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BANGLADESH: Alleged serious intimidation by the Rapid Action Battalion in Rajshahi against a human rights defender

May 5, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

5 May 2007
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UA-149-2007: BANGLADESH: Alleged serious intimidation by the Rapid Action Battalion in Rajshahi against a human rights defender

BANGLADESH: Threat; intimidation; military abuse; abuses under the state of emergency
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AHRC HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2006: BANGLADESH
http://material.ahrchk.net/hrreport/2006/Bangladesh2006.pdf
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the alleged serious threats and intimidation against a human rights defender and journalist Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash for broadcasting news on the attempted extra-judicial killing of an alleged terrorist on a private television channel. 

CASE DETAILS:

On 2 May 2007, a team of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) went to an alleged criminal’s house in the city of Rajshahi. The RAB team allegedly shot at the person in his bed room in front of his wife and young daughter. The CSB News, a private television channel, broadcasted the news of this attempted extra-judicial killing by the RAB team in the news bulletin at 1:00 am and 2:00 am on May 3. The wife of the bullet injured person accused the RAB for shooting on her husband before the television camera.

On the evening of May 3, at 9:33 pm, a person called to Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, the journalist of the CSB News for the Rajshahi Bureau, who also works for human rights organizations in Bangladesh, on his cell phone number from another cell phone (number +8801714049431). The caller introduced himself as Major Rashidul Hassan Rashid, an official of the RAB-5, that works in Rajshahi region, and asked why Mr. Akash broadcast the news of the RAB’s operation over the television channel. The RAB officer warned Mr. Akash that if he (Mr. Akash) failed to give an appropriate answer to his (Major Rashid’s) question then he must not forget the possible consequences for the job. The roaring army officer also asked whether Mr. Akash knew a reason why the other television channels except the CSB News avoided the report on that particular incident. Major Mr. Rashid also accused that Mr. Akash broadcasted the report intentionally and threatened that if any person representing the CSB News or Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash himself makes any further attempt to enter into the area of the RAB’s activities, then the RAB will take action against him and his colleagues. The army officer termed the news broadcasting as an “anti-state activities”.

Since the telephone call Mr. Akash and his family is under tremendous fear for the security of his life. No report has been received yet regarding any positive action relating to the security or protection for Mr. Akash and his family has been taken by the authorities in Bangladesh.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

This is not any isolated instance of such threats on journalists or human rights defenders in Bangladesh. It is a very common phenomenon for the professionals like journalists and human rights defenders of Bangladesh facing death threats from the law-enforcing agencies and security forces. Since the state of emergency was imposed in the country such threats and intimidations have alarmingly increased there (For further details please see: UA-035-2007; UP-034-2007; UA-079-2007 and UA-147-2007) where none of the alleged perpetrators have yet been prosecuted for their alleged crimes. It is well-known that Bangladesh has cultivated one of the best cultures of impunity to alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses despite the nation’s presence in the UN Human Rights Council since May 2006. Instead of improving the country’s human rights records the government of Bangladesh has paved the ways to degrade the rights of the citizens through various means of violations like torture, ill-treatment, extra-judicial killings and for last four months massive human rights abuses by the armed forces under a state of emergency.

The AHRC is also concerned by little action by the UN human rights bodies, including the Office of the High Commissioner, Human Rights Council and the independent experts on the current human rights situation in Bangladesh. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a sister organization of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), published a detailed report titled “Lawless law-enforcement and the parody of judiciary in Bangladesh” in bimonthly publication article 2 (Vol. 5, No. 4, August 2006) and drew attention of the international human rights community including the concerned UN agencies on this matter. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant Bangladesh authorities listed below urging them to take prompt action to investigate the conduct of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) office Major Rashidul Hassan Rashid regarding the alleged threats and intimidation of human rights defender Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash. Please also send your letters to the relevant UN agencies listed below.

Sample Letter:

Dear __________,

BANGLADESH: Alleged serious intimidation by the Rapid Action Battalion in Rajshahi against a human rights defender who broadcasted the attempted extra-judicial killing

Name of the victim facing threat: Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, journalist of the CSB News television and a human rights defender, living in the city of Rajshahi
Alleged perpetrators: Major Mr. Rashidul Hassan Rashid, attached to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-5 deployed for the Rajshahi region
Date of incident: 3 May 2007
Place of incident: Rajshahi city in Bangladesh

I am writing to express my serious concern into the alleged serious intimidation against Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, a journalist of the CSB News television channel. The reason behind of the intimidation is due to CSB News’ broadcasting on the attempted extra-judicial killing of one criminal by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

According to the information I have received, on 2 May 2007, a team of the RAB went to an alleged criminal’s house in the city of Rajshahi. The RAB team shot at an alleged criminal in his bed room in front of the man’s wife and minor aged daughter in the city of Rajshahi and the incident was broadcasted on the CSB News news bulletin at 1:00 am and 2:00 am on May 3. The wife of the bullet injured person accused the RAB for shooting on her husband before the television camera.

I have been informed that on the evening of May 3, at 9:33 pm, a person, who identified himself as Major Rashidul Hassan Rashid, an official of the RAB-5 workinb in Rajshahi region, called to Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, the journalist of the CSB News for the Rajshahi Bureau on his cell phone number from another cell phone (number +8801714049431). The caller then asked why Mr. Akash did broadcast the news of the RAB’s operation in the television channel. The caller also warned Mr. Akash that if he (Mr. Akash) fails to give appropriate answer to his (Major Rashid’s) question then he will face the possible consequences for the job. The caller also threatened Mr. Akash saying that whether he knew why the other television channels except the CSB News did not broadcast that particular incident. Major Mr. Rashid accused that Mr. Akash broadcasted the report intentionally and threatened that if any person representing the CSB News or Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash himself makes any further attempt to cover the RAB’s activities, the RAB will take action against him and his colleagues. The army officer termed the news broadcasting as an “anti-state activities”. Due to this threat, Mr. Akash and his family members are under tremendous fear for the security of his life, because arbitrary arrest and prolong detention is very common in Bangladesh now under a state of emergency.

This is not any isolated instance of such threats on journalists or human rights defenders in Bangladesh. I have learned that it is a very common phenomenon for the professionals like journalists and human rights defenders of Bangladesh facing death threats from the law-enforcing agencies and security forces. I am also very much concerned that since the state of emergency was imposed in the country such threats and intimidations by state’s security forces have alarmingly increased there. Yet none of the alleged perpetrators have yet been prosecuted for their alleged crimes. As a result, the worst type of culture of impunity is cultivated in Bangladesh, despite the nation’s presence in the UN Human Rights Council since May 2006. I am also concerned about the reports of torture, ill-treatment, extra-judicial killings by the armed security forces for last four months under a state of emergency.

I therefore request you to ensure that the RAB officers involved in this case are investigated and appropriate action is taken against them if the allegation is proven. Should the investigation commences, I likewise request your office to impose immediate sanctions upon these officers to ensure a credible and independent investigation, and to refrain them from using their authority to possibly further harass the victim further. The victim and his colleagues must likewise be afforded with appropriate protection and security to avert any possible violent actions that could be taken against them following this incident as soon as possible. These are matters that the government should seriously consider and act urgently.

I also urge the UN human rights bodies, including the Office of the High Commissioner, Human Rights Council and the independent experts, to take more active role to improve the deteriorated human rights situation in Bangladesh under a sate of emergency since January 2007.

I trust that you immediate take action on this serious matter.

Yours sincerely,

 
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Adviser
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Chief Advisor
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 8828160-79, 9888677
Fax: +880 2 8113244 or 3243 or 1015 or 1490

2. Mr. Mohammad Ruhul Amin
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562792
Fax: +880 2 9565058

3. Barrister Fida M Kamal
Attorney General of Bangladesh
Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562868
Fax: +880 2 9561568

4. Mr. Nur Mohammad
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters'
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677
Fax: +880 2 9563362 or 9563363

5. Mr. Hassan Mahmud Khandokar
Director General (DG)
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)
RAB Headquarter
Uttara, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02- 8961105 (O)
Fax: +880 2 8962884 (O)

6. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040, c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-149-2007
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.