Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Mr. Kishore Kumar Das, who was a workshop mechanic, was arbitrarily arrested at his house on 20 July 2006 and detained in an undisclosed place in Jessore for 93 hours without any notice. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) then allegedly implicated him in a false charges of possessing explosives. After almost four days of keeping him in secretive custody, Kishore was handed over to the Kotwali police who then did not attend to the severe injuries sustained by the victim in RAB custody. Kishore is now detained in the Jessore Central Jail by the order of the local Magistrate Court after one more day in police remand. Meanwhile, a Bench of the High Court of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh issued a suo moto rule on the Home Ministry, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the RAB and the in charge of the Jessore-RAB unit. The authorities have punished none of the perpetrators to date.
At around 9:00 pm on 19 July 2006, three unidentified young men came down a lane to the house of a fisherman named Mr. Kalipado Das, located at Jail Road in Jessore town. When Mr. Kalipado’s wife Mrs. Shushama Das shouted upon finding them, they covered her mouth and fled. Four and a half-hours later on the same night (at around 1:30am on July 20), a team from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) returned in four vehicles and raided Mr. Kalipado’s house where they found nothing. A Captain of the RAB then called someone using his mobile phone. After the conversation, he ordered the RAB team to search the garbage-hole adjacent to the house where they recovered five Jardar Kouta cans (small tin containers to sell and keep tobacco). They then declared them as hand-made bombs.
One of Mr. Kalipado’s sons, Mr. Kishore Kumar Das (32) was also arrested by the RAB. The RAB team then used a mobile phone to call the Commissioner (public representative) of the Jessore Municipality, Mr. Moksimul Bari Apu, who is a neighbour to Mr. Kalipado. Mr. Bari Apu asserted that Kishore is a hard working mechanic who has no connection with any crime. Despite all these, the RAB team took Kishore into their custody. During the process of his arrest, the RAB took signatures from the persons presenting there, including the Commissioner Mr. Bari Apu.
The RAB did not disclose any information regarding Kishore for three days since his arrest. When his family members and journalists contacted the RAB office on the Jessore Police Line, they reportedly denied that they had arrested Kishore. The RAB neither handed over Kishore to the police nor produced him before the Court until 93 hours later on July 23, demonstrating a clear violation of law. According to section 33 (2) of the Bangladesh Constitution, any arrested person should be produced before the court within 24 hours of his/her arrest.
On July 23 at 10:30pm, the Warrant Officer of the RAB, Mr. Nasir Uddin Khan, lodged a compliant with the Kotwali police station and attempted to hand over Kishore to them. In the compliant, the RAB claim that after arresting and interrogating Kishore from his house on the evening of July 23, they recovered four hand-made bombs from the area Kishore indicated. However, the Kotwali police refused to take Kishore into custody after they discovered that he was seriously injured. The RAB then took Kishore to the Jessore General Hospital where he received inadequate medical treatment for only a few minutes. After that, the Kotwali police took him into custody.
While handing over Kishore, the RAB also allegedly changed the date of arrest on the paper from July 20 to July 23 in which signatures of the witnesses including the Municipal Commissioner are included. The RAB further claims that Kishore was injured while attempting to flee at the time of his arrest.
However, Kishores family denies the RAB’s claim that Kishore was arrested soon after awakened from sleep and insists that he was brutally tortured by the RAB at an unknown place for several days until he was handed over to the Kotwali police. They also insist that Kishore was kept blindfolded while in the RAB’s custody and received considerable injuries due to torture.
The following morning (July 24), the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, Sub Inspector Mr. Mursalin, produced Kishore before the Magistrate Court submitting a petition seeking five days of remand. However, the Magistrate approved only a one-day police remand. After being interrogated again, the IO brought Kishore back to the court where he was then ordered transferred to the Jessore Central Jail on July 25.
Kishore’s family alleges that they have a land dispute with one of their neighbours, whose son-in-law is a Major of the Bangladesh Army. They believe that the neighbour conspired to put Kishore in jail to grab their land, as he is the key breadwinner of the family and was used to take care of the assets of the family. The family belongs to a Hindu minority community and since the incident have been living in fear and experiencing financial hardships.
Meanwhile, a bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has initiated to take up this case on its own by issuing a suo moto rule on the relevant Bangladesh authorities. The Court has asked them to explain in two weeks on which grounds Kishore was arrested and whether he was held in custody illegally. The High Court Bench passed this order to the secretary of the Home Ministry, Inspector General of Police, Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion and Major Mr. Shahin in charge of the RAB Jessore unit. Officials from different intelligence branches are reportedly visiting Kishore’s house regularly in following up with the suo moto rule issued by the High Court and it is worried that his family may receive serious threats to cover up the case.
ADDITIONAL COMMENT:
Abuse of official power by the police, the military and state officers is a common feature in Bangladesh. As being seen in this case, in many incidents, the law enforcing agencies misused their power to benefit persons who have good connections with authorities. Hardly any action is taken against officers who act in this way. Even tough the Bangladesh government has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT), it has yet to have been implemented at the domestic level. The Bangladesh government has also deprived effective remedies and redresses from the victims by reserving Article 14 of the CAT, which ensures medical treatment, compensation and complete redress to victims.
In addition, there is no domestic legislation to criminalise torture committed by law enforcement officials in the country and as a result, most of the perpetrators are not punished. In worse cases, they only receive light departmental disciplinary action or light punishments with charges of “maltreatment” rather than of “torture”. As far as the AHRC is aware, up to now there has been no single case in which the victim has received compensation for torture by the police.
Beside this, the AHRC notices with great concern that there are no independent complaint mechanisms where torture victims can lodge complaints against perpetrators. As a result, the police conduct inquiries into torture cases where police are also the alleged torturers. The police are normally reluctant to take action against their colleagues and in some cases they even threaten the victims to withdraw their complaints.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the relevant authorities listed below and urge them to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation into this case and bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible. Please also urge them to take appropriate action to release Kishore from the jail and discharge him from the allegedly fabricated charges. Please urge them to ensure effective protection to the victim and his family members. Please also urge the Bangladesh authorities to pay adequate compensation to the victim.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
BANGLADESH: Alleged brutal torture and fabrication of charges towards a man after being arbitrarily arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion in Jessore
Name of victim: Mr. Kishore Kumar Das (32), the son of Mr. Kalipado Das, a mechanic by profession, residing in the house located in the Jail Road under the Kotwali police station in the district town of Jessore, Pakistan
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Shahin, Major in charge of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Jessore unit.
2. Personnel of the Rapid Action Battalion attached to the Jessore district
3. Mr. Mursalin, Sub Inspector (SI) of Police, attached to the Kotwali police station in Jessore district
Place of the incident: House of the victim in the Jail Road under the Kotwali police station in Jessore district
Date of the incident: At 1:30am on 20 July 2006.
I am deeply concerned by the arbitrary arrest, detention and brutal torture of a man named Mr. Kishore Kumar Das by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Jessore district. It is also alleged that the RAB has fabricated charges against the victim.
According to the information I have received, at around 1:30am on 20 July 2006, a group of RAB team members with four vehicles raided the victim's house and then arrested him. When they found nothing at his house, the RAB team declared four Jardar Kouta cans (small tin containers using to sell or keep tobacco), which they found into the garbage-hole outside of the house, as hand-made bombs. During the process of the victim's arrest, the RAB reportedly then took signature of persons presenting there, including the Municipal Commissioner Mr. Moksimul Bari Apu, who was one of the neighbours of the victim.
I was also informed that the RAB took as long as three days to provide information about the victim's whereabouts to his family. Furthermore, when the victim's family members and journalists contacted the RAB office in Jessore Police Lie, they RAB denied that he was arrested. Such acts by the RAB are in violation of section 33 (2) of the Bangladesh Constitution, which demands that anyone arrested must be produced before the court within 24 hours of his/her arrest. The victim was illegally detained for 93 hours in an unknown place by the RAB and was only brought to the Kotwali police at around 10:30pm on July 23 by a Warrant Officer of the RAB, Mr. Nasir Uddin Khan.
I am also disturbed to know that Mr. Nasir Uddin Khan falsely lodged a complaint that suggests the RAB arrested the victim from his house on the evening of July 23 and recovered four hand-made bombs from the place the victim indicated. While handing over the victim to the Kotwali police, the RAB also allegedly changed the date of arrest on the paper from July 20 to July 23 in which signatures of the witnesses including the Municipal Commissioner are included. It seems to me that the RAB attempted to hide their illegal detention of the victim by fabricating the fact of the case.
I was also informed that the victim was severely injured when he was brought to the Kotwali police station, where the police first refused to take him into their custody noticing his injuries. He was then taken to Jessore General Hospital where he received inadequate medical treatment for only a few minutes and then brought back to the Kotwali police station. The victim was produced before the Magistrate Court the next day (July 24) by the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, Sub Inspector Mr. Mursalin, submitted a petition seeking five days remand for the victim; however, the Magistrate only would approve a one-day police remand. After being interrogated again, the IO brought Kishore back to the court where he was then ordered transferred to the Jessore Central Jail on July 25 where he still remains.
It is believed that a personal land dispute between the victim's family and their neighbour is the reason for the victim's arbitrary arrest, detention, brutal torture and the fabrication of charges by the RAB. The victim's family reported that their neighbour's son-in-law is a Major of the Bangladesh Army and alleges that he might have used his influence to cause this incident to grab their land. The victim's family belonging to a Hindu minority community and is living in fear, while experiencing financial hardships since the incident occurred.
I welcome that a branch of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has issued the suo moto rule into the case on July 26 and directed the Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the RAB and the officer in charge of the RAB Jessore unit to submit their explanations regarding the victim's illegal arrest and detention. However, I am concerned whether those officials will properly respond to the directives, as an abuse of official power by the police, the military and the state officers is a common feature in Bangladesh. I am also concerned for the security of the victim's family as officials from various intelligence branches are reportedly visiting the victim's house regularly following the suo moto rule issued by the High Court.
In light of the above, I strongly urge you to order an impartial and thorough investigation into this case and bring the alleged perpetrators responsible for the victim's illegal arrest, detention and brutal torture before the court as soon as possible. Those who were involved in the fabrication of charges should also be charged under section 211 of the Penal Code of Bangladesh. I urge you to take prompt action to release the victim from jail without delay so that he can receive adequate medical treatment for his injuries. I also urge you to ensure that the alleged fabricated charges against the victim be dropped immediately. Adequate compensation must be provided to the victim for the loss he has suffered.
I further request you to urge the Bangladesh government to fulfil its international obligations as a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT) and implement it at the domestic level so that torture perpetrators can be punished under the law. An independent agency where torture victims can lodge a complaint should be established and effective compensation should be introduced and strictly enforced without further delay. Only through these actions, can the Bangladesh government be able to eliminate the routine practice of torture and other illegal action taken by law enforcement officers in the country.
I trust your intervention will be forthcoming.
Yours sincerely,
----------------------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mrs. Begum Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister
Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
Old Parliament House,
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 8828160-79, 9888677
Fax: +880 2 8113244 or 3243 or 1015 or 1490
2. Mr. Md. Lutfozzaman Babor MP
State Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7169069 (O) or 8359000 (R)
Fax: +880 2 7160405, +880 2 7164788
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. A J Mohammad Ali
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. Anwarul Iqbal
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677 (O), +880 2 8362552 or 8362553 (R)
Fax: +880 2 9563362 or 9563363
6. Mr. M A Aziz Sarkar
Director General (DG)
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)
RAB Headquarter
Uttara, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02- 8961105 (O)
Fax: +880 2 8962884 (O)
Cell: +88 01199 816205, +88 01199 818245, +88 01712993105
E-mail: rabhqbd@yahoo.com
7. Ms. Leila Zerrougui
Working Group on arbitrary detention
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: WORKING GROUP ARBITRARY DETENTION)
8. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr.Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org
Thank you.
Urgent Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
