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BANGLADESH: Police shooting leads to five dead and approximately 50 injured

November 10, 2005

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

10 November 2005
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UA-203-2005: BANGLADESH: Police shooting leads to five dead and approximately 50 injured 

BANGLADESH: Police shooting; police misconduct; alleged police corruption
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the police shooting upon a crowd, which led to the death of five persons and injuries to a further 50. On 19 October 2005, police from the Companiganj police station, under the jurisdiction of the Noakhali district, gunned down five people in an attempt to stop a demonstration by agitated businessmen of Basurhat bazaar. The businessmen were protesting about the negligence of the police in arresting a gang of robbers, who had the previous night robbed a local jewellery store. When the protestors approached the police station, the police proceeded to use their batons to disperse the crowd, before opening fire on them.

Though two probe committees have been established to investigate both the robbery and the police shootings, pressure must be applied to the relevant authorities to ensure that justice is brought to those who are responsible for the death of the five people and the injuries to so many others.

We therefore call upon you to write to those authorities, requesting their immediate intervention. An independent commission headed by a High Court Judge should be established to properly investigate all those allegedly involved in the police shootings. The commission should also investigate allegations made about the link between the robbery and certain personnel within the Companiganj police force. The findings of the commission should be made public, and those believed to be responsible should be brought before a court of law. Full and adequate punishment should be served against those found guilty in this case. Financial compensation should be provided to the victims and victim’s families and protection should be offered to those who request it, while investigations and subsequent trials are taking place.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Victims: Firoz Alam (23), Babul Voumik (alias Shankar, 28), Alauddin (22), Kawsar (26) and Bidhan (24)
Alleged perpetrators: Police personnel from the Companiganj Police, under the jurisdiction of Noakhali district
Date of incident: 20 October 2005
Place of incident: Companiganj police station

Case Details:

A gang of armed robbers, numbering forty, driving a pickup van and a microbus, looted 320 gold ornaments and other valuables worth about Tk 50 lakh from a jewellery shop named ‘Hazi & Sons’ at Rupali Crossing of Basurhat bazaar in Companiganj on 19 October 2005. A local businessman, Shaheen informed the matter to Sub-Inspector Shudhangshu Chakravarti of Companijganj police when the robbers were trying to flee with the looted items. The police however, did not immediately respond to this information.

The following day businessmen and other local people gathered to protest at the inaction of the police. The leaders of the Bashundhara Traders Association alleged that the robbers fled the scene as police made an inordinate delay in reaching the crime spot, despite them being aware that a robbery was taking place. A clash between the police and locals ensued when the agitated businessmen began to throw rocks at the Companiganj police station. However, rather than attempt to calm the crowd down or speak to its leaders, the police instead used their batons to try to disperse the demonstrators before pulling out their guns and firing on them. As a result of this police shooting, five people died and approximately 50 others received injuries as a result of the bullets fired. The deceased were identified as Firoz Alam, Babul Voumik (alias Shankar), Alauddin, Kawsar and Bidham. Amongst those injured were Shvash Mazumdar, Master, Taj Uddin, Salim, Khokon, Seku, Belayet and Swapan. The injured were immediately rushed to Noakhali General Hospital and Upazilla Health Complex for treatment.

Senior officials from the police and the Rapid Action Battalion visited the scenes of both the robbery and the police shootings shortly after. Two probe committess were formed to investigate the overall incident. One committee, headed by the Additional District Magistrate – comprising one Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and one Class One Magistrate – were assigned to investigate the police shootings. The other committee, headed by the Additional Superintendent of Police – along with two more ASP level police officials – was formed by the Department of Police to investigate both the robbery and the police shootings.

Both committees took depositions from over 100 people on October 22, and continued to do so in the days that followed.

In the meantime, the Superintendent of Police of Noakhali district, A.K.M. Shahidul Islam, the Office-in-Charge (OIC) of Companiganj police station, Ayub Ali and Sub-Inspector, Shudhangshu Chakravarti, have been withdrawn from their regular duties by higher authorities within the police department.

The local businessmen continue in their fight for justice and demand the arrest of OIC Ayub Ali, whom they allege was involved in both the robbery and the killing of the five people.

It should be noted that a fact-finding report by a reliable source reported that OIC Ayub Ali alleged killed opposition student leader, Rakib Hossain Khan Tushar in Gopalganj district on 31 July 2004, when Ali was the OIC of Gopalganj Sada police station.


SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the authorities listed below seeking their intervention in this very serious matter.


Sample letter:
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Dear ____________,

BANGLADESH: Police shooting leads to five dead and approximately 50 injured

Victims: Firoz Alam (23), Babul Voumik (alias Shankar, 28), Alauddin (22), Kawsar (26) and Bidhan (24)
Alleged perpetrators: Police personnel from the Companiganj Police, under the jurisdiction of Noakhali district
Date of incident: 20 October 2005
Place of incident: Companiganj police station

I write to voice my dismay at the response by police personnel to a group of local demonstrating businessmen. Rather than deal with the crowd in a peaceful and professional manner, the police instead chose to fire on them, resulting in the death of five people and injuries to a further 50.

According to the information I have received, on 19 October 2005, police from the Companiganj police station, under the jurisdiction of the Noakhali district, gunned down five people in an attempt to stop a demonstration by agitated businessmen of Basurhat bazaar. The businessmen were protesting about the negligence of the police in arresting a gang of robbers, who had the previous night robbed a local jewellery store. Despite the police being informed of the robbery as it was occurring, they did not arrive at the scene until it was too late, with the thieves having long since gone.

When the protestors approached the police station to protest against this lethargic response, the police proceeded to use their batons to disperse the crowd, before opening fire on them.

Though I am aware that two probe committees have been established to investigate both the robbery and the police shootings, authorities must ensure that justice is brought to those who are responsible for the death of the five people and the injuries to so many others.

I therefore call on you for your intervention in this matter. An independent commission headed by a High Court Judge should be established to properly investigate all those allegedly involved in the police shootings. The commission should also investigate allegations made about the link between the robbery and certain personnel within the Companiganj police force. The findings of the commission should be made public, and those believed to be responsible should be brought before a court of law. Full and adequate punishment should be served against those found guilty in this case. Financial compensation should be provided to the victims and victim’s families and protection should be offered to those who request it, while investigations and subsequent trials are taking place.

I have come to learn that violations by the police in Bangladesh against the country’s citizens are a common occurrence. As a state party of the UN Convention against Torture, the Government of Bangladesh should take strong steps to effectively implement it on the domestic level with the necessary institutional changes. In particular, I urge the government to put its effort into establishing a special and independent agency/institute designed solely for the purpose of investigating the human rights abuses by the law enforcement officers where the victims can lodge complaints directly.

I trust your intervention will be forthcoming without delay.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND A LETTER TO:

1. Mrs. Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
Old Parliament House,
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 8828160-79, 9888677
Fax: +880 2 8113244 or 3243 or 1015 or 1490
E-mail: pm@pmobd.org or psecretary@pmobd.org (to the Secretary)

2.  Mr. Md. Lutfozzaman Babar
State Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 8619667 / 9552323
Tel: +880 2 9570032

3. Mr. Jahangir Hossain Chowdhury
Sinior Assistant Secretary
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 7164788 / 7167169
Tel: +880 2 7171547

4. Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed
President
The People's Republic of Bangladesh
Bangabhaban, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Fax: +880 2 9566242

PLEASE SEND COPIES TO:

1. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

2. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission 

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-203-2005
Countries :
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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.