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BANGLADESH: Police negligence in the disappearance and killing of a man in Sunamganj district

May 14, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

15 May 2006
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UA-158-2006: BANGLADESH: Police negligence in the disappearance and killing of a man in Sunamganj district

BANGLADESH: Disappearance; killing; negligence of duty; deprivation of justice; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that the Chhatak police in Sunamganj district neglected to act on a complaint of a man's disappearance, which may have resulted in the killing of the disappeared man. When the police were informed of the disappearance they refused to lodge a complaint regarding it, or investigate into it. Only after the victim’s dead body was found two days later, was a case lodged; but this time for murder. Since then the police have gone out of their way to protect the alleged perpetrators of the crime and have instead unofficially tried to place the blame of the victim’s death on his uncle. 

On 6 May 2006, at approximately 8pm, Mr. Tera Mian was called by four of his neighbours from his house to join in a meeting regarding electricity supply problems in the village. Those four persons were Mr. Mokhozzil, Mr. Mamun Mian, Mr. Chan Mian and Mr. Motkin. They took Tera to a restaurant at Gobindaganj Bazar at around 9:30 pm on the same evening. Tera went missing that night. His family looked for him in different places, but could not locate him anywhere. Villagers from the victim’s home area caught two of the alleged perpetrators for their involvement in the disappearance and handed them over to the police. The detaining of these two persons should have been conducted by the police, but due to their complete inaction in this case, the villagers felt they had no choice but to act.

Tera's maternal uncle and former member of local Union Council, Mr. Abdul Karim, made a complaint against the three persons with the Chhatak police station the following day. However, the police failed to record the complaint either as a General Diary or a First Information Report (FIR). The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Chhatak police station, Mr. Iqbal Hossain suggested Abdul Karim search for Tera in hospitals and other police stations. They then said that they (the police) would only record the complaint when Tera was found dead.

On May 8, Tera's dead body was found in a Haor. After recovering Tera’s dead body the Chatak police lodged an FIR (number: 8) against nine persons under sections 364, 302, 201 and 34 of the penal code with the police station.

The family of the deceased alleges that if the Chhatak police had not ignored the complaint from Abdul Karim, then Tera could have been saved. Instead, the police protected the alleged perpetrators rather than taking steps to arrest them. It has also been learned that the police have now unofficially tried to implicate Abdul Karim in the victim’s death. The deceased's family alleges that the police pursued a local newspaper, which published a report in favour of the alleged perpetrators quoting the Chhatak police. This was a blatant attempt at propaganda by the police to save the alleged perpetrators.  The family of the deceased is living in fear of police harassment and attack from the alleged perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Abdul Karim demanded a fair trial regarding the case and appropriate security for him in a press conference held at the Chhatak Press Club on May 15. He protested against the report published in the daily newspaper from Sylhet town.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter immediately to the Inspector General of Police and the other persons listed below expressing your concern about the actions of the police urging them to take prompt action to investigate the conduct of the police to ensure that justice is attained for the victim's family. Please request them to arrange appropriate protection for the family of the victim and highlight that necessary compensation be afforded to them.

Suggested letter:

Dear _______________

BANGLADESH: Police negligence in the disappearance and killing of a man in Sunamganj district

Name of victim (disappeared and killed):
1. Mr. Tera Mian (25), son of the late Mr. Babru Mian, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
Name of victim (facing false allegations by the police of his involvement in this case):
1. Mr. Abdul Karim, son of the late Mr. Mokrom, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Mokhzzal Ali, son of the late Mr. Azman Ali, living in Tajpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
2. Mr. Mamun Mian, son of Mr. Chan Mian, living in Tajpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
3. Mr. Chan Mian, son of the late Mr. Abed Ali, living in Tajpur village under Chhatak police station in Sunamganj district
4. Mr. Motokkin Mian, son of Mr. Kasa Mian, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
5. Mr. Salik Mian alias Salluk, son of Kasa Mian, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
6. Mr. Delwar Mian, son of Kasa Mian, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
7. Mr. Kasa Mian, son of the late Mr. Sharfot Ali, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
8. Mrs. Minara Begum, wife of Mr. Kasa Mian, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
9. Mr. Ashik Mian, son of Mortuz Ali, living in Roy Shontoshpur village under Chhatok police station in Sunamganj district
10. Mr. Iqbal Hossain, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Chhatak police station under Sunamganj district
Date of incident: 6 May 2006
Place of incident: The jurisdiction of the Chhatak police station area under Sunamganj district, Bangladesh

I am writing to bring to your attention the gross negligence of duty by the Chhatak police under the Sunamganj district.

According to the information I have received, four persons called Mr. Tera Mian from his house on 6 May 2006 and invited him to a restaurant at Gobindaganj Bazar where all four were later seen. However, Tera was disappeared shortly after. His family, having looked for him in different places, went to the Chhatak police station. On the afternoon of May 7 Tera's maternal uncle, Mr. Abdul Karim, who is a former Member of local Union Council, went to the Chhatak police to make a complaint regarding the disappearance. The police neither recorded his complaint as a First Information Report (FIR) nor a General Diary. The Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Chhatak police station, Mr. Iqbal Hossain, refused to record the complaint and suggested that the family should search for the victim in hospitals and other police stations. He also callously said that when Tera was found dead only then would the police record the murder case.

On May 8, Tera's dead body was found in a local Haor. The police recovered the dead body and lodged a murder case against nine persons with the Chhatak police station under sections 364, 302, 201 and 34 of the penal code with the police station.

Instead of properly pursuing this case I have learned that the police have used a local newspaper to print a report in favour of the perpetrators. They have also attempted to implicate the victim’s uncle in the case in an attempt to deflect blame from the real perpetrators.

It is my understanding that prompt police action immediately after the disappearance of Tera could have saved his life. This failure of duty by the police only adds to their appalling conduct in now trying to frame the victim’s uncle rather than pursue the real perpetrators of this crime.

The family of the deceased are now living in fear and Abdul Karim’s future remains unclear owing to the allegations being made against him.

In light of this, I request that you ensure a fair and thorough investigation into the alleged conduct of the police.  If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against the victims, then they must be held accountable for their actions and if found guilty of crimes, indicted under the prevailing domestic laws of Bangladesh. Legal action must also be taken against those police officers who refused the disappearance complaint and who are now trying to frame innocent persons of this crime.

Such negligence and action by the police is common practice in many parts of Bangladesh. This reflects the lack of training many government and police officers have in terms of commanding and investigation skills, and the excessive powers they wield and abuse.

Therefore, I urge the government officials in Bangladesh to consider reforming the current law enforcement system by introducing better training programmes for the police and other law enforcing agents and to make them more accountable for the abuses they have committed against ordinary citizens of Bangladesh.

I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Abdul Quayum
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677 (O), +88-02-8362552 or 8362553 (R)
Fax: +88-02-9563362 or 9563363

2. Mr. Md. Lutfozzaman Babor MP
State Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7169069 (O) or 8359000 (R)
Fax: +88-02-7160405, +88-02-7164788

3. Mr. Anwarul Karim
Joint Secretary (Police)
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7164680 (O) or 8953012 (R)
Fax: +88-02-7171592

4. Mr. A J Mohammad Ali
The Attorney General of Bangladesh
The Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562868
Fax: +88-02-9561568

5. Mr. Sayed J. R. Modassir Hossain
Chief Justice
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562792
Fax: +88-02-9565058

6. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Sylhet Range
Office of the DIG Sylhet Range
Bandar Bazar, Sylhet
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88 0821 841181
Fax: +88 0821 840080

7. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Attn: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR EXECUTIONS)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-158-2006
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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.