Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a man named Md. Mohiuddin Arif from his house. Arif was arbitrarily detained for 54 hours in the custody of the RAB and tortured there as well as in his own house during a search conducted by them. Later, he was handed over to the Pallabi police in Dhaka where he was again tortured by the police officers over night. After more than 50 hours detention he was further detained in the Dhaka Central Jail without having been physically produced before a Magistrate. After more than 10 days detention he succumbed to his injuries in prison without having received adequate medical treatment. The relatives of the deceased torture victim have been intimidated and harassed by the law-enforcing agents since his death.
CASE DETAILS:
A Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) team comprised of three plain clothed members – Mr. Anowar, Mr. Babul and Mr. Bishawnath – went to the house of Mr. Abdul Mazid in Pallabi, Dhaka to look for his eldest son Mr. Mohiuddin Arif, a 30-years-old Operation Theatre Technician at the Apollo Hospital in Dhaka a private hospital, on 22 and 23 January 2010. They suggested Mazid to ask his son to stay at home on the following mornings.
On 24 January, at around 7:30AM, the same RAB team came back to the house and force Mazid to make his son return home. After Arif’s arrival the paramilitary force members arrested him and took him to the office of the RAB-4, without giving any specific reason to him or his family members. The officers also warned Mazid not to communicate with anyone about the incident. However, they left a cell phone number +8801614093648 suggesting Arif’s father to call, if necessary. (A photo of Arif can be seen here.)
In the afternoon, Arif’s family learned from their neighbours that the RAB brought Arif in the locality at around 1PM, went to different places and left. At 8PM, around ten RAB personnel came to Mazid’s house along with Arif and asked the family to hand them the keys of their steel-almirah. At that time, the family members saw that Arif was seriously injured and noticed that his body was collapsing. The RAB officers ransacked the whole house for about half an hour in an unsuccessful attempt to find a pistol.
Then, they started beating Arif in front of all the members of the family including his parents, wife, children, brothers and relatives. In presence of his family Arif told the officers that two RAB officers beat him standing on his two hands and asked him to give a pistol. He claimed that for the sake of saving himself from torture, to escape from a potential death, he falsely assured the officers that he had a pistol which could be found if he was taken home. Then, the officers carried him in their hands and threw his body into the back of their vehicle. That night, Arif was detained in the RAB custody without any legal ground.
On 25 January, the RAB informed his family that they had handed him over to the Pallabi police. Before handing over to the police the officers of the RAB-4, including its Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kabir Hossain, allegedly tortured Arif in custody.
After hearing the news, on the same evening, Arif’s family went to the Pallabi police station to check his condition. However the OC Mr. Iqbal Hossain denied the family the right to meet with Arif while in police custody. When Mazid sought permission from the OC for providing food to his son, Inspector Iqbal did not allow the family to provide him with anything by saying that he would be served special food at night.
On the afternoon of 26 January, the police sent Arif to the Chief Metropolitan Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka. The police claimed that he was arrested as a suspected robber in a robbery case (No. 15 of the Pallabi police station of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, dated 4 January 2010, under Section 394 of the Penal Code-1860). Instead of producing Arif before the court, the police detained him in a cell there. His relatives were able to see Arif there and saw that his eyes and legs were swollen and that he was unable to stand or walk. Arif told them that the police officers stood on his chest and beat his legs causing fractures. The police informed the Court that at the time of his arrest by the RAB the detainee received some injuries regarding which a medical certificate was attached. The Magistrate ordered Arif to be sent to Dhaka Central Jail without hearing him or checking his physical condition.
On 28 and 31 January the prison authorities sent Arif to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment because of his worsening health conditions, but his family members were not allowed to visit him there. On 3 February, the prison authorities sent Arif’s body to the DMCH where doctors recorded him as being dead on arrival. On 4 February, Executive Magistrate Mokbul Hossain, prepared an inquest report which clearly mentioned that the dead body had several injury marks, including a fractured leg, and bruised and swollen feet and eyes. The doctors of the Forensic Medicine Department of the DMCH conducted a post-mortem examination of Arif’s dead body. However, the report of the post-mortem has not yet been made available to the family of the victim. For further details, please watch the audiovisual statements of Arif’s family: Video-1, Video-2 and Video-3)
Arif was kept under RAB-4 custody from 24 January, 8 AM to 25 January, 8PM i.e. for 36 hours, and under the Pallabi police custody from 25 January, 8PM to 26 January, 2 PM i.e. for another 18 hours – which is in violation of Article 33 (2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure-1898.
Before Arif’s burial his neighbours held a demonstration in the Pallabi area demanding the punishment of the alleged perpetrators belonging to the RAB and the police. In response, the Pallabi police have registered a case against 40 persons including Arif’s neighbours and relatives and the police and the RAB have been repeatedly threatening the relatives of Arif over telephone and in person in a clear attempt to silence them. His relatives are understandably scared and unlikely to even attempt to seek redress concerning Asif’s death.
ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
As in many other cases of this type – carried out in police stations, military garrisons, the intelligence agencies’ torture cells, and paramilitary forces camps such as those of the RAB – impunity prevails.
Article 35 (5) of the Constitution of Bangladesh reads:
“No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.”
This provision regarding the prohibition of torture has not been implemented in practice, mainly because of the lack of a law criminalizing torture. There is no culture of protecting human rights in the country, particularly those of victims who suffer ill-treatment and torture at the hands of the law-enforcement agencies. According to the Rule 75 (3) of the Criminal Rules and Orders-2009:
“Whenever a person is arrested and brought before the Magistrate, the Magistrate should be satisfied that there has been no unauthorised detention beyond 24 hours as provided in Section 61 of the Code [of Criminal Procedure-1898] and if there be any complaint to the that effect against the police, he shall make an enquiry into the matter and take such actions as may be deemed necessary.”
In the afore-mentioned case, the victim was detained for more than 50 hours by the RAB and the police. The Magistrate, as per records of the Court, did not ask the police to bring the person before him in person to hear whether Arif had any complaint against the police. There is no functioning institution or mechanism at present to hold the Magistrates, the police and the RAB accountable for their lawless actions.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
The Asian Human Rights Commission has already written separate letters to the Special Rapporteur on Question of Torture and the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Summery Execution of the UN urging their interventions into this case. Please write to the officials listed below this appeal requesting them to take legal action against the alleged perpetrators followed by a thorough investigation. Please also ask the authorities to pay adequate compensation to the victims.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ———,
BANGLADESH: Man arbitrarily detained and tortured to death by paramilitary force and police in Dhaka
Name of victim:
1. Mr. Md. Mohiuddin Arif, aged 30, married with two children, son of Mr. Md. Abdul Mazid, living in House# 928, Road # 5, Section-7 of the Pallabi Residential Area of Dhaka Metropolitan city
Name of the alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Mr. Anowar,
2. Mr. Babul
3. Mr. Bishawnath
All are officers of the Rapid Action Battalion
4. Mr. Kabir Hossain, Lieutenant Colonel of the Bangladesh Army, currently seconded to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) as the Commander of the RAB-4 based in Mirpur of the Dhaka Metropolitan City
5. Mr. Iqbal Hossain, Officer-in-Charge (OC), Pallabi Police Station under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police
6. Police officers of the Pallabi Police Station
Date of arrest: January 24, 2010
Place of torture: Office of the Rapid Action Battalion-4 and Pallabi Police Station
I am writing to voice my serious concern over the custodial death of Mr. Md. Mohiuddin Arif, 30, a staff of a private hospital in Dhaka, due to torture by the Rapid Action Battalion and the Police in Dhaka on 3 February 2010.
I condemn the failure of the States rule of law institutions following the deprivation of life and liberty of a person by law-enforcing agencies that allegedly have been enjoying impunity from any credible investigation on this regard. I demand the immediate prosecution of the alleged perpetrators belonging to the Rapid Action Battalion and the Police followed by credible investigation into this incident of illegal arrest, arbitrary detention and death due to torture in custody.
I have learned that three plain clothed officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-4 namely Mr. Anowar, Mr. Babul and Mr. Bishwanath arrested Arif from his house on 24 January 2010 and took him to their office without justifying his arrest.
I know that, at 8pm, the same day, ten RAB personnel brought Arif to the house and ransacked the whole house in an unsuccesful attempt to find a pistol. They started beating Arif in front of all the members of his family. Arif told the officers that he falsely admitted he had a pistol which could be found if he was taken home only because he was trying to escape torture he was inflicted by two RAB officers asking him for a pistol. Then, the officers carried him in their hands and threw him into the back of their vehicle. That night, Arif was detained in the RAB custody without any legal ground.
On 25 January, the RAB informed his family that they had handed him over to the Pallabi police.
I know that the OC Mr. Iqbal Hossain denied his family the right to visit him or to provide him with food.
According to my information, on the afternoon of 26 January, the police sent Arif to the Chief Metropolitan Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka but he was not physically produced before the judge. The police claimed that he was arrested as a suspected robber in a robbery case (No.15 of the Pallabi police station of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, dated 4 January 2010, under Section 394 of the Penal Code-1860). His relatives were able to see him there and saw that his eyes and legs were swollen and that he was unable to stand or walk. Arif told them that the police officers stood on his chest and beat his legs causing fractures. The police informed the Court that at the time of his arrest by the RAB the detainee received some injuries regarding which a medical certificate was attached.
I am very surprised to hear that the Magistrate ordered Arif to be sent to Dhaka Central Jail without hearing him or checking his physical condition.
I know that because of the torture inflicted to him, Arif’s health conditions worsened and he died on 3 February 2010.
A 4 February inquest report prepared by Executive Magistrate Mokbul Hossain clearly mentioned that the dead body had several injury marks, including a fractured leg, and bruised and swollen feet and eyes. The doctors of the Forensic Medicine Department of the DMCH conducted a post-mortem examination of Arif’s dead body. I am further surprised to hear that the report of the post-mortem has not yet been made available to the family of the victim.
I am aware that Arif was kept under RAB-4 custody from 24 January, 8 AM to 25 January, 8PM i.e. for 36 hours, and under the Pallabi police custody from 25 January, 8PM to 26 January, 2 PM i.e. for another 18 hours – which is in violation of Article 33 (2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure-1898.
I have been shocked to learn that the Pallabi police have registered a case against 40 persons who have been demonstrating in the Pallabi area demanding the punishment of the perpetrators. I know that the police and the RAB have repeatedly threatened Arif’s relatives in a clear attempt to prevent them from seeking redress in Arif’s case.
I know that torture is still widely inflicted to detainees by RAB or police forces in Bangladesh. In a 2006 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra judicial executions stated that ‘the frequency of reported RAB abuses is indicative of what seems to be an atmosphere of impunity in which its members are allowed to operate. To date, not a single RAB member is known to have been criminally convicted for having tortured or killed a suspect. ‘ I am therefore calling for your strong intervention to make sure this case will not be another case in which the impunity of human rights violations prevails.
I am therefore calling for the immediate and proper investigation of this case by an impartial body, independent from pressures from the RAB or the Pallabi police station. To this end, the postmortem report must be handed to the victims family. Not only those who have tortured Arif to death shall be immediately relieved from their duties, but they must also be brought before a civilian court and face legal sanctions. The members of the RAB and of the Pallabi police station who have threatened the victims relatives must also be held accountable for that attempt to cover up this case.
As a corollary, I am asking for the immediate protection of the victims family and relatives and requesting the immediate withdrawal of the case pending against 40 of them which aimed at preventing them from demanding the punishment of the perpetrators. Instead, proportional compensation must be granted to the victims family. All those steps are those required by the International Convention on Torture, of which Bangladesh is a state party.
Finally, I am asking for the immediate sanction of the Chief Metropolitan Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka who has failed to fulfill his duties to protect the detainees from arbitrary detention and torture.
I take this opportunity to draw your attention on the imperious necessity to introduce a law criminalizing torture in Bangladesh to clearly show that the perpetrators of torture will be held accountable in the future. I know that such a law has been pending before the Parliament since 10 September 2009. This tragic case clearly highlights the pressing need to adopt this legislation as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely,
—————
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Mrs. Sheikh Hasina
Prime Minister
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 811 3244 / 3243 / 1015 / 1490
Tel: +880 2 882 816 079 / 988 8677
E-mail: pm@pmo.gov.bd or ps1topm@pmo.gov.bd or psecy@pmo.gov.bd
2. Mr. Rezaul Karim
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 956 5058
Tel: +880 2 956 2792
3. Barrister Shafique Ahmed
Minister
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7160627 (O)
Fax: +880 2 7168557 (O)
Email: info@minlaw.gov.bd
4. Ms. Sahara Khatun MP
Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7169069 (O)
Fax: +880 2 7160405, 880 2 7164788 (O)
E-mail: minister@mha.gov.bd
5. Mr. Mahbubey Alam
Attorney General of Bangladesh
Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Annex Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 956 1568
Tel: +880 2 956 2868
6. Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury
Chairman
National Human Rights Commission
6/3 Lalmatia, Block-D
Dhaka-1207
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9137740
Fax: +880 2 9137743
E-mail: nhrc.bd@gmail.com
7. Mr. Nur Mohammad
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 956 3362 / 956 3363
Tel: +880 2 956 2054 / 717 6451 / 717 6677
E-mail: ig@police.gov.bd
8. A K M Shahidul Hoque
Commissioner
Dhaka Metropolitan Police
DMP Headquarter
36, Shahid Captain Monsur Ali Road
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 8322746
Tel: +880 2 9331555 /+88-02-8322746
Mobile: +8801711538313
E-mail: complain@dmp.gov.bd / emergency@dmp.gov.bd / commissioner@dmp.gov.bd
9. Hassan Mahmood Kahndker
Director General
Rapid Action Battalion
RAB Headquarter
Uttara, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: + 880 2 8919078/ 880 2 8961101
Mobile: +8801199886600/ 8801713014050/ 8801713374469
Fax: + 880 2 896 2884
Email: dg_rab@rab.gov.bd
Thank you.
Urgent Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
