FOR over a week an English daily in its serialised reports has documented the facts about “abduction by law enforcement agencies” also known as “forced disappearances” of nineteen people, including activists of Opposition parties, committed one year before when political turmoil gripped the country. The forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and custodial deaths of citizens by law enforcing agencies just indicated the sorry state of human rights condition at a time when the nation is planning to observe the 44th Victory Day. Several witnesses testified that the plain-clothed men of law enforcing agencies and detective branch abducted the citizens from different places of Dhaka. However, the alleged law enforcing agencies, high-ups and the government continuously denied the accusation. Families of some of the victims still persist in their hope that the men remain alive somewhere in secret custody, while others increasingly fear that they might have been killed. The rule of intimidation and arms should not run longer as the state is not a police-state, it is rather a republic. In the cases where law enforcing agencies are allegedly involved, police refuse to file cases but ask the victim’s families to file a general diary only.Admitting to one or two incidents, the State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan turned down the accusation of involvement of the lawmen claiming that the people have gone into hiding to avoid legal action for their alleged involvement in violence. According to rights groups, the country is witnessing a sharp rise in forced disappearances with at least 82 people subjected to such incidents from January to September 2014. Rights body Odhikar said 162 citizens of the country were the victims of extra-judicial killings by the law enforcing agencies during January to November 2014.Extra-judicial killing is an arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life and simply a state sanctioned murder but the country has earned notoriety in carrying out extra-judicial killings. The rights to life and personal liberty are under threat, despite the fact that they are guaranteed by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Article 32 says: “No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law”. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted in 1966 and ratified by Bangladesh in 2000, “Every human being has the inherent right to life”. The state has no right to deny the right to life to any of its citizens.
