Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the death of a man in custody of the Kotwali Police 2 July 2007. He allegedly died in the hospital after four days of detention in the police station. Even though the dead body clearly showed bruises and remarks, the police reports were in complete contradiction with the evidence of injuries shown on the body as well as testimonies from the families and witnesses.
CASE DETAILS: (based on the testimonies from family and witnesses)
Md. Munsur Ali Miridha, 65 years-old, was a resident of Master Paara of Shashongacha in Comilla Sadar Upazila. He was taken from his home on June 27 around 6:30pm by a man named Lokman and another man in plain clothes, under Section 16 (2) of the Emergency Power Ordinance 2007 that allows security forces to make arrests without warrants. Lokman accused Munsur of involvement in drug peddling, and told him that the Officer in Charge (OC) of the Kotwali Police Station was waiting for him. Munsur was then taken away on a police van by the two men. A family member tried to give Munsur his medicine but this was refused and the person was beaten.
Munsur was brought to court on June 28 and the court granted four days of remand based on the application of the police.
On June 29, Munsur’s son Selim Miah went to the police station to visit his father at around 5:30pm. Munsur told Selim that Lokman had paid Taka 20,000 (USD 300) to the OC on behalf of a former member of local government whom Munsur had a grudge with to ensure that Munsur would be kept in detention. On the other hand, Selim negotiated with Sub-Inspector Roushan Ali, and paid him Taka 8,000 (USD 118) through Constable Kalam, in exchange for the his father’s early release.
However, at 3:15am on July 2, Munsur’s family was informed by three policemen from the Kotwali Police Station that Munsur was ill and had been transferred to the Comilla General Hospital. The family went to the hospital and found Munsur’s dead body, which bore bruises on his back, thighs, knees, and feet.
Nasir, an inmate who was detained in the same police station testified that he saw Munsur being taken to another room where he was beaten up by the OC. He and other detainees witnessed the scene and heard Munsur’s screams. When Munsur was taken back to the cell, a constable even kicked him on the waist, causing him to fall. Nasir recalled that there are marks seen as evidence of torture on Munsur’s knees, thighs and feet.
Selim admitted that his father used to collect money from drug peddlers on behalf of the Kotwali Police, but he had stopped doing so for two years.
The Kotwali Police claimed that Munsur felt ill at around 2:00am on July 2 and was found to be dead on arrival at the hospital. The inquest report from the Kotwali Police suggested that Munsur’s body did not bear any marks of torture; the inquest from a three-member committee formed by the Comilla District Police also reached a similar conclusion. However, the two reports conducted by the police were totally contradicted by the testimonies from his families and witnesses.
Even though there are witnesses to the torture in custody and also the fact that his dead body clearly showed evidence, this were not considered seriously. An impartial investigation to discover the cause of the death, including an independent postmortem examination should be conducted in any case in which the police are allegedly involved. However they themselves conducted investigations into the cause of death.
In addition, the alleged corruption of Kotwali police station involved in collecting drug money and should also be investigated.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities and urge them to launch an independent and thorough investigation on Munsur’s death. Please also urge them to investigate the alleged corruption of the police in collecting drug money.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
BANGLADESH: Please impartially investigate the custodial death of Md. Munsur Ali Mridha in Kotwali Police Station
Name of victim: Md. Munsur Ali Mridha, 65-year-old, resident of Master Paara of Shashongcha in Comilla Sadar Upazilia
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Office in Charge involved in assaulting
2. A police constable involved in assaulting
3. Sub-Inspector Roushan Ali involved in bribe
4. A police constable Kalam involved in bribe
[All are from Kotwali police station, Comilla]
Date of incident: 2 July 2007
Place of incident: Kotwali Police Station, Comilla
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the death Md. Munsur Ali Miridha in the custody of Kotwali Police, and urge you to launch an independent and thorough investigation in this case.
According to the information I received, Munsur was taken from his home on June 27 around 6:30pm by a man named Lokman and another man in plain clothes under Section 16 (2) of the Emergency Power Ordinance 2007 which allows security forces to make arrests without warrants. Lokman accused Munsur of involving in drug peddling, and told him that the Officer in Charge (OC) of the Kotwali Police Station was waiting for him. Munsur was then taken away on a police van by the two men. He was later brought to court on June 28 and the court granted four days of remand based on the application of the police.
I learned that on June 29, Munsur’s son Selim Miah went to the police station to visit his father at around 5:30pm. Munsur told Selim that Lokman had paid Taka 20,000 to the OC on behalf of a former member of local government whom Munsur had grudges with, so that Munsur would be kept in detention. On the other hand, Selim negotiated with Sub-Inspector Roushan Ali, and paid him Taka 8,000 through Constable Kalam, in exchange for the his father’s early release.
However, at 3:15am on July 2, Munsur’s family was informed by the three policemen from the Kotwali Police Station that Munsur was ill and had been transferred to the Comilla General Hospital. The family went to the hospital and found Munsur’s dead body, which bore bruises on his back, thighs, knees, and feet. Nasir, an inmate who was detained in the same police station testified that he saw Munsur taken to another room and was beaten up by the OC. He and other detainees witnessed the scene and heard Munsur’s screams.
The Kotwali Police claimed that Munsur felt ill at around 2am on July 2 and found dead on arrival at the hospital. The inquest report from the Kotwali Police suggested that the Munsur’s body did not bear any torture mark; the inquest from a three-member committee formed by the Comilla District Police also reached similar conclusion. There is no known legal proceeding against the alleged police perpetrators.
I am very disappointed that there is no thorough investigation into the death of Munsur. The reports conducted by the police ignored the testimonies from the family members, and the torture marks on the deceased body. The impartiality of the reports is also under question since they are conducted by the police against their own colleagues.
Therefore, I urge an independent and thorough investigation to be conducted in this case, to identify the real cause of Munsur’s death. The alleged perpetrators should also be suspended until the investigation is completed. I further urge you to investigate the alleged corruption of the police.
Your prompt intervention will be highly appreciated.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND LETTERS 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
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. Barrister 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
4. 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
5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 9179016
6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Room 3-016
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
