A media report implies serious questions about the credibility of Bangladeshs criminal justice system, including the investigation, prosecution and the judiciary, as well as the qualifications of the concerned professionals in those institutions.
A Dhaka based national daily newspaper, The Prothom Alo, reported on 13 March 2008 that a court convicted three persons to rigorous imprisonment for life, which means 14 years in jail, for an alleged charge of kidnapping of a girl in Jhalakathi district where, in fact, the said crime did not take place.
According to the news report, Ms. Liza Akther alias Fuli, who is now 19-years-old, fled from her maternal uncles house eight years ago as a result of intolerable treatment inflicted upon her by her uncle and aunt, Mr. Anowar Hossain and his wife, Mrs. Shefali Begum. Strangely, four years later Mr. Anwar lodged a kidnapping case with the Jhalkathi police station on 31 May 2004 against three persons; Mr. Rustom Ali Shikdar, a petty fisherman, Mr. Harun Hawladar, a day labourer, and Mr. Nuru Hawladar, a small businessman. The Jhalkathi police recorded the case under the Women and Child Repression Prevention Act.
Following the complaint, which alleged that the three persons kidnapped Liza and trafficked her to elsewhere, the police investigated and, subsequently, brought charges of kidnapping and trafficking in their report. The Special Tribunal of Women and Child Repression Prevention of Jhalkathi convicted the three persons for committing the so called crime in its verdict declared on 7 February 2007. The judge ordered each of them to 14 years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of 10 thousand taka. The three alleged accused were already in detention since the verdict was declared. Later, the three convicted persons challenged the verdict before the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, which granted bail for Harun and Nuru, who were released on 27 January, while the Court rejected Rustoms petition, which prolonged his detention in the Barisal Jail.
Liza visited Jhalkathi to rescue the three persons and told the media that she had fled from her uncle’s house to Dhaka following intolerable torture by her uncle and aunt and managed to get a job in a garment factory. She later married a businessman. She then heard the story of three persons being convicted of her ‘kidnapping’. She immediately went to Jhalkathi and lodged a General Diary (GD) with the Jhalkathi police station, and to a Notary Public for an affidavit, in which she gave her testimony.
The lawyer of the three convicted persons, Mr. Abdur Rashid Howlader told the reporter that they produced Liza before the Chief Judicial Magistrates (CJM) Court on 5 March as soon as the GD was recorded with the police and requested the Court to record Lizas testimony in a petition. However, the CJM Mr. Reza Tarique Ahmad, who was the judge of the Special Tribunal that declared the verdict, rejected the petition and released Liza under her own custody.
The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Jhalkathi police station Mr. AKM Faruk, while admitting this miscarriage of justice, told the media that one of the two investigation officers (IO) of this case, Inspector Mr. Sohrab Ali, who was the OC at that time, had already passed away while the other, one Sub Inspector Mr. Muzibur Rahman, was in service elsewhere.
The three families suffered immense loss, including financial and social dignity, following the case, conviction and the subsequent expenditure. The three victims and their families need to be compensated for the grave suffering that has been caused to them over this incident and for a long period of time. Besides, this whole incident needs to be thoroughly investigated all those who are directly involved as well as those who are responsible by way of command responsibility should be brought to justice. Until this happens they should all be removed from the positions they hold within the criminal justice system of Bangladesh.
In terms of civil and political rights guaranteed to the citizens this incident reveals the following gross abuses of human rights: the police investigators have failed to critically examine the fabricated charge of kidnapping as well as of attributing the crime to these three suspects; the prosecutors have failed to scrutinise evidence before filing charges and the judiciary has failed to ensure a fair trial in the case.
First of all, the professionals concerned about human rights and rule of law of Bangladesh should commend such reporting in the media. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) encourages similar reporting, which places like Bangladesh requires regularly.
This report creates an obligation upon the policy makers of Bangladesh to look into their existing criminal justice system. The investigators, prosecutors and the judges in this case created a case of fiction instead of facts while they arranged depositions from so called prosecution witnesses to convict the three persons. This could only have happened in a situation of dysfunctional institutions. This story fully illustrates just how impaired the system truly is. All the basic rule of law institutions, especially, the criminal investigation, prosecution and the judiciary, failed completely in this case. The authorities, as well as the professionals related to the justice delivery system, must ask themselves as to whether any of these three departments have the minimum level of efficiency or commitment or ethical accountability to the nation that are required for upholding the law of the land.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Bangladeshi authorities to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this case. The professionals involved in this case- from the investigators to the judiciary should be held accountable for the suffering caused to these three men and their families, not only for the stress and humiliation but also the financial loss they incurred. Subsequently, there should be a high level commission formed comprising of professionals having comprehensive knowledge about the legal procedure and practice to examine similar cases as well as to determine the defects of the system for a radical reform to ensure justice, which is urgently needed in the nation.
