Dear Friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Bolli Monsur Ahmed remains disappeared since the police arrested him three years ago. The Fatikchhari police of Chittagong district arrested Ahmed from his uncle’s house at 4:30 am on 27 March 2013. Recently his family held a press conference to demand his return.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Mr. Boli Monsur Ahmed (60) was a day-labourer, who used to make a living by cutting wood in the forest and working as a farmer on other people’s lands. His house was in Kanchanpur village under the jurisdiction of Fatikchhari police station in the Chittagong district.
Ahmed’s son Badsha Mian alleges that the local police used to extort money on a monthly basis from his father for cutting wood from the forest. Police Inspector Manzrur Quader Mazumdar, who was the Officer-in-Charge (OC) for Investigation of the Fatikchhari police station in March 2013, demanded higher amount of bribes from Boli Monsur Ahmed which he was unable to pay. The police officer threatened Ahmed with ‘serious consequences’ for failing to pay the bribes.
Police were looking for Ahmed in the pending case of abduction and murder of a businessman and politician. He was detained in prison in that case from late-2007 to mid-2010. As a result, Ahmed started staying in his uncle’s, Mr. Mohammad Solaiman, house in order to escape arrest. On 27 March 2013, at 4:30 am, a police team comprising twelve officers, including two in plainclothes, picked up Ahmed from Solaiman’s house at Bholar Solar Pahar. It is also under the jurisdiction of Fatikchhari police station of Chittagong district.
Soon after the arrest, Mr. Solaiman informed Ahmed’s family via mobile phone that the police had raided his house and arrested Ahmed. Within hours the family members went to the Fatikchhari police station. The police chased them away, denying that Ahmed was arrested. Later, the family went to the Chittagong Court and Chittagong Jail in search of Ahmed. But he could not be found.
Badsha Mian states that “while looking for my father we used to receive regular threats from police and their ‘source’ in the area.” “They [police and their source] asked us not to ‘go crazy’ about my father’s situation. We were threatened that they will ‘disappear’ us like my father.” Every one of the family who was involved in searching for Ahmed became extremely frightened for their own lives following the threats from the police and their ‘source’. Being unable to afford the expenses, and out of fear of continuous police harassment, the family did not file a complaint about Ahmed’s disappearance.
On 16 April 2013, the family found a report in a local newspaper, which mentioned that Boli Monsur Ahmed and a man named Rizvi Hassan were arrested by the police. The police did not send any notification to the newspaper about that particular report. Moreover, whenever Ahmed’s relatives approached them to check on the whereabouts of their relative, they consistently denied any knowledge of it.
Later, a police source told Ahmed’s relatives that the police arrested both Boli Monsur Ahmed and Rizvi Hassan. Rizvi was sent to prison on fabricated charges. The police detained Boli Monsur Ahmed incommunicado for seven days. The family, citing the police source, claims that the police disappeared Ahmed. The family also looked into Rizvi Hassan in the Chittagong Jail. From him they learned that both Hassan and Ahmed were detained in the Hat Hazari police station until 30 March 2013. At midnight the police took Ahmed elsewhere and they never met again.
Meanwhile, on 20 May 2013, Amhed’s family submitted a petition to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police seeking his intervention in locating and returning Ahmed to his family. Since then there has been no information received from the police authorities in the past three years.
On 26 May 2016, Boli Monsur Ahmed’s family arranged a Press Conference at the Chittagong Metropolitan Journalist Union. Ahmed’s son Badshah Mian, his wife Laila Begum, and other members demanded answers from the Government and Police authorities regarding the disappearance of their dear one. They urged the Government to return Ahmed to his family within the month of Ramadan, the renowned festival of the Muslim community.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Boli Monsur Ahmed allegedly had been fabricated in the case of ‘disappearing’ of a prominent businessman and politician, Mr. Jamal Uddin Ahmed. He was abducted on 22 July 2003 from the Chakbazar area of Chittagong city and remained missing until his ‘skeleton’ was recovered by the police from a Fatikchhari hill in 2006. Boli Monsur Ahmed was detained in that abduction and murder case from late-2007 to mid-2010 until he was granted bail from the High Court. Later, the trial court issued another ‘warrant of arrest’ against him.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) previously documented the case of arbitrary detention of Rizvi Hassan in four fabricated charges against him. For further details, please see our Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-100-2013.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Bangladeshi authorities to stop the practice of disappearing its citizens. Kindly insist that they return any disappeared persons if the victims are held incommunicado. The authorities must be held responsible for continued enforced disappearances, which is a ‘crime against humanity,’ under international law.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, calling for their intervention in this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ……………….,
BANGLADESH: A man’s whereabouts remain unknown since police arrested him three years ago
Name of victims:
1. Mr. Boli Monsur Ahmed (60), a wood-cutter and farmer, resident of Kanchanpur village under the Fatikchhari police station in Chittagong district
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Manzur Quader Mazumdar, Police Inspector and Officer-in-Charge (OC) for Investigation of the Fatikchhari police station, Chittagong district;
2. Mr. Shariful Islam, Sub-Inspector of Police, Hat Hazari police station
3. Sub-Inspector Anis
4. Mr. Mithun Barua, Sub Inspector of Police
All are attached Fatikchhari police station of Chittagong district
5. Mr. A F M Nizam Uddin, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Hat Hazari Zone, Chittagong
Date of incident: 27 March 2013
Place of incident: Bholar Solar Pahar, under the jurisdiction of the Fatikchhari police station in Chittagong district
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the disappearance of Mr. Boli Monsur Ahmed since the police arrested him on 27 March 2013 from Bholar Soalr Pahar in Fatikchhari of Chittagong. I request a response from the Bangladesh authorities about the whereabouts of Mr. Ahmed. I pose the question as to why the police officers who were involved in arresting and detaining him should not be prosecuted.
According to information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Mr. Boli Monsur Ahmed (60) was a day-labourer, who used to make a living by cutting wood in the forest and working as a farmer on other people’s lands. His house was in Kanchanpur village under the jurisdiction of Fatikchhari police station in Chittagong district.
Ahmed’s son Badsha Mian alleges that the local police used to extort money on a monthly basis from his father for cutting wood from the forest. Police Inspector Manzrur Quader Mazumdar, who was the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Fatikchhari police station in March 2013, demanded higher amount of bribes from Boli Monsur Ahmed which he was unable to pay. The police officer threatened Ahmed with ‘serious consequences’ for failing to pay the bribes.
The police were looking for Ahmed in a pending case of abduction and murder of a businessman and politician. He was detained in prison in that case from late-2007 to mid-2010. After that, Ahmed started staying with his uncle, Mr. Mohammad Solaiman, in order to escape arrest. On 27 March 2013, at 4:30 am, a police team comprising twelve officers, including two in plainclothes, picked up Ahmed. He was staying in his uncle’s house at Bholar Solar Pahar under the jurisdiction of Fatikchhari police station of Chittagong district.
Soon after the arrest, Mr. Solaiman informed Ahmed’s family via mobile phone that the police had raided his house and arrested Ahmed. Within hours the family members went to the Fatikchhari police station. The police chased them away denying that Ahmed was arrested. Later, the family went to the Chittagong Court and Chittagong Jail in search of Ahmed. His whereabouts were never found.
Badsha Mian states that “while looking for my father we used to receive regular threats from police and their ‘source’ in the area.” “They [police and their source] asked us not to ‘go crazy’ about my father’s situation. We were threatened that they will ‘disappear’ us like my father.” Every one of the family who was involved in the process of searching for Ahmed became deeply afraid for their lives following the threats from the police. Being unable to afford the expenses, and out of fear of continuous police harassment, the family did not file a complaint about Ahmed’s disappearance.
On 16 April 2013, the family found a report in a local newspaper, which mentioned that Boli Monsur Ahmed and a man named Rizvi Hassan were arrested by the police. The police did not send any information to the newspaper about that particular report. Whenever Ahmed’s relatives approached them to check on the whereabouts of Ahmed, they repeatedly denied knowledge of it.
Later, a police source told Ahmed’s relatives that the police arrested both Boli Monsur Ahmed and Rizvi Hassan. Rizvi was sent to prison on fabricated charges. The police kept Boli Monsur Ahmed incommunicado for seven days. The family, citing the police source, claims that the police disappeared Ahmed. The family also looked for Rizvi Hassan in the Chittagong Jail. From Hassan they learned that both Hassan and Ahmed were detained in Hat Hazari police station till 30 March 2013. At midnight the police took Ahmed elsewhere and they never met after that.
Meanwhile, on 20 May 2013, Amhed’s family submitted a petition to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police seeking his intervention in locating and returning Ahmed to his family. For the last three years there has been no information received from the police authorities.
On 26 May 2016, Boli Monsur Ahmed’s family arranged a Press Conference at the Chittagong Metropolitan Journalist Union. Ahmed’s son Badshah Mian, his wife Laila Begum, and other members demanded answers from the Government and Police authorities regarding the disappearance of their dear one. They urged the Government to return Ahmed to the family within the month of Ramadan, the renowned festival of the Muslim community.
I request the international experts on human rights, to utilize the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council, to urgently intervene in this matter so that:
1. The disappeared person is immediately handed over to his family;
2. The police officers of the Fatikchhari, Hat Hazari police stations and of Chittagong district to be held responsible for their crimes and prosecuted;
3. As a State Party to the Rome Statute, Bangladesh should be answerable for enforced disappearances, which is a ‘crime against humanity’ under international law.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Md. Abdul Hamid
President of People’s Republic of Bangladesh
President’s Office
Bangabhaban, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9568041-50
Fax: +88-02-9585502 (Secretary)
Email: president@bangabhaban.gov.bd
2. Mr. Surendra Kumar Sinha
Chief Justice of Bangladesh
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Dhaka 1000
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 956 5058 /+880 2 7161344
Tel: +880 2 956 2792
E-mail: chief@bdcom.com or supremec@bdcom.com
3. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Gulfeshan Plaza (11th Floor)
8, Sohid Sangbadik Saleena Parvin Sorok
Mogbazar, Dhaka-1217
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9335513
Fax: +880 2 8333219
E-mail: nhrc.bd@gmail.com
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
