UNB, Dhaka :
Reiterating that the victims of enforced disappearances here have no option of legal remedy, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has made written submissions in the recent sessions of the UN Human Rights Council on the prevalence ‘enforced disappearances’ in Bangladesh.
The prevailing condition of repression and impunity contributes to the further weakening of criminal justice institutions, said the ALRC, a Hong Kong-based independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
It urged the Human Rights Council to hold Bangladesh accountable before the international community for its failure to provide remedies to victims and families of victims of enforced disappearance. “Basic institutions on criminal justice need reform so that the rule of law can make its entry into the jurisdiction of Bangladesh.”
The ALRC said the government wants the judiciary, which misses few opportunities to undermine its own independence, not to function, or rather to function in such a way that no remedies can result in cases of disappearances.
The families of victims of enforced disappearances are refused access to the complaint mechanism whenever allegations are brought against the agents of the state. The police refuse to register such complaints.
The few families that are not dissuaded are forced to modify their complaints by removing the names of the law-enforcement agents from the list of the alleged perpetrators. The complaints are registered only when the complainants bring allegations against “unidentified persons”. This makes the case, one of a “missing person”, rather than a case of enforced disappearance.
As a result, seeking justice for the disappeared victims is impossible at the stage of registration of the complaint itself, never mind the dream of credible investigation or prosecution, the ALRC said.
Besides, it said, state agents systematically intimidate the relatives of the disappeared victims, forcing families into silence.
One of the recent incidents involves seven victims, which includes the City Councillor of Narayanganj City Corporation and a lawyer of district Bar Association, who were abducted and disappeared by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
In earlier Written Submissions, the ALRC showed how the Office of the Bangladesh Attorney General prevents families from obtaining judicial remedies in the cases of disappearance.
The Attorney General acts as a postman for law-enforcement agencies, placing the alleged agencies’ statements that deny any involvement in disappearing the citizens before the Court.
Thus, rights of the families of the disappeared, to obtain judicial remedy, are systematically negated in Bangladesh. The judiciary, ever vigilant on suo moto action to counter satirical comments of individuals on social networking sites, shies from habeas corpus writ cases in order to appease the government, according to the ALRC.
Reiterating that the victims of enforced disappearances here have no option of legal remedy, the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) has made written submissions in the recent sessions of the UN Human Rights Council on the prevalence ‘enforced disappearances’ in Bangladesh.
The prevailing condition of repression and impunity contributes to the further weakening of criminal justice institutions, said the ALRC, a Hong Kong-based independent regional non-governmental organisation holding general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. It is the sister organisation of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
It urged the Human Rights Council to hold Bangladesh accountable before the international community for its failure to provide remedies to victims and families of victims of enforced disappearance. “Basic institutions on criminal justice need reform so that the rule of law can make its entry into the jurisdiction of Bangladesh.”
The ALRC said the government wants the judiciary, which misses few opportunities to undermine its own independence, not to function, or rather to function in such a way that no remedies can result in cases of disappearances.
The families of victims of enforced disappearances are refused access to the complaint mechanism whenever allegations are brought against the agents of the state. The police refuse to register such complaints.
The few families that are not dissuaded are forced to modify their complaints by removing the names of the law-enforcement agents from the list of the alleged perpetrators. The complaints are registered only when the complainants bring allegations against “unidentified persons”. This makes the case, one of a “missing person”, rather than a case of enforced disappearance.
As a result, seeking justice for the disappeared victims is impossible at the stage of registration of the complaint itself, never mind the dream of credible investigation or prosecution, the ALRC said.
Besides, it said, state agents systematically intimidate the relatives of the disappeared victims, forcing families into silence.
One of the recent incidents involves seven victims, which includes the City Councillor of Narayanganj City Corporation and a lawyer of district Bar Association, who were abducted and disappeared by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
In earlier Written Submissions, the ALRC showed how the Office of the Bangladesh Attorney General prevents families from obtaining judicial remedies in the cases of disappearance.
The Attorney General acts as a postman for law-enforcement agencies, placing the alleged agencies’ statements that deny any involvement in disappearing the citizens before the Court.
Thus, rights of the families of the disappeared, to obtain judicial remedy, are systematically negated in Bangladesh. The judiciary, ever vigilant on suo moto action to counter satirical comments of individuals on social networking sites, shies from habeas corpus writ cases in order to appease the government, according to the ALRC.
