BANGLADESH: Arbitrary detention of two former ministers under state emergency act

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received yet another case of alleged arbitrary arrest and detention under the Special Power Act (SPA), 1974 from Bangladesh. We were informed that Mr. Obaidul Quader and Mr. Abdul Jalil, who are leaders of the Bangladesh Awami League party as well as the former ministers, were arbitrarily arrested separately on 9 March 2007 and 28 May 2007. Both victims are currently being detained in preventive detention under section 3(1) of SPA. The AHRC is deeply concerned that political and human rights activists are being subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention by the caretaker government after the state of emergency was declared in January 2007. The AHRC has earlier reported the arbitrary detention of two prominent NGO leaders soon after the state of emergency was declared (For details, visit: UA-067-2007, UP-027-2007).

CASE DETAILS:

At around 4:00am on 9 March 2007, a group of armed men came to the house of Awami League leader Mr. Newaz Khan in Dhaka. They identified themselves as members of Joint Security Forces. They took Mr. Obaidul Quader, Joint Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League and the former State Minister for Youth, Sports and Cultural Affairs who was staying at Mr. Newaz’s house, into custody. Despite several requests by Mr. Newaz, the security forces did not present the arrest warrant for Mr. Quarder, simply saying that they were not arresting Mr. Quader but taking him for interrogation. Mr. Quader was then taken to an undisclosed location.

Meanwhile, the police filed a general diary (GD) case with the Ramna police station. In the GD, Mr. Quader was identified as a patron of criminals with vague charges such as involvement in creating ‘anarchy and sabotage’. Mr. Quader was then produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court, Dhaka at 3:15pm on the following day. The Court simply accepted the police’s request to place him on a 30-day preventive detention under Special Powers Act, 1974, without any review of the charges made by the police. Metropolitan Magistrate Nani Gopal Biswas turned down a bail petition moved by Mr. Quarder’s counsel and ordered a 30-day detention for Mr. Quader at Dhaka Central Jail.

Thereafter Mr. Quader received a paper from the Home Ministry signed by a Deputy Secretary (Security Cell-3), containing reasons for his preventive detention under section 8 of Special power Act-1974. The paper mentions that Mr. Quader was given preventive detention for his involvement into ‘harmful activities’ against the State, based on the observation by the Officer-in-Charge of the Shahbag police station and the Special Superintendent of Special Branch Police of Dhaka City. All the reasons mentioned in the paper were vague without any concrete evidence such as “influencing the slum people against law and order”, “patronizing the terrorist activities”, “involving in destructive action”, etc. Like other preventive detention cases, the paper further mentioned that the detailed information relating to Mr. Quader’s arrest and detention was undisclosed for the sake of ‘public interest’.

Mr. Quader is now being detained at the Kashimpur Central Jail-2 for the last two weeks, after an extension of his preventive detention was ordered. He has been charged with corruption for a BDT 12,000,000 (USD 177,500) toll collection.

On 28 May 2007, another leader of Awami League was arrested by the joint security forces. Mr. Abdul Jalil, General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League and the former Trade Minister, was arrested from the Head Office, Mercantile Bank LTD, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka at around 3:45pm. Mr. Jalil is the chairman of the said bank. In this case, the joint security forces also failed to show the arrest warrant or any other valid document for Mr. Jalil’s arrest.

Mr. Jalil was then taken in a four days police remand on the following day of the arrest. On 3 June 2007, he was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court. In the court the police claimed that Mr. Jalil was involved in a toll collection and conspiracy against the government and he should be given one month preventive detention under the SPA. Upon the police request, the Court ordered to remand Mr. Jalil to Dhaka Central Jail. In the same evening, he fell in sick in jail and the jail authority sent him to the Banglabandhu Sheikh Muzib Medical University Hospital in Dhaka for treatment. Mr. Jalil is warded at the hospital as writing of this report.

It is reported that on the evening of the previous day of his arrest, the joint security force personnel searched Mr. Jalil’s residence in Gulshan for two hours and took away four passports of his and his family members and other documents relating to his properties and bank transactions.

Meanwhile, Ms. Sheikh Hasina, President of Awami League and the former Prime Minister, criticized the caretaker government saying that the ongoing anti-corruption drive has virtually turned out to be one against politicians of opposition parties. She urged an immediate release of all the detained leaders of Awami League. Mr. Rashed Khan Menon, President of Workers Party, reportedly said, “Arrest of Abdul Jalil has made us worried as he is working for positive changes in politics as well as for holding a free and fair election. Such arrest of political leaders will not bring positive result in future.”

The AHRC is deeply concerned that the Bangladesh caretaker government is using the state of emergency to arbitrarily arrest and detain opposition politicians as well as NGO leaders and human rights defenders, with fabricated charges or vague allegations of anti-state activities. If there is sufficient evidence proving any guilty act of the two victims, they should be subjected to due legal proceedings under the relevant domestic laws. We are also concerned that several special acts allowing excessive powers to the security forces are being frequently used for such cases, while weakening the formal domestic laws and restricting judicial intervention into the cases.

The International law strictly prohibits arbitrary detention. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Bangladesh is a state party, guarantees “the right to liberty and security of person’. Particularly Article 9(4) mentions that those arrested or detained is entitled to take proceedings before a court without delay to review the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful. The ongoing arbitrary arrest and detention against the politicians and human rights defenders are in clear violation of the international standards.

The AHRC is also concerned that the state of emergency is still enforced in the country, in violation of the Constitution, which defined its duration up to 120 days. The AHRC urges the immediate withdrawal of the state of emergency, which allows the human rights abuses by the joint security forces and ensure the impunity of those responsible for these abuses.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant local authorities and express your deep concern about this case. Please urge the immediate release of the two victims. Please also urge the caretaker government to immediately remove the state of emergency and release the detainees arbitrary arrested during the period of the state of the emergency. The AHRC has already reported this case to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention for its intervention into this case.

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