UPDATE (Bangladesh): A prominent human rights defender falsely implicated with a murder case

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the alleged arbitrary arrest of the NGO leader namely Mr. Shahidul Islam by army personnel in Satkhira district, Bangladesh on 27 January 2007 (See further: UA-037-2007). We were informed that Mr. Shahidul has been falsely implicated in a murder case with the alleged coordination of the army. We were also deeply concerned that Mr. Shahidul has not been produced before court since his arrest which is in violation of Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 33 of Constitution of Bangladesh. The victim is currently warded in medical unit of the Satkhira district jail due to his serious physical condition due to alleged brutal torture by army personnel. This case is a clear example that how the security forces cover up their illegal acts after arresting and detaining citizens. The Bangladesh authority has also failed to provide an explanation before the High Court, which directed it to explain by 13 February 2007 as to why the arrest and detention of Mr. Shahidul should not be declared unlawful. Meanwhile, no investigation has been launched into the victim’s illegal arrest and torture and the alleged perpetrators are still at large.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

Further details of the first incident:

The AHRC has received details of the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Shahidul Islam. At around 11:00am on 27 January 2007 two army personnel, one warrant officer (WO) Mr. Amir Hossain and one army constable, came on a motorcycle to the UTTARAN Training Center based in Mobarakpur village, Tala upazilla (sub district), Satkhira district, Bangladesh. At around 11:25am, the warrant officer Mr. Amir told Mr. Shahidul that Major Mehedi Hasan of the Tala army camp would like to talk to him. The officer did not inform Mr. Shahidul that he would be arrested and did not produce any arrest warrant or other valid documents. Within five minutes, an army van full of army personnel arrived at the UTTARAN training center and told Mr. Shahidul to go with them to the Tala Army Camp, which was temporarily established in the Government B Dey High School in Tala town.

Mr. Shahidul was put into the army van and taken before Major Mr. Mehedi Hasan of the army camp. The military officers then started interrogating Mr. Shahidul, while accusing him of depositing black market money and asked him to reveal its sources. They also accused him of involvement in terrorism activities and underground politics.

Meanwhile, a relative of Mr. Shahidul (the name is withheld for security reasons) was informed about Mr. Shahidul’s arrest and went to the army camp within 40 minutes after the arrest was made. However, the army personnel did not allow him to meet either Mr. Shahidul or Major Mehedi Hasan and simply assured him that Mr. Shahidul would never be tortured in army custody and that they would hand over him to the Tala police when the interrogation is finished.

No sooner had the relative left the army camp, a group of soldiers, namely Mr. Gopal, Mr. Mizan, Mr. Newaz, Mr. Didar and Mr. Shakil blindfolded Mr. Shahidul, tied his arms and took him to a toilet in the army camp, where Mr. Shahidul was severely assaulted with hockey sticks on his legs and back. It was alleged that different groups of soldiers assaulted Mr. Shahidul in turn in several phases.

Due to brutal torture, Mr. Shahidul was severely injured. At around 2:15pm, the army then called Dr. Hedayetul Islam, the Upazilla Health and Family Planning Officer of Tala town to the army camp to treat Mr. Shahidul. Eyewitnesses reported that Dr. Hedayet’s behaviour was very unusual when he returned to the hospital from the army camp and he shouted at his colleagues not to go to the camp when they received any phone calls from the army.

According to local people, including journalists and Mr. Shahidul’s relatives, who were present about 50 meters away from the army camp premises (the school campus), heard the cries of Mr. Shahidul and immediately the army personnel chased them away from the campus.

At around 3:00 pm, Mr. Shahidul was carried by four army men before Major Mehedi Hasan, who simply ordered them to hand him over to the Tala police. Four army men then carried Mr. Shadidul by the arms and handed over him to the Tara police at around 3:30pm.

According to eyewitnesses, Mr. Shahidul could not walk due to his injuries and his eyes were blindfolded and arms tied when he was taken to the police station. Inspector Mr. Md. Abdur Razzak, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Tala police station, did not agree to take Mr. Shahidul because he has received no complaints and charges against him. He was also concerned with the victim’s severe physical condition. At this point the army men got angry and called doctors from the Upazilla Health Complex, which is the only public hospital in the town.

The Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Dr. Zahirul Hassan and Medical Officer Dr. Humayan Kabir Apu of the Upazilla Health Complex rushed to the Tala police station to treat Mr. Shahidul, who was lying on the floor and not able to move and speak due to severe pain. When the doctors and the police tried to raise him to a sitting position, Mr. Shahidul fell unconscious. There were multiple red and black bruises all over him body, especially, on the lower limbs, back of the chest and abdomen as a result of beating with blunt weapons. Further, both sides of his feet were dark due to beating with blunt weapons.

On the evening of January 27, Mr. Shahidul was sent to the Satkhira District Jail without being produced before any court of the country, which is in a clear violation of law. The prison authority then sent him to the medical unit of the jail. On the following morning on January 28, the jail authority transferred Mr. Shahidul to the Satkhira Sadar Hospital due to his deteriorating condition. The X-ray report at the hospital showed fractures in the second and fifth toes of his right foot. A medical source informs that Mr. Shahidul’s blood pressure status is, now, 90/60, which was normally 150/90 before his arrest, according to his relatives. Mr. Shahidul is now in police custody at the hospital, while being handcuffed at the hospital bed.

The Deputy Commissioner ex officio District Magistrate, Mr. Md. Kefayet Ullah, later issued an order sheet dated on 27 January 2007 (the date was changed from January 28 to January 27 on the certificated copy of the order sheet that Mr. Shahidul’s lawyers received), that Mr. Shahidul received 30-day detention order under the Special Powers Act-1974. This Act is one of deacon laws being abused for arbitrary detention of the arrested without any judicial review in the current situation of the state of emergency in the country. Mr. Shahidul has never been produced before any court to date since his arrest on January 27. It is a clear violation of Article 33 of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Section 61 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Bangladesh.

Falsely implicated with a murder case by the army:

It is reported that in order to cover up the illegal arrest and detention of Mr. Shahidul, the army allegedly pressured the Magistrate’s Cognizance Court-Ga Area of Satkhira district to show that Mr. Shahidul was arrested relating to one murder case. This murder case is bearing case number 3 dated 05/05/2004) at the Tala police station relating to the assassination of the Chairperson of the Tala unit of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Mr. A B M Altaf Hossain on 4 May 2004.

According to the information received, Mr. Badrul Alam, Joint Secretary of Satkhira district unit of the BNP, was arrested by the joint forces from Mr. Abdul Latif’s house in Khajra village under the Ashashuni police station of Satkhira district on 30 January 2007. Since the arrest, Mr. Badrul was kept in military custody, while he was allegedly beaten and intimidated to be killed in pre-planed “crossfire”, unless he gives a false statement accusing Mr. Shahidul of involving in Mr. Altaf’s murder. Mr. Badrul finally gave the false statement against Mr. Shahidul fearing for his life.

It is alleged that at around 2:00am on 2 February 2007, the army handed over Mr. Badrul to Inspector Mr. Haripado Bishwas of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Satkhira district. Although this is not the office hours, the army officers also contacted First Class Magistrate Mr. Saidur Rahman to come to the court and record Mr. Badrul’s “confessional statement” under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The magistrate then came to his office room of the Deputy Commissioner cum Magistrate’s Court building at around early hours at 2:00am and recorded Badrul’s statement by 3:45pm.

According to the magistrate court’s administrators, on February 6, Mr. Shahidul was “shown arrest” in the Altaf murder case with an order signed by a magistrate of the Magistrate’s Cognizance Court-Ga Area, which was issued based on “confessional statement” of Mr. Badrul. The decision of “shown arrest” of Mr. Shahidul was only disclosed on February 7 but strangely the court order’s signed date is February 6 (the paper carries the wrong date of 16-2-2007 by mistake).

However, interestingly on February 2, the Investigation Officer (IO) of the said murder case, CID Inspector Mr. Haripado Bishwas, submitted a remand prayer, which is also signed on 6 February 2007, in advance before a magistrate seeking 7-day police remand of Mr. Shahidul for an inquiry. It should be noted that based on the court arrest order dated 6 February 2007, Mr. Shahidul was not under arrest relating to the said murder case till February 6. According to the legal procedure, the police can only apply for taking Mr. Shahidul in their remand after February 6 because the court order document shows that the magistrate signed the arrest order on February 6.

The certificated copy of the court documents shows that on February 6 the magistrate signed on both the papers: the custody warrant (shown arrest) order sheet and the remand prayer of the police both dated on 6 February 2007. However, we suspect that the magistrate might have signed on both papers on February 2.

Meanwhile, the hearing on the remand prayer officially held at the Magistrate Cognizance Court-Ga Area on February 7 and the magistrate later decided to hear the police’s remand prayer after Mr. Shahidul’s 30-day detention is over. Mr. Shahidul was not produced before court at this time.

The irregularities of the court documents and unusual police action are extremely confusing. While the custody warrant of Mr. Shahidul shows that the magistrate signed in the order on February 6 (or 16) but the police unusually moved Mr. Shahidul’s remand prayer on February 2, four days before that Mr. Shahidul was under arrest in this murder case. This has been a proof of distortion and fabrication of the truth. This together with unlawful and unusual action of the magistrate and the police clearly indicate that all these things were set up and coordinated by the army to justify their illegal arrest and detention of Mr. Shahidul.

On February 8, Mr. Shahidul’s lawyer Advocate Mr. M Shah Alam lodged a petition seeking bail for the victim before the Magistrate’s Cognizance Court-Ga Area of Satkhira. However, the Second Class Magistrate Mr. Zahid Hassan rejected the bail prayer. The lawyers then filed a Criminal Miss case (case no. 126/2007) with the Session Judge’s Court of Satkhira on 14 February 2007. The next hearing for bail application is fixed for 6 March 2007.

Meanwhile, the Magistrate Court refused to supply the certified copy of Mr. Badrul’s statement to Mr. Shahidul’s lawyers. Advocate Mr. M Shah Alam, the General Secretary of the Satkhira District Bar Association, applied three times separately on February 7, 8 and 11 seeking the certified copies of the First Information Report (FIR) of the murder case that Mr. Shahidul was implicated with, the copy of Mr. Badrul Alam’s statement, the copy of the “shown arrest” order and the copy of the remand prayer by the IO of the murder case. On February 11, Third Class Magistrate of Satkhira Magistrate Court Record Section, Mr. Manjurul Islam, approved all the papers to be provided to the lawyers except the copy of Mr. Badrul’s statement and the lawyers received those copies on February 13.

Mr. Shahidul’s relatives claim that the deceased Mr. Altaf’s family alleges that the former Member of Parliament elected from Satkhira-1 constituency, Mr. Habibul Islam Habib, was directly involved in the killing of Mr. Altaf. In fact, Mr. Altaf’s family openly claimed this allegation in their written statements in two press conferences held in Varsa village under Patkelghata police station in Satkhira district separately held on 2 and 6 November in 2006.

They further claimed that the political leaders and the police managed one Mr. Abdur Rahman, who is known as “Goru Chor (cattle thief)” in the area, to lodge the murder case of MR. Altaf with the Tala police station, while the family received death threats from the armed cadres of the former MP Mr. Habib to pressure them not to lodge a case against the real murderer.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shahidul’s elder brother Mr. Nazrul Islam lodged a writ petition with a High Court Division Bench on 31 January 2007 challenging his brother’s arrest and detention. The judges of the Bench then issued a rule nisi and directed the concerned authority to explain why the arrest of Mr. Shahidul shall not be declared unlawful within two weeks time. However, the concerned authority has not furnished the required explanation before High Court to date although the deadline of submission was expired on February 13.

Mr. Shahidul is currently warded in medical unit of the Satkhira district jail.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

This case is a true instance of lawlessness in the country. According to Article 33 (2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, a person arrested should be brought before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours after the arrest. Further, the Article 33(3) of the Constitution clearly states that clause (2) of Article 33 shall apply to any person including an enemy alien or person arrested or detained “under any law providing for preventive detention”.

However, during the current sate of emergency, all fundamental rights of the Constitution that was stated in Part III (from article 26 to 42, except article 41) have been suspended. It seems that the Bangladesh administration, the army and the police are taking advantage of this situation to abuse the fundamental rights of its own citizens. There is a report that 29 persons killed by law enforcement agencies, 52027 arrested and slum eviction drives cause human rights violation during the first 30 days of emergency (FS-010-2007).

However, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP) of Bangladesh still maintain its legal force even during the state of emergency and Mr. Shahidul’s case is in clear violation of Section 61 of the Code. Section 61 clearly states that “person arrested not to be detained more than twenty four hours and “no police-officer shall detain in custody a person arrested without warrant for a longer period than under all the circumstances of the case is reasonable”.

Still the concerned government authority has not given any valid explanation as to why Mr. Shahidul has not been produced before any court to date since his arrest, which was made without any arrest warrant, charges and cases against him.

Besides, there is no explanation from the government as to wh the magistrate became so serious to record Mr. Badrul Alam’s “confessional statement” in early hours (at 2:00am) in relation to a murder case that occurred more than two years ago. Such an unusual action was taken by the magistrate; while the former MP Mr. Habibul Islam Habib was never arrested, despite the open accusation from the deceased man’s family. Two separate written statements of the family were not recorded by any of police and judicial authorities.

Further, the magistrate’s refusal of supplying the certified copy of the “confessional statement” of Mr. Badrul Alam to Mr. Shahidul’s lawyers without any explanations violates the fundamental rights of Mr. Shahidul.

Meanwhile, no investigation has been made and no one has been arrested so far relating to the alleged torture of Mr. Shahidul.

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 Reportchapter on Bangladesh.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please immediately write to the relevant Bangladesh authorities listed below and strongly protest against the illegal arrest, detention and torture of the victim as well as the false implication of him with a murder case. Please urge them to take prompt action to conduct an independent and thorough investigation into the misconducts of the army, the police and the magistrates of the Satkhira district in this case. Please also demand the victim’s immediate release and withdrawal of the murder charges against him. Please also send your letters to the relevant UN agencies listed below.

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