to denying abuses or defending the actions of the same abusive security forces that it complained about when it was in opposition.” Human Rights Watch also assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined. Given the violent forces resisting the “Arab Spring,” the international community has an important role to play in assisting the birth of rights-respecting democracies in the region, the report said. The report also pointed to Bangladesh parliament that took long overdue action in November to provide for returning property seized from the minority Hindu community.

The action amended a 1965 law, passed when Bangladesh was still part of Pakistan, which allowed the appropriation of property of Hindus, who were suspected of supporting enemy India. Human Rights Watch cautioned, however, that the government should ensure that the new law is not used to target its political enemies. Belatedly, the government also took the positive step in bilateral meetings of protesting the killing of hundreds of Bangladeshi nationals by India’s Border Security Force over the past 10 years.

The report also criticized the Awami League government that continues with decades long discrimination against women under personal status laws and fails to take adequate measures to protect women and girls from violence despite its steps to promote women’s rights, making commendable progress in reducing infant and maternal mortality rates. The government introduced a policy to advance women’s rights in 2011, which among other things guarantees women an equal share and opportunity in employment and full control over their earnings, the report said.  The government has also committed to developing a national strategy for social security, a positive step that could help reduce the high poverty levels among female-headed households, but violence against women is rampant, with religious leaders or village elders imposing illegal punishments under the garb of “fatwas.” These include orders to whip girls, blacken their faces, or otherwise humiliate them publicly for “immoral behavior.” In some cases, village elders illegally accused girls who reported rape or sexual abuse of having an affair and ordered them punished, the HR report added.

The Bangladesh high court division ordered the government to take action against such extrajudicial punishments, but the government did not carry out court orders, it said. The parliament passed a law in 2010 against domestic violence but has yet to introduce any rules for its implementation. “The government has taken some important steps on women’s rights,” said Adams. “But too often it makes announcements and nothing changes for women on the ground.” Despite pledges, the government took no action against RAB personnel for human rights violations. In fact, the government has refused to acknowledge violations and prosecute those responsible despite criticism from the National Human Rights Commission, the findings of independent home ministry investigations, and lengthy reports from Human Rights Watch.

Bangladeshi human rights groups have documented nearly 1,600 extrajudicial killings since 2004. Many were disguised by law enforcement institutions as “crossfire killings.” The main unit responsible is the RAB, although that same culture of violations and impunity is infecting other security forces as members rotate back to their parent units in the police or intelligence departments, Human Rights Watch said. “Despite clear and voluminous evidence of RAB responsibility, the government has not held anyone in RAB accountable for the large numbers of extra-judicial killings,” Adams said. “While the government talks proudly of its democratic credentials, it seems to forget that a key component of a democracy is ensuring the safety of its citizens from state sponsored violence,” he added.

Attempts by civil society during the year to document or denounce human rights violations at times resulted in harassment or torture, Human Rights Watch said. Odhikar, a Dhaka-based human rights organization, has come under increased surveillance and its employees have been harassed. The Asian Human Rights Commission said that its representative, William Gomez, was abducted by plainclothes security personnel in May and tortured and verbally abused during an interrogation. Supporters of high profile figures such as the Nobel Prize Laureate Mohammad Yunus were threatened and intimidated and, in one case, beaten up. Trade union leaders remained under severe pressure and at risk of arbitrary arrests. The non-governmental organization bureau in the prime minister’s office held up grants to groups critical of the government, the report said.

“In 2011 the government appeared to hunker down and assume dark motives when human rights concerns were raised, demonizing critics instead of carefully considering their concerns,” Adams said. “In a democracy all points of view should be welcome and activities like human rights monitoring by domestic organizations should be encouraged, not disparaged,” he added. Many of the 6,000 members of the BDR charged for the 2009 mutiny which led to a massacre of dozens of army officers have faced serious fair trial violations, Human Rights Watch said.

Of those charged, 850 face criminal charges under the Bangladesh penal code, which allows for capital punishment. Military courts convicted close to 1,000 in mass trials during 2011 without providing individualized evidence. Many accused did not have legal counsel or, if they did, lawyers did not have sufficient time or resources to provide an adequate defence. Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented cases of severe abuse of BDR members during detention, particularly in the early aftermath of the mutiny. Many accused gave statements under duress, and others were compelled to provide testimony against other accused. International law proscribes the use of statements obtained under duress, and the use of these statements raises serious due process and fair trial concerns. The government has taken no steps to investigate these allegations or hold those responsible for abuse accountable.

Charges have been filed against seven people accused of war crimes during the 1971 war for independence. The first trial under the tribunal began in September against Delawar Hussein Sayedee. Some important amendments were made in June to the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Rules of Procedure, which included ensuring the right to a presumption of innocence, the right to a fair and public trial, the right against double jeopardy, and the right to counsel of the accused’s choice. However, these amendments did not address other important shortcomings in the rules, such as the denial of interlocutory appeals, the need to establish a defense office, and the need to repeal article 47(A) of the constitution, which denies fundamental rights under the constitution to individuals accused under the ICT Act. The provision even bars claims that article 47(A) is unconstitutional.

The proceedings in Sayedee’s case raise serious concerns about the impartiality of the bench and the rights of the accused to a fair trial, Human Rights Watch said. The accused has been denied access to foreign counsel of his choice, and the defense teams contend that defence witnesses and investigators have been harassed. “Bangladesh promised to meet international standards in these landmark trials, but it still has a long way to go to meet this commitment,” Adams said. “Bangladesh could have set the standard for other nations that have suffered from unspeakable abuses, but problems with the law and the conduct of the first trial are throwing away this opportunity,” he said.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is a New York based organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

HRDB Report

Not having a mobile phone, torchlight and a thousand rupees as bribe almost cost the life of a Bangladeshi who was caught on camera while being tortured by Indian border guards. Stripping him, the jawans of Border Security Force (BSF) tied his hands and legs and beat him up before dumping his unconscious body in a mustard field near Raninagar camp in Murshidabad district in the Indian state of Paschimbanga.

“When I opened my eyes, I was not sure if I was alive. I rested in the mustard field for a while to pull myself together. Though I was unable to move due to the excessive beating, I forced myself to get up and headed towards home,” the victim said. He estimated that he was about five to seven kilometres into the Indian Territory.

Habibur Rahman, 22, son of one Saidur Rahman of Sateroroshia village under Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj, used to smuggle cattle from India. He had never been caught by the BSF in his one-year stint as a smuggler until December 9 last year, the day he experienced his worst nightmare.

The video footage of the BSF torture that had been aired by different television channels in India, including NDTV, sent a shock wave across the nation. Later Habib was identified and interviewed by the national media. It was known from him that on December 9 morning 2011, 10-12 men, including Habibur, sneaked into Murshidabad district through Khanpur border in Paba upazila of Rajshahi to fetch some cattle as instructed by a Bangladeshi trader.

“We found no cattle when we reached the rendezvous point. So, we started back for home,” said Habibur, adding that it was around 11:00pm when the BSF men caught him with two others. “They demanded Rs 1,000, a mobile phone and torchlight from me. As I said I did not have those, they started kicking and punching me. But that was only the trailer of what to happen next. They took me to their camp at Raninagar on a tractor,” he said.

“The real beating began the next morning,” said Habibur, “Two jawans stripped me, tied my hands at the back to a stick. They also tied the legs. Then they started to beat me up with a stick.” Habibur still looked in shock when he was describing the BSF brutality. “As I fell on the ground, three of them indulged in beating me up indiscriminately,” said Habibur failing to hold his tears. The video footage of the Indian TV channels and on website matches the description of the victim.

“At one point, one of them sat on my abdomen and held my feet up while another hit me on the bare sole with a stick. The torture continued for at least an hour,” he said, adding that the jawans then dragged him a few yards, pulled him up and asked him to walk on his own. “But I blacked out and fell down. A few hours later, I found myself lying in a mustard field,” the victim said. He showed his injuries marks on the face, hands, legs and the back.

On his return, Habibur did not dare to go to a hospital fearing more ordeals. He chose traditional treatment. About his former profession, Habibur said each cattle smuggler get Tk 1,000 for bringing a pair of cattle and one could bring up to six cows in each trip. Pointing out that chances are high for cattle smugglers to get caught, he said BSF men let them go in exchange bribes.

After reports were published in different newspapers and television channels, BGB officials also met the victim. “We tracked him at his home in Sateroroshia village,” Lt Col Jahangir Hossain, commanding officer of 39 BGB Battalion in Chapainawabganj, told the journalists.

Dhaka protests at BSF torture

Bangladesh has protested the inhuman torture by the Indian Border Security Force on one of its nationals and expressed its ‘utter dismay’ to the Indian side at such atrocities. The foreign affairs ministry in a statement said Dhaka had conveyed its resentment to Delhi for the abusive and violent action of BSF personnel, despite repeated assurance from the Indian government of its border guards showing utmost restraint. The BSF torture took the centre-stage after the Indian electronic media on Wednesday telecast a video footage of the December 9, 2011 brutality, which was followed up by the media in Bangladesh.

A Bangladesh national was stripped and tortured by BSF personnel at Rajshahi border last month, said the statement. The video footage taken by a mobile phone showed BSF personnel mercilessly beating a Bangladeshi youth as he refused to pay them bribe.

The foreign ministry requested the Indian authorities to conduct a thorough enquiry into the incident and take appropriate action against the BSF personnel responsible for the incident. It also requested for taking immediate actions to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

India, meanwhile, said that a full investigation has been ordered into the assault of a suspected Bangladeshi citizen by BSF personnel. ‘BSF has taken a prompt action of suspending the BSF Jawans involved in the incident and full investigations have been ordered into the matter,’ a spokesman of the external affairs ministry said responding to a question on the reported incident at the India-Bangladesh border involving the BSF troops.

It was known that Indian authority ordered a full investigation into the recent torture on a Bangladeshi by their Border Security Force men and the authorities of the paramilitary frontier force took ‘prompt actions’ in suspending the personnel concerned.

‘BSF has taken prompt action to suspend BSF jawans involved in the incident and full investigations have been ordered into the matter,’ a spokesman of the India’s external affairs ministry said in a brief comment as video footage of the torture posted online sparked wide reactions in Bangladeshi as well as Indian media.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

Apparently they fire “criminals violating border norms”, said the BSF DG in 2010. These incidents are normal, happen all the time and the state has no serious concern about this, says the LGRD minister of the ruling party.

These incidents should not be “hyped” by media, says the Indian Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee in India. Possibly Bangladesh is the only country where lives have lesser value tags attached to them when compared to the value of the cattle crossing the border. Possibly Bangladesh is the only country where the powerful need to be protected and the powerless killed in order to maintain a balance of survival.

In the border areas, there seems to be a complete impertinence to life and norms. Cattle trade being illegal in India, almost 20000 cows are herded and sold from Punjab, Bihar and Haryana to Bangladesh through Murshidabad alone. Caught up in the game of the brokers (dalals), and the owner (ghatiyal), the labourer (rakhal) is the one who profits the least and gets hit the most. The brokers comprise of all shapes and sizes, starting from BSF, police and custom officials’ category. They are known as the “Commission”. When cows are at times caught on the border, they are often sold back to the owner at a higher price instead of a legal auction.

The 2216 kilometers of India’s borders with Bangladesh are death traps for Bangladeshis today. Rakhals carry blue and yellow chits with different symbols drawn on them indicating that they have a “passport” to pass through the borders. They are safe, meaning that both police and customs have received their fair share.

In spite of all that open knowledge, I don’t know how any Bangladeshi minister can show indifference to murder; I don’t know why the political parties don’t invest on a BSF march instead of Tipaimukh, Teesta and many others that we watch these days.

With Odhikar’s figure of slain Bangladeshis standing at a 39 and Ain-o-Shalish Kendro’s at a 31 in 2011 alone, how can the BSF bullets be justified by citing irrelevant examples of drug and cattle smuggling? Mr. Syed Ashraful Islam, how can illegal trade cost life? If so, how come the biggest scoundrels and smugglers of Bangladesh still ride on their SUVs and befriend political parties and eventually even become part of them and get elected in the process? What systems are we subscribing to, Mr. Islam? Are we applying for permanent positions in the club of the corrupt and blind? And will you take responsibility of your statement of the government “not being worried”?

I was speaking to a bright, young girl who had organized a lot of young voter movements during the last elections. Hurt and distraught, she sat in front of me, talking about the 22-year-old Rasheduzzaman from Sharsha Upazila who was shot dead by the BSF just the other day. I had no words to restore her faith in democratic process that often breeds monsters in place of responsible lawmakers.

How could BSF, within a few days after the Indian media had just aired the scenes of gruesome torture of a Bangladeshi youth, repeat the same act? To the best of my knowledge, BSF cannot claim impunity and can only fire in self-defence. Are we really expected to believe that the illegal traders have more strength than the ‘border beasts’ that kill them in retaliation?

I humbly suggest that we put up a wall etching the names of the fallen at the hands of the BSF at a significant point in Dhaka. Let this memorial wall be erected somewhere near our diplomatic zone where every diplomat crossing the installation will take time and reflect on the hurt that the citizens of this country suffer because of Indian insensitivities and aggression.

I couldn’t sleep last night. I didn’t even have nightmares. I simply stayed awake thinking of the families who lost their children to BSF. I also played out scenes in my head reflecting the torture that is no less than the Americans torturing at Abu Ghraib, no less than the British torturing the Iraqis, and no less than the Pakistanis raping us in 1971. If we could once, as a nation, come together and fight against atrocities, let us not falter and fail our conscience today.

Let us carefully reflect on the reality: while the lions in the borders roar, how and why should we grant access to the same people behind the lines waiting to access our transit points? They need to control their beasts first before wanting a substantial share of our resources. Should that not be the case, after all?

While teenagers like the 14-year-old Jinnah wanting a little more money for their pockets get into deals with the traders on the borders, carry out their missions and earn as less as Tk 2000.00 per crossing, and while they save as much as Tk 6000.00 in three trips and buy jeans and a mobile phone storing at least 200 songs, including hits like “Paglu”, who should we blame when they receive bullets piercing through their necks, exiting through their backs?

Is it illegal trading or our own insensitivities that grant audacity to our big brother in the block?

At a time when the third anniversary of the Peelkhana massacre of 2009 is only weeks away, a rumor is afloat about the defence ministry mulling on whether the incumbent army chief should get an extension or be replaced by a new one.

AL-led regime now third year in office has precious little to claim as success stories of governance in general and in building civil military rapport in particular. While immediately after coming to power it acted in political overconfidence, if not out of disregard of the military, mishandling of the BDR mutiny leading to massacre of army commanders in the organization.

It was learnt that ‘mistrust and misunderstanding have clouded civil-military relations in recent weeks.’

Curious circular  

Wild whispers and conjectural anecdotes aside, a recently released circular by the Home Ministry points to a crisis in the making. The circular says a 1,112 member strong special security force has been created to protect the President, the Prime Minister and other VVIPs.

Dubbed as the Security and Protection Battalion (SPB), the elite force will be comprised of members from the police force only and will be headed by an Additional Inspector General of Police. Simply put: It will be a force composed of political loyalists. No wonder the rank and file within the military find the SPB’s creation curious.

The move is politically unjustified and militarily unnecessary. Apart from the uniformed members of the President’s Guard Regiment (PGR), whose assignment it is to protect the President and the Prime minister, all the VVIP’s now are protected by the elite Special Security Force (SSF) while members of the Special Branch (SB) of police as well as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) provide constant ‘shadow protection’ to all deserving VIPs.

“If the government believes this multi-layered security is not enough, one must presume there is something wrong,” said a former SSF officer.  Many analysts believe the SPB’s creation is indicative of the growing civil-military mistrust and it reflects badly on the degree of faith the government is willing to repose on the military to protect senior dignitaries of the nation. It is presumed that the SPB will be trained by the elite forces officers of a neighboring nation.

Moral impact 

Insisting on anonymity, a former senior officer of the army said, “Decisions like the SPB’s creation is impacting on the morale of the forces at a time when they have barely begun to recuperate from the trauma induced by the 2009 Peelkhana massacre.”  He termed the SPB’s creation as erroneous and counterproductive like the creation of the Jatio Rakhi Bahini (JRB) in the early 1970s as a ‘counterbalance to the valiant armed forces’ that fought only months ago to liberate the nation.

According to other sources connected with the military, the AL-led regime has punished a substantial segment of the officers’ cadre for what the regime’s sycophants’ term as ‘unbecoming behavior.’  Dozens of officers were arrested, tortured, sacked, victimized, and psychologically and physically persecuted.

The precise timing of the ongoing civil-military row also seems enigmatic. It occurs in the run up to the third anniversary of the 2009 Peelkhana massacre that rekindles a grievous sense of anger about the lack of tangible evidence among members of the armed forces who have not, as yet, seen any tangible actions against the ‘known political luminaries’ who actively facilitated the barbaric massacre of the 57 army officers in February 2009. The idea of a political settlement of an armed revolt that allowed necessary time for massacre might be condoned as naiveté. But actual cooperation in creating opportunity for the mutineers to escape cannot but be regarded as participation in genocide.

Extrajudicial arrests

Then there are other tell-tale signs to attest to the prevalence of a dreadful atmosphere that could further compound the existential economic, political and geopolitical threats facing the nation. For instance, the latest episode in the military involves the fleeing from the force of one Major Ziaul Haque of 41st BMA long course, who has allegedly been kidnapped late last month from Savar bus stand during his journey to the new unit following completion of a course at the Dhaka-based Military Institute of Science & Technology (MIST).

A source in the know of the victim officer’s family affairs maintains the officer was in fact kidnapped by an intelligence cabal and interrogated for two days, until the courageous Major managed to flee from custody and vanish into the oblivion. His whereabouts are unknown, and no one from the military is willing to make a statement about his fate.

Breach of Army Act

The incident created ripples of anger and generated widespread disaffection within the forces; especially it having followed similarly mysterious arrest/ kidnapping of three other officers in July 2011 by the same intelligence cabal, and five Captains and one Major before that. The victim officers of the July 2011 swoop are Lt. Col. Zaydee, Lt.Col. Hassin and Lt.Col. Ahsan. The trio are still in custody, although no formal charges having been framed against them.

Meanwhile, the five arrested Captains and one Major have been sacked after prolonged torture in custody and sentenced with five years of imprisonment each; for an alleged crime in which their culpability was not conclusively proven.

A former military lawyer said the arrests of the Colonels in July 2011, and the Captains and a Major before them, were extrajudicial. The Army Act provides for convening a court martial to try accused members of the armed forces within eight days of their arrest, if charges can be framed. The Colonels, etc, are still languishing in custody. Nearly 180 days having elapsed since their initial arrest/kidnapping.

More ominously, the family members of these detained officers are barred from seeing them and many of the so called ‘politically suspect’ officers are allegedly interrogated by officers of a neighboring country on matters involving classified national security agendas. If that is true, may God help Bangladesh.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

HRDB Report

The incident of abductions of persons followed by secret killings in Bangladesh has been a matter of serious concern for everyone. People having different backgrounds, including lawyers, university students, small businessmen and pro-opposition political activists, are being abducted by plain-clothed armed men from the streets, market places and even from their respective offices or homes.  In almost all cases the abductors claim to be the agents of the country’s law-enforcement agencies and security forces although their identification is always impossible in the given context. After a period of time ranging from a few days to weeks dead bodies are found at different locations posing further burdens on the relatives to identify as to whether any of the bodies belong to their missing loved ones. Several others still remain disappeared in the midst of either denial or silence and inaction of the relevant authorities of the country.

In a democracy, the government has the undeniable obligation to ensure the protection of the people who are living in its territory regardless of their political or even national identity. Particularly, the Constitution of Bangladesh enshrines the safeguard of the right to life and liberty of everyone with a guarantee of having equal protection of law.

Bangladesh, as a long-standing member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations and also a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), has a further obligation to protect its own people within the country, on the one hand and explain before the international community the reasons the authorities have for failing to fulfil their fundamental responsibilities of protecting the citizens and what measures have been initiated to stop the recurrence of the deprivation of human life through another or several other methods, on the other.

In reality, the authorities of Bangladesh, including the top ranking officials of the law-enforcing agencies and security forces and the persons having powerful political portfolios constantly blame either the ‘criminal gangs’ or the ‘opposition political parties’ for the ongoing abductions and secret killings in the country. The authorities appear to believe that simply by denying, and, or, remaining silent about the abduction and killing they are fulfilling their duties. This is a frustratingly wrong position and, indeed, highly regrettable.

As a matter of fact, no one can deny that the members of the law-enforcing agencies regularly arrest people without asserting reasonable grounds for the arrest and producing a warrant of arrest before making the arrest. They do not show any valid legal document at the time of arrest and in many cases this may be considered as abduction. As long as the State agents continue to arrest people without a proper warrant of arrest, and without giving a proper explanation to the arrestees or their relatives at the time of arrest followed by immediate access to the lawyers of their choice it opens the way for ‘criminal gangs’ or non-state actors to use the same technique.

The government has a fundamental obligation to address the problem instead of blaming others or maintaining silence that ultimately indicates the impaired capacity of the government itself. The government of Bangladesh, if it is not a mere worthless political entity, must respond to the questions of the people regarding the ongoing incidents of abductions followed by secret killings immediately, and nobody wants repetitions of rhetorical statements as an answer.

As an urgent priority, the government should take strongest possible measures for stopping the law-enforcing agencies arresting persons without a warrant of arrest to an extent that the people in general fully believe that the Police or the Rapid Action Battalion never arrest or abduct in plain cloths without reasonable grounds. Once such belief is established in the minds of the public, by pushing the police and other State agencies to abide by the law of the land strictly, none will dare to copy similar methods in future. With equal importance to the above, all the incidents of abduction and secret killing deserve immediate investigation, preferably by competent judicial officials as the police and RAB have already lost credibility for their constant actions beyond the purview of the law, which will help the nation to learn the truth regarding the crimes. The investigation reports should not be shelved, as it usually happens in Bangladesh, for the very sake of transparency and accountability of the authorities to their taxpayers. And, of course, the perpetrators must be prosecuted through a fair trial system.

The AHRC urges the civil society of Bangladesh to increase pressures on the governmental authorities for addressing the problems related to the incidents of abduction and secret killings as an urgent priority. All that is needed in Bangladesh is to compel the governmental authorities to act within the framework of the basic notion of establishing justice to the people in general.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

HRDB Report

As the Awami League led grand alliance government entered the fourth year of its tenure, the prime minister, Shiekh Hasina, has made an address to the nation broadcast simultaneously by the Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar on January 6 evening. Apparently, it was intended to explain her government’s successes and failures during the past three years. And accordingly, she tried to present a long list of steps taken by the government so far to build a ‘poverty and hunger-free Bangladesh’, although the reality on the ground appears to be different. The prime minister claimed to have brought the price of staples, especially rice, within the reach of the low-income people by increasing the purchasing capacity of them. But, as different newspaper reports and surveys suggest, with the huge monetary inflation thanks to overall mismanagement of macro-economic components of the national economy, the genuine income of the people at large, let alone the low-income groups, has undergone a significant slide over the period. Her claim of adding additional 2900 megawatts of electricity to the national grid also tends to be inconsistent with the reality, particularly if the closure of the old plants due to lack of overhauling over the years and fuel crisis is taken into consideration. Moreover, their opting for highly expensive rental and quick rental power plants in the name of meeting emergency power crisis has already given rise to a number of questions. Allegations have it that the incumbents resorted to this dubious option for unfair gains, of which they frequently accused the previous Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government in the last three years. Pertinently, according to media reports, hundreds of industrial units in different parts of the country, especially in and around Dhaka and Chittagong, are yet to start operation due to acute power and energy crisis. The less said about the law and order situation in the country right now, the better. Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, custodial torture and deaths, public lynching etc are going unabated defying the Awami League’s electoral pledges alongside repeated High Court rulings and huge criticism on the part of the conscious sections of the society.

Unfortunately, the prime minister has sought cooperation from the opposition in running the country for the welfare of the nation, whereas she has started her address blaming the opposition that it has ‘taken stance against the people and the country’. Additionally, she accused the opposition of conspiring to destabilize the country through hartal, arson and killings. Needless to say, all this does not match the promise, enshrined in the Awami League’s electoral manifesto, that ‘courtesy and tolerance will be inculcated in the political culture’. It may be worthy of noting that the opposition lawmakers were harried on a number of occasions inside the parliament ever since its first session. That apart, their leaders, dead and alive, have repeatedly been denigrated and demonized by the members of treasury bench. As a result, the opposition resorted to parliament boycott-first temporarily, then permanently. What is worse, the government clamped down on the leaders and activists of the opposition on several occasions when the latter tried to give vent to their discontent and displeasure about the former’s lack of governance through even peaceful means like human chains.

On the whole, the incumbent government has failed to resonate with the expectations and aspirations of the electorate in the last three years. What is more regrettable, the prime minister has not made any effort to understand this situation. Either way, she immediately needs to come down to the earth and redouble her efforts to fulfill her electoral commitments to the people during the rest of her tenure.

BNP terms PM’s speech as `fallacious’

The main opposition BNP in it’s reaction has termed the Prime Minister’s speech as “extremely fallacious” and said it was done to mislead people to cling to power. It said the huge defeat of the ruling Awami League-backed mayoral candidate in Comilla City Corporation elections on January 5, 2012 and the defeat of its candidate Shamim Osman to independent candidate Selina Hayat Ivy in Narayanganj City Corporation polls reflected people’s “no confidence” in the government.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the remarks while addressing a meeting arranged in memory of late Wing Commander (retd) M Hamidullah Khan, a sector commander of the Liberation War. Jatiyatabadi Muktijodhha Dal organized the meeting at the Institution of Diploma Engineers auditorium in. He said, the PM’s speech, marking the completion of three years of the Awami League-led grand alliance government, is another ‘precedence of falsehood’.

He said, the prime minister mentioned that 10-12kg rice could be bought at Tk 100. This is absolutely incorrect.  Delivering false speech is the nature of Awami League “to divert public attention from key problems and mislead people to perpetuate its power. Referring to the PM’s remarks that the opposition did not cooperate with her government, Fakhrul said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on the first day in the ninth parliament session had extended the hands of cooperation to the government to work together to establish democracy and implement the ruling party’s commitments made to people.  But the ruling party did not respond to the good gesture of the opposition.  Instead, the government ignored it and took steps to make sure that BNP does not go to parliament.. He said the ruling party leaders including the prime minister made indecent remarks against the “proclaimer of independence” Ziaur Rahman, BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, freedom fighters and against the politics of BNP.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.

HRDB Report

With the arrest of Professor Golam Azam, the former Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) and a leading Islamic thinker on January 11, 2012, for his alleged crimes against humanity during the liberation war of Bangladesh, the number of arrested leaders of Jamaat and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) stood at 8. Of the arrested, 6 are from Jamaat and 2 from BNP. The arrested Jamaat leaders include its Ameer, also a former minister  Moulana Motiur Rahman Nizami, Nayebe-e-Ameer former member of parliament Moulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Secretary General former minister Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, two secretaries general Muhammad Kamaruzzamn and Abdul Quader Mollah. The two arrested BNP leaders are former ministers Abdul Aleem and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury.

The International Crimes Tribunal, which has been constituted after 40 years of independence when the present Awami League government assumed power in January 2009 made it clear that in order to alienate Jamaat from BNP and perpetuate state power, they would crash Jamaat at any cost as it has become a balancing force and helped BNP in forming government twice since 1991. The International Crimes Act of 1973, which was framed to try 195 identified Pakistani war criminals, is now being used in trying mainly the top Jamaat leaders accusing them for the atrocities committed in 1971 after amending the law. Jamaat from the very beginning has been denying allegations relating to committing any crimes saying that Jamaat’s role in 1971 was to support the integrity of a united Pakistan as it feared an Indian aggression. The government of Pakistan had formed the auxiliary forces involving the Bengali elements and Jamaat had nothing to do with those forces.

International Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association, human rights organizations like London based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch, US Ambassador-at-Large Stephen J Rapp on War Crimes Affairs identified many flaws of the International Crimes Tribunal of 1973 and made a number of recommendations to amend the law if the government really want to carry out the trial and make it transparent and acceptable to the international community maintaining international standard. Human Rights Watch have urged the Bangladesh government to ensure defendants receive fair trials by clarifying the definition of charges and allowing the accused to question the tribunal’s impartiality — currently not allowed under Bangldeshi law. But the government without implementing the recommendations has started trial taking into cognizance the imaginary charges against the arrested Jamaat leaders.

Leaders and supporters of both Jamaat and BNP termed the accusations of committing war time atrocities against their leaders are politically motivated and aiming at eliminating the opposition. The government is carrying out its politics of vendetta making the respectable leaders as easy prey. Because the Prime Minister of the present government Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the founder of Bangladesh considers the defendants as her bitter political enemies.

Professor Golam Azam, aged 89 retired from politics in 2000, has been summoned by the International Crimes Tribunal through his lawyer to appear before the tribunal and arrived on January 11 in a wheelchair. His lawyer sought bail citing his health complications. But denying the bail petition the tribunal ordered to send him to jail. Though by the same tribunal, former BNP minister Abdul Alim had been freed on conditional bail because of his poor health.  Former chief appeared before the tribunal in line with a previous order and entered the tribunal on a wheel chair.  In the petition, Ghulam Azam’s family said he is suffering from different old age complexities. The law related to the trial of crimes against humanity does not allow the defense to challenge the ruling in a higher court during the trial process. It only allows any person convicted for such crimes will be able to appeal the final verdict of the tribunal in the Supreme Court.

Who is  Ghulam Azam

Ghulam Azam, a prominent writer, thinker, and internationally renowned Islamic scholar, who led Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami for nearly 30 years until his retirement in 2001. Despite a High Court judgement in 1993, which totally exonerated Prof. Azam from any crimes in 1971, the tribunal has appealed to the government for his arrest based on false allegation and witnesses. He has consistently denied these accusations. He campaigned for Pakistan to remain united as one Islamic nation, but denies any involvement in the crimes committed by the Pakistani army and other forces. In recent interviews, he spoke about his role and his protests against army atrocities and how these protests were never allowed to be published in newspapers due to censorship.

At the age of 89, he has been made the subject of a campaign of propaganda and misinformation, after having been active in politics for many years before and after the independence war. There are concerns for his welfare if he is placed under arrest as well as the legality and impartiality of the outcome of a trial under the circumstances. Ghulam Azam had recorded setting a unique example in political culture of Bangladesh by stepping down voluntarily from the highest post of his party over a decade ago which was admired in home and abroad.

Fact about war crime charges against Azam

War crime charges have been brought against Azam in a politically hostile environment that has pre-determined their fate. These trials are to commence in a Tribunal that has yet to rectify its legislative difficulties in relation to:

Lack of elements of crimes; Complete absence of criminal evidential rules; Complete absence of criminal procedural rules; Total disregard of international norms; and Removal of constitutional rights and widespread abandonment of fundamental protections.

There are also a number of procedural issues that will prejudice fair trial standards and any outcome of the cases. These include, inter alia: The lack of protection for defense witnesses; The coaching of Prosecution witnesses apparent in trial proceedings in the case; against Delowar Hossain Sayedee; and Omission of recording of proceedings.

Stand of the international Community regarding the so-called war crime tribunal

The international community continues to voice its criticism of the Tribunal. Most recently the United States Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes Issues, Stephen J. Rapp, voiced his concern that a number of his recommendations in relation to the Tribunal were not implemented and stated that “much [could] still be accomplished to ensure that justice is done and is seen to be done in these historic proceedings”.

The manner in which the current trial is proceeding against the first defendant, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, provides a clear exemplification of the intent of the Government. The charges are poorly drafted and ill-defined, the defense is prevented from adequately challenging the case put forward and the conduct of the prosecution is nothing short of contempt for a proper judicial process. The Tribunal cannot be allowed to continue in its political war against Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami on instruction from the present day Awami League Government.

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh is an organization dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights including the right to development in Bangladesh.