BANGLADESH: Arbitrary detention of 7 student activists by joint security forces

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information regarding the arbitrary arrest and detention of 7 student activists belonging to the Bangladesh Students League (BSL) by the joint security forces in May 2007. All the victims were arrested from their residence within a two day period between May 7-9 with the charge of attending the procession of 2-3000 people defying the state of emergency at the airport when Ms. Shekh Hasina, the Former Prime Minister and the President of the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) returned from abroad. The BSL is a political youth wing of BAL. Prior to these arrests, another 6 leaders of the BSL had been arrested by the joint security forces on January 17, and detained under a “preventive detention” order by the Home Ministry under section 3(1) of Special Power Act, 1973.

CASE DETAILS:

From 7 to 9 May 2007, 7 student activists from the Bangladesh Students League (BSL) were arrested by the joint security forces from their residences in Dhaka. In all cases, at the time of arrest the joint security forces did not present any warrants or other valid documents for their arrest despite the repeated requests by the victims.  The persons arrested are;

1. Mr. Kripa Binddu Das, Vice President of BSL, who was arrested from 78, Jagannath Hall, University of Dhaka on 7 May 2007 
2. Mr. Sudas Kumar Das, Vice President of BSL, who was arrested from 151, Jagannath Hall, University of Dhaka on 7 May 2007 
3. Mr. Md. Shaheen Alam Hawladar, the leader of BSL, who was arrested from 412 Banga Bundhu Hall, University of Dhaka on 7 May 2007 
4. Mr. Md. Habibur Rahman, member of BSL, who was arrested from Salimullah Muslim Hall, University of Dhaka on 8 May 2007 
5. Md. Ziyaul Hauque Zia, Joint General Secretary of BSL, who was arrested from Salimullah Muslim Hall, University of Dhaka on 8 May 2007 
6. Mr. Md. Shahidur Rahman, Joint General Secretary of BSL, who as arrested from Salimullah Muslim Hall Unit, University of Dhaka on 9 May 2007 
7. Mr. Md. Nachhir Uddin, member of BSL, who was arrested from Banga Bundhu Hall, University of Dhaka on 9 May 2007

The joint security forces told the victims one to six that they were being arrested due to the Dhanmondi Thana Case No. 15 of 2007 dated 07.05.07, while victim 7 was arrested under Shahbag Thana GD no. 411 of 07 dated 08.05.07. The two cases in which the victims were implicated are related to the procession of 2-3000 people who defied the state of emergency at the airport when Ms. Shekh Hasina, the Former Prime Minister and the President of the Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) returned from abroad on May 7. They all were accused of attending that procession. It is reported that the arrest of the victims was made arbitrarily although no specific names of the suspects were mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) relating to the said case. It means that any person can be arrested by the security forces at any time with the same charge under the said case.

Mr. Kripa Binddu Das, Mr. Sudas Kumar Das, Mr. Md. Shaheen Alam Hawladar, Mr. Md. Habibur Rahman and Md. Ziyaul Hauque Zia were brought to the court with the said charge, while Mr. Md. Shahidur Rahman and Mr. Md. Nachhir Uddin were brought to the court on May 10. They all were remanded by the court in violation of the state of emergency according to section 54 of the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 which allows the police to arrest a person without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant.

One senior officer of the University of Dhaka, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “During the state of emergency, the government has banned all kind of political assembly. Some students had allegedly joined a procession at the Shahbagh area, adjacent to the university, ransacked vehicles on the street there, and at the Zia International Airport area following their political party programs; some held a procession in the university campus protesting the arrest of their party leader; as of the information is available. A number of activists belonging to various political backgrounds were identified by the intelligence officials and, subsequently, arrested by the law-enforcing agents; they have been charged with damaging public property and violating the laws of the land. To our knowledge the arrested persons are still detained in the Dhaka Central Jail since the arrest except for one student, who secured a first class in his honours graduation examination and was an examinee for his master’s degree, has been granted bail from the court after two days of his arrest.”

We are also confirmed that the University authority approved the law enforcement agencies’ raid on any dormitories within the university premises ‘to maintain law and order’ at the university.

According to one officer of the law enforcing agencies, the police and intelligence branches recently prepared the list of around 200 leaders and activists of the BSL, who violated the state of emergency and have criminal records. He also stated that the list is “getting longer”. The officer further said that the raid, which was the third one in the month of May, was conducted to capture the BSL activists who took part in separate processions violating the state of emergency. Shahbag police also reportedly confirmed that the raids are going on to hunt down the BSL activists mentioned in the list made by the law enforcement agencies.

Under the state of emergency, all the fundamental rights of citizens, including the freedom of expression and the right to assembly, prescribed in the Constitution have been suspended since January 2007. This situation allows for the arbitrary arrest and detention of any person by the security forces having extensive power with vague allegations.

Such human rights violations breach the treaty obligation of the caretaker government of Bangladesh under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The AHRC also notes with serious concern that judicial intervention is strictly restricted in the cases of arbitrary detention in the country where all the fundamental rights contained in the Constitution has been suspended upon the enforcement of the state of emergency. We are afraid that many of victims are kept in prolonged detention without being produced before any court. This violates the spirit of the Constitution and international standards prohibiting arbitrary deprivation of liberty of persons.

The state of emergency should be withdrawn without further delay to halt the increasing human rights abuses by the joint security forces. The Constitution in fact clearly mentions that the duration of the state of emergency is up to 120 days in order to prevent the deterioration of rights of its citizens. The election should be held as earliest as possible in order to form a democratic government.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant local authorities and express your deep concern about this case. Please urge the Bangladesh government to immediately end the arbitrary detention of the 7 student activists. Please also urge the caretaker government to stop abusing the use of ‘preventive detention’ against people with vague or false charges of anti-state activities. Please also urge it to immediately remove the state of emergency and make those responsible for arbitrary arrest and detention of persons accountable. The AHRC has already reported this case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for its intervention into this case.

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