Staff Reporter :
The global rights body Amnesty International has expressed grave concern over forced disappearance, torture by law enforcement agencies and harassment of journalists in Bangladesh.
In the annual world report of 2014/15 published on Wednesday, the AI in its Bangladesh chapter said that violence against women was
a major human rights concern while police and other security forces committed torture with impunity. “Dozens of people were forcibly disappeared. Journalists and human rights defenders continued to be attacked and harassed. Factory workers continued to be at risk owing to hazardous safety standards in the workplace. At least one person was executed with no right to appeal against his death sentence,” the report said.
It continued: “Verdicts by the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court set up in 2009 to try crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh independence war, were delivered amid a highly polarized political atmosphere. Supporters of these trials demanded death sentences for those on trial regardless of the strength of the evidence presented against them.”
About enforced disappearances, the AI report said: ” The exact number of people who were forcibly disappeared was not known; some estimates suggested over 80. Of the documented cases of 20 people subjected to enforced disappearance between 2012 and 2014, nine people were subsequently found dead. Six had returned to their families after periods of captivity lasting from weeks to months, with no news of their whereabouts until their release. There was no news about the circumstances of the other five.” “Following the enforced disappearance and subsequent killing of seven people in Narayanganj in April, three officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were detained and investigated for their alleged involvement in abductions and killings; this rose to at least 17 RAB officers by the end of the year. This was the first such action since the formation of the battalion in 2004.
Amnesty International welcomed the investigation as a move towards holding law enforcement officials accountable for alleged human rights violations. However, concerns continued that the government might drop the cases if public pressure to bring them to justice lessened. Apart from this case, there were no clear indications of a thorough investigation into other incidents such as the unexplained abduction and killing of Abraham Linkon in February.1″
The AI on freedom of expression further said: “The government’s use of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act severely restricted the right to freedom of expression. Under this section, those convicted of violating the Act could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison if the charges were brought against them before 6 October 2013; at that time, an amendment not only increased the maximum punishment to 14 years in prison but also imposed a minimum punishment of seven years.”
Section 57 of the ICT Act criminalized a wide array of peaceful actions such as criticizing Islamic religious views in a newspaper article or reporting on human rights violations. At least four bloggers, two Facebook users and two officials of a human rights organization were charged under Section 57 of the ICT Act during 2013-2014. They included bloggers Asif Mohiuddin, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Rasel Parvez; and human rights defenders Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan.
Death penalty: Courts continued to impose death sentences. Eleven were handed over death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal. One death sentence was imposed directly by the Supreme Court after the government appealed against the defendant’s acquittal by the Tribunal. He was executed in December 2013. Prisoners whose death sentences were upheld on appeal were at imminent risk of execution.
As a background, the AI said: “The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continued in office after her party, the Awami League, was declared the winner in the January elections. The elections were boycotted by the opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and its allies. More than 100 people were killed during opposition protests against elections, some after police opened fire on demonstrators who were often violent. None of these deaths were believed to have been investigated. Supporters of opposition parties reportedly attacked bus commuters with petrol bombs, killing at least nine people and injuring many others.”
In its 415-page annual report detailing abuses in 160 countries, the rights group accused governments of “pretending the protection of civilians is beyond their power”. The Amnesty document urged all states to abide by a treaty regulating the international arms trade which came into force last year, saying this could help stop huge shipments of weapons to countries like Syria and Iraq.
The global rights body Amnesty International has expressed grave concern over forced disappearance, torture by law enforcement agencies and harassment of journalists in Bangladesh.
In the annual world report of 2014/15 published on Wednesday, the AI in its Bangladesh chapter said that violence against women was
a major human rights concern while police and other security forces committed torture with impunity. “Dozens of people were forcibly disappeared. Journalists and human rights defenders continued to be attacked and harassed. Factory workers continued to be at risk owing to hazardous safety standards in the workplace. At least one person was executed with no right to appeal against his death sentence,” the report said.
It continued: “Verdicts by the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court set up in 2009 to try crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh independence war, were delivered amid a highly polarized political atmosphere. Supporters of these trials demanded death sentences for those on trial regardless of the strength of the evidence presented against them.”
About enforced disappearances, the AI report said: ” The exact number of people who were forcibly disappeared was not known; some estimates suggested over 80. Of the documented cases of 20 people subjected to enforced disappearance between 2012 and 2014, nine people were subsequently found dead. Six had returned to their families after periods of captivity lasting from weeks to months, with no news of their whereabouts until their release. There was no news about the circumstances of the other five.” “Following the enforced disappearance and subsequent killing of seven people in Narayanganj in April, three officers of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were detained and investigated for their alleged involvement in abductions and killings; this rose to at least 17 RAB officers by the end of the year. This was the first such action since the formation of the battalion in 2004.
Amnesty International welcomed the investigation as a move towards holding law enforcement officials accountable for alleged human rights violations. However, concerns continued that the government might drop the cases if public pressure to bring them to justice lessened. Apart from this case, there were no clear indications of a thorough investigation into other incidents such as the unexplained abduction and killing of Abraham Linkon in February.1″
The AI on freedom of expression further said: “The government’s use of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act severely restricted the right to freedom of expression. Under this section, those convicted of violating the Act could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison if the charges were brought against them before 6 October 2013; at that time, an amendment not only increased the maximum punishment to 14 years in prison but also imposed a minimum punishment of seven years.”
Section 57 of the ICT Act criminalized a wide array of peaceful actions such as criticizing Islamic religious views in a newspaper article or reporting on human rights violations. At least four bloggers, two Facebook users and two officials of a human rights organization were charged under Section 57 of the ICT Act during 2013-2014. They included bloggers Asif Mohiuddin, Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Rasel Parvez; and human rights defenders Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan.
Death penalty: Courts continued to impose death sentences. Eleven were handed over death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal. One death sentence was imposed directly by the Supreme Court after the government appealed against the defendant’s acquittal by the Tribunal. He was executed in December 2013. Prisoners whose death sentences were upheld on appeal were at imminent risk of execution.
As a background, the AI said: “The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continued in office after her party, the Awami League, was declared the winner in the January elections. The elections were boycotted by the opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and its allies. More than 100 people were killed during opposition protests against elections, some after police opened fire on demonstrators who were often violent. None of these deaths were believed to have been investigated. Supporters of opposition parties reportedly attacked bus commuters with petrol bombs, killing at least nine people and injuring many others.”
In its 415-page annual report detailing abuses in 160 countries, the rights group accused governments of “pretending the protection of civilians is beyond their power”. The Amnesty document urged all states to abide by a treaty regulating the international arms trade which came into force last year, saying this could help stop huge shipments of weapons to countries like Syria and Iraq.
