BANGLADESH: Paikgachha police repeatedly intimidate a man to give up possession of land

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Paikgachha police had been harassing a family following a land dispute between two persons, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the police. Sub Inspector Mr. Manjurul Alam forced Mr. Mokbul Hawladar to appear before the police along with his wife and children. The police officer also insisted that he give up possession of the land without any lawful reason after keeping him in detention for about 12 hours on 31 March 2008. The police have since continuously intimidated the victim and his family. The authorities have not yet taken any action regarding this case.

CASE DETAILS: (based on a fact-finding report by a local human rights group)

The Government of Bangladesh granted 3 bighas (just under one acre) of land to Mr. Mokbul Hawladar, who was a landless farmer, for one year in 2007 on a lease. According to a Duplicate Carbon Receipt (DCR) (the official record given to the recipients regarding land distribution by the concerned office) issued from the Office of the Upazilla Assistant Commissioner (Land) on 31 March 2007 Mokbul was given a piece of located at Khash Khatian number 1.

After taking possession of the land Mr. Mokbul initiated a shrimp project, which seemed lucrative. Mokbul’s neighbor, Mr. Al-Amin, had similar project in the next piece of land adjacent to Mokbul’s, and wanted to occupy his land. On August 24, Al-Amin damaged Mokbul’s shrimp project by draining out the water after which he forcibly took over possession of Mokbul’s project.

Mokbul informed the Chairman of the Lota Union Council, Mr. Dibakor Bishwas, about the situation and sought a remedy from him. The Chairman arranged arbitration in the locality in the presence the local persons concerned to resolve the dispute between the two parties; he heard the statements of both parties and witnesses of the alleged incident and found Al-Amin guilty. Accordingly, he (the Chairman) declared that Al-Amin should pay Taka 13,000/- (USD 192) to Mokbul as compensation of the damage and leave the land immediately. However, Al-Amin refused to obey the decision of the arbitration.

Mokbul went to the Upazilla Magistrate’s Cognizance Court of Paikgachha to seek justice and lodged a complaint against Al-Amin (case number: CR318/07) before the Court on October 2 for the damage and loss of his shrimp project. The Magistrate then summoned Al-Amin to appear before the Court. When he did so the Magistrate ordered him to put in jail. Later, Al-Amin managed to get bail from the Court on the condition that he would settle the matter through arbitration in the locality.

After having been released from the Khulna Jail Al-Amin prepared an application following a consultation with the police, which was submitted to Sub Inspector Manjurul Alam. However, the application was not recorded with the police station in any legal form. Later, SI Manjurul sent a police constable with a notice signed by himself and bearing the official seal of the Paikgachha Police Station asking Mokbul to appear at the station along with his family at 4pm on 17 February 2008. Mokbul responded to the notice and went to the police station on that date along with his wife Mrs. Abirun Nesa, son Mr. Robiul Hawladar and a Member of the local Union Council, Mr. Ahendra. When they arrived at the police station SI Manjurul changed the date to 24 February and asked Mokbul to come along with his family on that day.

When Mokbul went to the police station again along with his family, including his daughter Ms. Rawshan Ara, who had also been summoned by SI Manjurul and a friend, Mr. Shahed Ali Mollik, SI Manjurul instructed him to measure the land and report to him before 5pm on March 29. On that day Mokbul provided the details of the land to SI Manjurul, who insisted that he surrender possession of the land to Mr. Al-Amin and take Taka 4,000/ (USD 59) from him. Mokbul and his relatives refused SI Manjurul’s instruction as there was no lawful ground of doing so and left the police station.

On the morning of 31 March, Mokbul along with his family went to the Paikgachha Surgical Clinic in order to visit one of their relatives who was undergoing treatment there. Upon receiving the information from Al-Amin, SI Manjurul along with other police constables arbitrarily arrested Mokbul at about 11am from the Clinic. The police detained Mokbul in their custody until midnight. SI Manjurul intimidated him during the detention and told him that he would be implicated in fabricated cases of robbery and extortion unless he gave up the possession of the land to Al-Amin. A number of the local professionals, who went to the police station, urged SI Manjurul to release Mokbul as there was no charge against him; however, the police officer refused to release Mokbul unless the land issue was settled with Al-Amin. At around 11pm Mokbul’s friend Shahed Ali brought the matter to the notice of the Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mr. Hashem Ali Khan, who ordered Manjurul to release Mokbul. SI Manjurul did so after taking his signature on a blank sheet of paper.

Since these events, SI Manjurul has continued to intimidate Mokbul’s family, insisting that they follow his instructions and leaving the land to Al-Amin. Mokbul expressed his frustration saying that “Daroga (Sub Inspector) Manjurul and Al-Amin put me to a penniless condition when as a landless man I was working hard to survive. I don’t find any reason for the police harassment as there was no complaint against me. I only hear from people that Al-Amin bribed to SI Manjurul to grab my ‘gher’ (shrimp project).”

Mokbul and his family are living in fear of their lives as well as property as a result of the unlawful actions of SI Manjurul.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:

This is another instance of the abuse of policing power in Bangladesh. The AHRC has previously reported similar incident that officers from same police station allegedly mishandle the case of disputed land. (See further AHRC-UAC-061-2008) This case shows how the police remain busy with unlawful activities like entertaining someone’s personal and acting as tools to facilitate land-grabbers.

Such contempt for the rule of law can only take place when there is lawlessness within the police department. It raises questions about the functioning of the police department; its recruitment process, training methodologies, command responsibility, monitoring and their accountability within and outside the department.

The continuous unlawful actions of the police reflect the level of demoralization of the whole police department as well as the utter failure of the authorities to either control their law-enforcement agents or punish errant personnel for their consistent violations of the law and the people’s fundamental rights. Police personnel and other paramilitary forces have established themselves as a synonym of ‘licensed criminals’ in Bangladesh.

Abuse of police authority has never been seen as an offence or unlawful activity and accordingly, almost everyone, from the top to the bottom of the police department, is accustomed to practicing unlawful actions throughout their service. When officers rise up through the ranks they overlook the abusive actions of their subordinates as they did very similar actions when they were juniors.

With regard to Mokbul’s case, the AHRC urges the authorities to launch a thorough investigation by an independent body to carry out an investigation. Furthermore, the authorities must immediately cease the ongoing harassment of Mokbul’s by the local police. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the relevant authorities to investigate into this alleged incident of arbitrary arrest and detention by the police and provide adequate protection and compensation to the victims of this incident.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention and Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for the intervention in this case.
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