Report says police killings widespread in Bangladesh
AP, DHAKATuesday, May 19, 2009, Page 6
Bangladesh's security forces have killed more than 1,000 people in extrajudicial slayings during the past five years, an international human rights group said in a report released yesterday.
Human Rights Watch called for the government to investigate the deaths and bring those responsible to justice.
"If you are a soldier, a member of the Rapid Action Battalion or the intelligence services, or a police officer, you can get away with murder in Bangladesh," said Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
The security forces break the law "in the gravest manner without ever facing any consequences," Adams said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch released a report yesterday titled Ignoring Executions and Torture: Impunity for Bangladesh's Security Forces.
Faruk Khan, a senior member of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Cabinet, said the government did not support extrajudicial killings and would investigate the allegations.
"The government is determined to prevent such incidents," said Khan, a former army officer. "If anyone is found guilty of such killing, proper action will be taken."
Crime suspects in Bangladesh are often killed while in custody in incidents authorities usually describe as "crossfire." Local watchdogs say the shootouts are staged and amount to little more than executions.
Odhikar, a Bangladeshi rights group, says 14 people have been killed while in custody so far this year, according to a tally gleaned from media reports.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2009/05/19/2003443942
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Mon, May 18th, 2009 9:31 pm BdST
New York, May 18 (bdnews24.com)—A New York-based human-rights watchdog has recommended that the military's intelligence wing DGFI and elite anticrime force RAB be disbanded "given their long history of arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings".
"Or, at the very least, an independent commission be set up to assess their performance, identify and recommend for dismissal of officers believed to be responsible for serious human rights violations," Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.
"The [Directorate General of Forces Intelligence]'s operations should be strictly limited to lawful military intelligence activities and in no circumstances should it have powers to detain or to engage in surveillance of the political opposition and critics of the government."
It said the new government must address impunity to make good on human rights promises.
It also recommended that an action plan be developed to transform them into agencies that operate within the law and with full respect for international human rights norms.
The Bangladeshi government should take urgent action to make good on its campaign promise to end impunity for human rights abuses and to establish the rule of law.
Successive governments have promised but failed to ensure that law enforcement officials and soldiers responsible for abuses are brought to justice, it said.
The 76-page report, "Ignoring Executions and Torture: Impunity for Bangladesh's Security Forces," details the involvement of soldiers, paramilitary officers, and police in so-called "crossfire killings" and other custodial killings, torture, "disappearances," and arbitrary arrests.
It examines a number of cases that have received national and international attention, in which those responsible have not been prosecuted.
Facing constant threats, harassment, and even physical abuse, victims and family members have often been forced to abandon their efforts to seek justice, and the suspected perpetrators have continued serving in the security forces.
"If you are a soldier, a member of the Rapid Action Battalion or the intelligence services, or a police officer, you can get away with murder in Bangladesh," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But those who kill or torture should be behind bars with other violent criminals."
Over the past five years, the military, the Rapid Action Battalion RAB and the police have been responsible for well over 1,000 killings.
Human Rights Watch and others have long contended that many of these deaths, often described as "crossfire killings," were actually extrajudicial executions of people in custody. Bodies of the victims often had wounds that suggested that they had been tortured.
While there have been far fewer extrajudicial killings since the new government took power in Jan 2009, new cases have begun to emerge in recent weeks and no one has been held accountable for past abuses.
The report highlights the case of Choles Ritchil, a leader of the indigenous Mandi tribe, who was arrested and tortured to death by a group of soldiers in March 2007. It also describes how Khabirul Islam Dulal, a local politician in Bhola district, was tortured by navy officers in front of his family and neighbours a few weeks earlier.
Although witnesses have identified suspects in both cases, no one has been prosecuted and imprisoned.
"The very forces tasked with upholding the law and providing security to the public have become well known for breaking the law in the gravest manner without ever facing any consequences," Adams said.
"Forces such as RAB and the military intelligence agency DGFI have become symbols of abuse and impunity."
The report concludes that Bangladeshi governments since independence in 1971 have been unwilling to prosecute and punish state officers responsible for grave human rights violations.
The problem is one of both law and practice. Alleged human rights violations should be investigated by an independent and neutral body, and archaic laws that shield security officials from prosecution should be amended.
The report urges the government to set up a witness protection program and to prosecute or take disciplinary action against anyone who tries to stop or hinder a criminal investigation.
The situation is partially the result of an outdated legal framework under which law enforcement officers and members of the armed forces are shielded from prosecution.
In violation of international legal standards, article 46 of Bangladesh's Constitution empowers parliament to pass laws that provide immunity from prosecution to any state officer for any act done to maintain or restore order, and to lift any penalty, sentence, or punishment imposed, it continues.
"Soldiers and RAB officers are also protected from the civilian criminal justice system under rules that ensure that they can only be prosecuted in internal courts by their peers through processes that lack independence or impartiality."
"While the civilian courts have jurisdiction over cases involving police officers suspected of involvement in criminal activities, such officers are protected by Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires explicit government approval to prosecute an officer purporting to act in an official capacity."
Several other laws state that no legal action can be taken against a person who in good faith acts to implement any of its provisions, it adds.
"Foreign governments are well aware of the poor human rights record of these agencies, but nevertheless cooperate with and provide training to them."
For all of these reasons, senior law enforcement and military officers have never been under strong systemic pressure to ensure that soldiers, paramilitaries, or police officers operate within the law or human rights norms.
They take for granted that they have complete discretion in carrying out their mandate, even if it includes the use of unlawful violence. They send the message to victims that anyone who attempts to hold them accountable will have to pay a high price and that, in any case, the efforts will be fruitless, the report further says.
"Bangladesh's new government, under the leadership of rime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has declared a "zero-tolerance" policy for extrajudicial executions and stated that state officials who engage in such acts will be punished."
There are, however, no indications that the authorities have initiated any serious investigations into past abuses or into credible allegations that several suspects in the February 2009 rebellion and massacre at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, have been tortured and killed while in custody.
"As a party to the UN human rights conventions, Bangladesh is obliged to ensure that all violations - past and future - are investigated, and that those responsible are brought to justice," Adams said. "If Bangladesh is to become a country in which fundamental human rights are respected and the law is applied equally to the poor and the powerful, the existing culture of impunity has to be torn down.
"Or, at the very least, an independent commission be set up to assess their performance, identify and recommend for dismissal of officers believed to be responsible for serious human rights violations," Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Monday.
"The [Directorate General of Forces Intelligence]'s operations should be strictly limited to lawful military intelligence activities and in no circumstances should it have powers to detain or to engage in surveillance of the political opposition and critics of the government."
It said the new government must address impunity to make good on human rights promises.
It also recommended that an action plan be developed to transform them into agencies that operate within the law and with full respect for international human rights norms.
The Bangladeshi government should take urgent action to make good on its campaign promise to end impunity for human rights abuses and to establish the rule of law.
Successive governments have promised but failed to ensure that law enforcement officials and soldiers responsible for abuses are brought to justice, it said.
The 76-page report, "Ignoring Executions and Torture: Impunity for Bangladesh's Security Forces," details the involvement of soldiers, paramilitary officers, and police in so-called "crossfire killings" and other custodial killings, torture, "disappearances," and arbitrary arrests.
It examines a number of cases that have received national and international attention, in which those responsible have not been prosecuted.
Facing constant threats, harassment, and even physical abuse, victims and family members have often been forced to abandon their efforts to seek justice, and the suspected perpetrators have continued serving in the security forces.
"If you are a soldier, a member of the Rapid Action Battalion or the intelligence services, or a police officer, you can get away with murder in Bangladesh," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "But those who kill or torture should be behind bars with other violent criminals."
Over the past five years, the military, the Rapid Action Battalion RAB and the police have been responsible for well over 1,000 killings.
Human Rights Watch and others have long contended that many of these deaths, often described as "crossfire killings," were actually extrajudicial executions of people in custody. Bodies of the victims often had wounds that suggested that they had been tortured.
While there have been far fewer extrajudicial killings since the new government took power in Jan 2009, new cases have begun to emerge in recent weeks and no one has been held accountable for past abuses.
The report highlights the case of Choles Ritchil, a leader of the indigenous Mandi tribe, who was arrested and tortured to death by a group of soldiers in March 2007. It also describes how Khabirul Islam Dulal, a local politician in Bhola district, was tortured by navy officers in front of his family and neighbours a few weeks earlier.
Although witnesses have identified suspects in both cases, no one has been prosecuted and imprisoned.
"The very forces tasked with upholding the law and providing security to the public have become well known for breaking the law in the gravest manner without ever facing any consequences," Adams said.
"Forces such as RAB and the military intelligence agency DGFI have become symbols of abuse and impunity."
The report concludes that Bangladeshi governments since independence in 1971 have been unwilling to prosecute and punish state officers responsible for grave human rights violations.
The problem is one of both law and practice. Alleged human rights violations should be investigated by an independent and neutral body, and archaic laws that shield security officials from prosecution should be amended.
The report urges the government to set up a witness protection program and to prosecute or take disciplinary action against anyone who tries to stop or hinder a criminal investigation.
The situation is partially the result of an outdated legal framework under which law enforcement officers and members of the armed forces are shielded from prosecution.
In violation of international legal standards, article 46 of Bangladesh's Constitution empowers parliament to pass laws that provide immunity from prosecution to any state officer for any act done to maintain or restore order, and to lift any penalty, sentence, or punishment imposed, it continues.
"Soldiers and RAB officers are also protected from the civilian criminal justice system under rules that ensure that they can only be prosecuted in internal courts by their peers through processes that lack independence or impartiality."
"While the civilian courts have jurisdiction over cases involving police officers suspected of involvement in criminal activities, such officers are protected by Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires explicit government approval to prosecute an officer purporting to act in an official capacity."
Several other laws state that no legal action can be taken against a person who in good faith acts to implement any of its provisions, it adds.
"Foreign governments are well aware of the poor human rights record of these agencies, but nevertheless cooperate with and provide training to them."
For all of these reasons, senior law enforcement and military officers have never been under strong systemic pressure to ensure that soldiers, paramilitaries, or police officers operate within the law or human rights norms.
They take for granted that they have complete discretion in carrying out their mandate, even if it includes the use of unlawful violence. They send the message to victims that anyone who attempts to hold them accountable will have to pay a high price and that, in any case, the efforts will be fruitless, the report further says.
"Bangladesh's new government, under the leadership of rime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has declared a "zero-tolerance" policy for extrajudicial executions and stated that state officials who engage in such acts will be punished."
There are, however, no indications that the authorities have initiated any serious investigations into past abuses or into credible allegations that several suspects in the February 2009 rebellion and massacre at the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles, have been tortured and killed while in custody.
"As a party to the UN human rights conventions, Bangladesh is obliged to ensure that all violations - past and future - are investigated, and that those responsible are brought to justice," Adams said. "If Bangladesh is to become a country in which fundamental human rights are respected and the law is applied equally to the poor and the powerful, the existing culture of impunity has to be torn down.
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