Editorial Desk :
The European Union has expressed concern over the incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh and few other countries and called upon the government to run impartial investigation and arrange for prosecution of perpetrators. Needles to say, the European countries, particularly those in Western Europe maintain human rights and humanitarian values at the highest level and they are right to demand the state to give full protection to people. Unfortunately Bangladesh is a different place where human life has little value in chaotic political environment.
So given the scant regard for the rule of law in Bangladesh, it is least likely that the EU’s call will get positive response at a time the government is busy to liquidate the opposition for easy electoral victory scheduled for the end of this year. The EU government is not unaware how the law enforcers in uniform
and in plain-clothes are haunting their targets made of leaders and workers of the major opposition and wealthy business people. They are made victim of forced disappearance and the government is giving scanty attention to stop such crimes.
In case of arrests of political opponents court warrant is of little consideration. What is dangerous for police is that they are using plain-clothes people with arms to break-up opposition gatherings and also to make arrests. Thus it will make easy for others to use arms claiming to be police. We feel such use of plain-clothes police as muscle men is resorted to in police states. The Supreme Court in a recent judgment ruled against arrest of persons without court warrant by plain-clothes police. It is sad and most disappointing that the country is heading to be a hateful police state and destroy the police as dependable law enforcers.
This is the state of the law and order in our country when the EU is calling for opening probe and punishing the perpetrators. It does not take much time to find out who are those criminals either in plain-clothes or in uniform. The point is that the government is knowingly allowing it to happen and so such crime is happening unabated.
Statistics suggests in the last 13 years, at least 1900 people have been victims of extra-judicial killings, of whom 800 died in police custody. In such worsening situation it is difficult to expect from the government to open impartial investigation to punish those abducting people.
According to various reports between 2010 and July last year as many as 519 people have become victims of enforced disappearances — 329 are still missing. Much to our surprise, a few had even returned with conflicting stories about their temporary disappearances.
It is a shame that the governments of a free country is to be told by the EU, many other nations and international human rights organisations regularly about the need of authentic probe and stop unnatural deaths in questionable circumstances.
We expect no response to international reactions unless we can have a people’s government elected by the people and accountable to the people through democratic institutions of checks and balance. So half-hearted international call though well meaning makes the people more helpless and police actions more oppressive. Our call to international community is to help the government to become democratic and be out of bureaucratic ways of a police state.
The European Union has expressed concern over the incidents of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh and few other countries and called upon the government to run impartial investigation and arrange for prosecution of perpetrators. Needles to say, the European countries, particularly those in Western Europe maintain human rights and humanitarian values at the highest level and they are right to demand the state to give full protection to people. Unfortunately Bangladesh is a different place where human life has little value in chaotic political environment.
So given the scant regard for the rule of law in Bangladesh, it is least likely that the EU’s call will get positive response at a time the government is busy to liquidate the opposition for easy electoral victory scheduled for the end of this year. The EU government is not unaware how the law enforcers in uniform
and in plain-clothes are haunting their targets made of leaders and workers of the major opposition and wealthy business people. They are made victim of forced disappearance and the government is giving scanty attention to stop such crimes.
In case of arrests of political opponents court warrant is of little consideration. What is dangerous for police is that they are using plain-clothes people with arms to break-up opposition gatherings and also to make arrests. Thus it will make easy for others to use arms claiming to be police. We feel such use of plain-clothes police as muscle men is resorted to in police states. The Supreme Court in a recent judgment ruled against arrest of persons without court warrant by plain-clothes police. It is sad and most disappointing that the country is heading to be a hateful police state and destroy the police as dependable law enforcers.
This is the state of the law and order in our country when the EU is calling for opening probe and punishing the perpetrators. It does not take much time to find out who are those criminals either in plain-clothes or in uniform. The point is that the government is knowingly allowing it to happen and so such crime is happening unabated.
Statistics suggests in the last 13 years, at least 1900 people have been victims of extra-judicial killings, of whom 800 died in police custody. In such worsening situation it is difficult to expect from the government to open impartial investigation to punish those abducting people.
According to various reports between 2010 and July last year as many as 519 people have become victims of enforced disappearances — 329 are still missing. Much to our surprise, a few had even returned with conflicting stories about their temporary disappearances.
It is a shame that the governments of a free country is to be told by the EU, many other nations and international human rights organisations regularly about the need of authentic probe and stop unnatural deaths in questionable circumstances.
We expect no response to international reactions unless we can have a people’s government elected by the people and accountable to the people through democratic institutions of checks and balance. So half-hearted international call though well meaning makes the people more helpless and police actions more oppressive. Our call to international community is to help the government to become democratic and be out of bureaucratic ways of a police state.
