BANGLADESH: Alleged arbitrary arrest, detention and torture of NGO leader by army in Satkhira

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of the alleged arbitrary arrest and torture of an NGO leader named Mr. Shahidul Islam by the Army in Tala upazilla (sub district) of Satkhira district, Bangladesh on 27 January 2007. The victim was arbitrarily arrested from one of his organization’s training centres, then blind folded and brutally tortured. The army personnel did not present any valid legal document for his arrest and in fact there was reportedly no case against him at the time of his arrest. After the alleged brutal torture in military custody, the victim was handed over to the Tala police. The victim was later ordered by the court 30-day detention under the Special Powers Act-1974.  It is reported that the victim is in serious condition as a result of torture. Meanwhile, medical personnel at the hospital have been concealing information regarding the injuries he sustained at the army camp. Government authorities have also not taken any action against the alleged perpetrators. Bangladesh’s current state of emergency has allowed the armed forces to conduct an uncountable number of arrests, torture and detentions with absolute impunity.

CASE DETAILS:

On 27 January 2007 at around 10:30 am, an army vehicle carrying around eight soldiers came to the training centre of UTTARAN, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in the field of rural development and based in in Mobarakpur village, Tala upazilla (sub district), Satkhira district, Bangladesh. The military team entered the camp and stopped a training session that was being facilitated by Executive Director Mr. Shafidul Islam of UTTARAN. Army personnel allegedly told Mr. Shahidul, “Our Sir, Major Mehedi asked you to see him at the Tala Army Camp”.  Another soldier then took Mr. Shahidul towards a military vehicle just as another 12 soldiers arrived at the scene. Mr. Shahidul was then taken to the upazilla army camp which has been temporarily based out of the Tala Government B Dey High School.

At around 11:00 am, Mr. Shahidul arrived at the camp. He was kept there until 2:00 pm when the army handed him over to the Tala police. It was alleged that the soldiers, led by Major Mr. Mehedi Hassan, brutally tortured Mr. Shahidul in the camp before handing him over to the police. The victim’s relatives, colleagues and eye-witnesses claim that they saw him in two very different physical conditions before and after the arrest. When the army handed him over to the Tala police he was blind folded and both his hands were tied together. He was also trembling and depended on two army personnel at both sides to hold him up. Relatives allege that Major Mehedi Hassan and his fellow soldiers tortured Mr. Shahidul with sticks, boots and riffle bats in the camp. As a result, Mr. Shahidul sustained sever injuries all over his body; especially, the lower parts of his body were he suffered serious injuries on his legs.

Without having any case against Mr. Shahidul, the Tala police could not lay any specific charges against him. The police called in two medical doctors to the police station to check the physical condition of Mr. Shahidul. Dr. Md. Hedayetul Islam, Upazilla Health & Family Planning Officer of Tala, and Dr. Md. Zahirul Hassan, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of the Tala Health Complex, examined Mr. Shahidul in the police station. He was detained in the police station in the night. However, the two medical doctors did not disclose the physical problems. When asked what the about the victim’s condition, the medical staff avoided the question and kept providing vague information by answering, “He (Shahidul) is weak physically and mentally”.

On January 28, the district administration ordered that Mr. Shahidul be detained for one month under the Special Powers Act-1974 for his alleged sedition, at which point he was sent to the Satkhira District Jail.  As a result of his physical deterioration, the jail authority admitted Mr. Shahidul to the medical unit of the prison. On January 29 at around 2:30 pm, Mr. Shahidul’s health condition further deteriorated causing the jail authority to transfer him to the Satkhira Sadar Hospital where he is currently receiving treatment and remains under police protection. Even though the police have refused to allow the victim’s relatives to see him, there are other witnesses who claim that Mr. Shahidul is handcuffed to his hospital bed.

The relatives and colleagues of the victim now fear for their own safety as further harassment by the army and other law enforcement agents seems imminent.

The AHRC is particularly concerned that such a vague charge of sedition has allowed the Bangladesh authority to use the law as a legal weapon to deny, rather than protect, people’s rights in several Asian countries. In this case, if Mr. Shahidul is convicted under the sedition against the State, it will legitimate the use of the judicial system in Bangladesh as a means to silence public dissent and further intimidate Bangladesh’s civil sector. This practice will worsen human rights situation, which has been already seriously derogated under the state of emergency in the country.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

Arbitrary arrest and torture in military custody has become common practice in Bangladesh since a state of emergency was imposed throughout the country. The current situation has seen an increase in the use of the Special Powers Act-1974 resulting in an exceptional abuse of power. This Act provides special measures for the prevention of certain prejudicial activities, conducting speedier trials and effectively administering punishment for certain grave offences.  The law empowers the government to control subversive associations and prohibit formation of communal associations or unions.

The Special Powers Act provides for preventive detention for longer periods of time without any trial rather by administrative orders, constitution of advisory board to review grounds of preventive detention, trial by special tribunals, and provision of sentences of death or life imprisonment for grave offences, such as sabotage, counterfeiting and smuggling. Any persons can be detained by the government without any visible evidence; whatever the law-enforcing agents claim is treated as evidence without verification in order to detain people under this act.

Since the Special Powers Act seems to be extremely prejudicial to civil rights, and since it empowers government with a wide range of powers for repression, the act has been under severe public criticism from its very inception. The opposition parties had always committed themselves to repeal it if they were voted to power. But in the last 33 years, the Act has yet to be defeated.

As seen in this case, medical doctors in many cases collude with the perpetrating law-enforcement agencies in Bangladesh. They conceal the truth in cases of custodial torture, which helps the alleged perpetrators destroy evidence and deny justice to the victims. Either the medical doctors support the perpetrators who use excessive torture to the citizens or they fear the law-enforcers for further probable harassment upon them. Many medical doctors have little commitment to ethics or love for the people of the country. Rather, they are drawn to the profession for their love money and power. Under the auspicious of the Official Secrecy Act, they deny information to the media, conceal the truth and in most cases, help the law-enforcers buy time to cover up their offences so they can avoid punishment. As a result, the victims rarely see any justice.

Please see also the AHRC’s recent appeals on brutality of law enforcement officers in Bangladesh reported in 2007 to date: UA-035-2007, UP-011-2007, UA-029-2007,  UA-025-2007 and UA-010-2007.

See further Special Report titled “Lawless law enforcement and the parody of judiciary in Bangladesh” published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in article 2 (Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2006) and 2006 AHRC Human Rights Report chapter on Bangladesh.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant Bangladesh authorities listed below urging them to take prompt action to investigate the conduct of the Army in the alleged arbitrary arrest, torture and detention of Mr. Shahidul. Please also demand that sedition charge against the victim is immediately withdrawn. Please also send your letters to the relevant UN agencies listed below.

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER