Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the Nandail police allegedly assaulted unarmed peasants who were peacefully queuing in line, waiting to purchase fertilizer from government’s dealer at Nandail, Mymensing on 2 March 2007. More than seven farmers were wounded, among them, Kobir Hossain, who was hospitalized and was received four stitches. However, the police have denied the allegation. It is also believed that the police refused to receive the case from the farmers and there were attempts to cover up the case.
CASE DETAILS:
A large number of farmers were queuing in line, waiting overnight to purchase fertilizer from government’s dealer since 2:00am on 2 March 2007 at Nandail, Mymensing. At 12:00am on following day, several farmers attempted to enter the queue, disturbing the order of the line-up. The situation deteriorated, and a joint force came and restored the situation. The farmers then proceed to purchase fertilizer in a systematic order. However, at around 1:00pm, another disturbance occurred as several farmers tried to break into the queue. Seven policemen led by Sub-Inspector Saleh Ahmed from Nandail Police Station, Mymensing came to control the situation and attacked the farmers. They beat the farmers with baton and their rifles.
More than seven men were injured. Kobir Hossain, one of the injured farmers, was severely wounded about the head. He was admitted to a local hospital and was given four stitches. Hossain then went to the concerned Army camp and submitted an oral complaint of the incident, but was referred to the police station. Hossain went to the referred police station where the officer in charge gave him 500 taka to purchase medicine instead of receiving a complaint and he was told to go home.
One of eyewitness confirmed that SI Saleh Ahmed instructed the attack on the farmers in which Hossain received his head injury. However, the alleged perpetrator, SI Saleh Ahmed insisted that the group of policemen were only to restore order, when some farmers tried to enter the queue. He refused to answer questions concerning the beatings. Another sub-inspector who was present at the incident denied the alleged assault from the police. He claimed that the farmer wounded themselves when they tried to enter the line to purchase fertilizer.
The Deputy Commissioner of Mymensing claimed that a committee has already been dispatched to follow-up the incident. He asserted that legal steps would be taken if the above allegation was proven to be true. However, despite the fact that four months have passed since the incident, the committee has not yet concluded its findings, and the victims have not received any reports. None of the policemen involved have received any disciplinary or legal action so far due to the pending investigation of the committee. No compensation has been paid to the farmers either. The policemen in Nandail Police Station also refused to file any case for the farmers, instead, they pressurized the farmers to compromise and drop the case.
The AHRC is deeply concerned the brutal assault of Kobir Hossain and other farmers by the police. The delay of investigations creates enough time for the police to cover up the case. This case is only one of the many involving abuse of power by the police in Bangladesh. There have been numerous similar allegations of police assault prior to this incident. We urge the government to take all necessary measures to secure the basic rights of ordinary citizens to be free from torture by the government authorities.
SUGGEST ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities below demanding a thorough investigation on the incident, and to urge for appropriate redress for the victims. Please also urge them to restrict the abuse of police power against the citizens.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear _____________,
BANGLADESH: Delay of investigation creates to cover up the case of alleged assaults by Nandail police in Mymensing
Name of victim: Kobir Hossain & more than seven unknown injured farmers, residing at Vill & Post-Chakriampur, Upazila-Nandail, Dist-Mymesing
Alleged perpetrators: Saleh Ahmed, Sub-inspector, and more than 8 other police constables at Nandail Police Station, Mymensing
Date and time of the incident: Around 1pm on 3 March 2007
Im writing to express my concern over an alleged assault on farmers by the police at Nandail, Mymensing on 3 March 2007.
According to information I have received, a considerable number of farmers were queuing in line, waiting overnight to purchase fertilizer from government’s dealer since 2am on 2 March 2007 at Nandail, Mymensing. At 12am on following day, several farmers attempted to enter the queue, disturbing order of the line-up. The situation deteriorated, and a joint force came and restored the situation. The farmers then proceed to purchase fertilizer in a systematic order. However, at around 1pm, another disturbance occurred as several farmers tried to break into the queue. Seven policemen led by Sub-Inspector Saleh Ahmed from Nandail police station came to control the situation however, attacked the farmers. They beat the farmers with baton and rifle bat, and kicked them with boot.
I was informed that more than seven men were injured, and that Kobir Hossain, one of the injured farmers, was severely wounded in the head due to the attack. He was later admitted to a local hospital and was given four stitches. Hossain then went to the concerned Army camp and submitted an oral complaint of the incident, but was referred to a police station. Hossain went to the referred police station where the officer in charge gave him 500 taka to purchase medicine and was told to go home.
It has come to my attention that the alleged perpetrators have denied the assault. However, witness of the event confirmed SI Saleh Ahmed instructing the attack on the farmers, which led to severe head injury of Kobir Hossain.
I was also informed that, the Deputy Commissioner of Mymensing claimed that a committee has already been dispatched to follow-up the incident. He asserted that legal steps would be taken if the above allegation was proven to be true. However, despite it is already four months after the incident, the committee has not yet concluded its findings, and the victims did not receive any reports from the committee too. The investigation seems to be frozen at this stage. No policeman involved receives any disciplinary or legal actions so far due to the pending investigation of the committee. No compensation is given to the farmers either. The policemen in Nandail Police Station also refused to file any case for the farmers, instead, they pressurized the farmers to compromise and drop the case.
I am sorry to hear that the brutal assaults of Kobir Hossain and other farmers by the police. Under Article 7 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), no one should be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. As a state party to the ICCPR, Bangladesh must guarantee the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The polices assault on un-warned farmers in this case is a clear violation of the international law. The abuse of power by the government force should be limited in accordance with its domestic law as well as the international human rights law.
It is reported that the Nandail police allegedly tried to cover up the case as they did not receive a complaint from the farmers and threaten the farmers to drop the case while the investigation report by the committee has been delayed.
I therefore urge for a prompt and thorough investigation on the above incident to be carried out, so that the alleged perpetrators could be brought to justice without delay. Appropriate compensation should be paid to the victims. I further urge you to establish periodic training programme for the police and consult them the appropriate use of police power in accordance with both domestic and international human rights law. I further urge you to show your sincerity that the police could never avoid from legal responsibility for committing crime.
I await your prompt response to the above incident.
Sincerely Yours,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Adviser
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Chief Advisor
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 8828160-79, 9888677
Fax: +880 2 8113244 or 3243 or 1015 or 1490
E-mail: pm@pmobd.org or psecretary@pmobd.org (to the Secretary)
2. Barrister Moinul Hossain
Adviser
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7160627 (O)
Fax: +88-02-7168557 (O)
3. Mr. Sayed J. R. Modassir Hossain
Chief Justice
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562792
Fax: +880 2 9565058
4. Mr. Fida M Kamal
Attorney General of Bangladesh
Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562868
Fax: +880 2 9561568
5. Mr. Nur Mohammad
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677
Fax: +880 2 9563362 or 9563363
6. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR TORTURE)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
