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BANGLADESH: Man allegedly tortured by military; police refuse to take up the case

July 3, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

3 July 2007
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UA-213-2007: BANGLADESH: Man allegedly tortured by military; police refuse to take up the case
 
BANGLADESH: Torture; illegal arrest and detention; power abuse by military
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged torture of a man in Dhaka. He was arrested by army personnel and taken to an army camp where he was allegedly tortured and forced to sign some documents, the contents of which were not explained to him on 11 June 2007. This happened after the victim had a personal dispute with the mother of an army officer. The victim's family tried to file a complaint with the police, but the police rejected them saying they did not have jurisdiction as the army was involved.

CASE DETAILS:

Mahbud Alam Liton, 35-year-old, is the owner of a sawmill in Dhaka Cantonment area. At 7:00am on 11 June 2007, he was allegedly arrested without a warrant from his home in Concept Tower, Dhanmundi, Dhaka, by Captain Shibli of the engineering unit of Shahbagh Army Camp and six unidentified army personnel. Five of the alleged perpetrators were in uniform while the other two were in plainclothes.

Liton was then taken to an army camp in Shahbagh where he was allegedly beaten for half an hour by Captain Shibli and another army personnel in plainclothes, who claimed to be a major. After the beating, he was forced to sign some documents which were not explained to him. He was then dropped back to Concept Tower.

Liton’s family and some residents of Concept Tower immediately sent him to Samorita Hospital in Panthapath. The doctor examined him and identified the marks on his body as those being caused by torture.

Liton believed his arrest and torture were related to the dispute he had with Captain Shibli's mother, who owns a flat on the 13th floor of Concept Tower. Liton is an executive member of the owners' association of the building. The association had had a month long dispute with residents of the floor, who were planning to build a wall near the lift. On 8 June, Liton received a call from Captain Shibli, threatening him that "You have gone too far with the 13th floor… I'll show you what the army is."

Liton's wife Meher Afroz went to Dhanmondi Police Station to file a case against Captain Shibli and the other six army personnel, but the police refused to register the case, claiming that they did not have jurisdiction as the army is involved. Afroz finally went to the army camp and submitted a written complaint. Even though the police station and the court have responsibility to receive a complaint from citizens, the on-duty officer of the said refused to accept it. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the following authorities and urge for a prompt investigation into the allegation of torture against the said army personnel. If the allegations are proven, disciplinary and legal actions should be taken against the personnel involved. Compensation and medical assistance should be provided to the victim as well. Please also express your deep concern of the police' denial to get a compliant.

To support this appeal, please click here:

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Suggested letter:

Dear __________,

BANGLADESH: Man allegedly tortured by military; police refuses to take the case

Name of victim: Mahbub Alam Liton, 35 years old, owner of a sawmill in Dhaka Cantonment area; residing at Concept Tower, Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Name of alleged perpetrators: Captain Shibli of the engineering unit and six other army personnel from Shahbagh Army Camp, Dhaka
Time and date of incident: 7am on 11 June 2007
Place of incident: An army camp in Shahbagh

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding an alleged torture case in Dhaka. Mahbud Alam Liton was allegedly arrested by Captain Shibli from the engineering unit of Shahbagh Army Camp, Dhaka, after having a personal dispute with Shibli. Liton was taken to an army camp where he was tortured and forced to sign some documents which were not explained to him. The victim's family tried to file a complaint to the police, but the police rejected by saying they did not have jurisdiction as the army was involved.

According to the information I received, at 7am on 11 June 2007, Liton was allegedly arrested without warrant from his home by Captain Shibli of the engineering unit and six other army personnel from Shahbagh Army Camp. Five of the alleged perpetrators were in uniform while the other two were in plainclothes. Liton was then taken to an army camp in Shahbagh where he was allegedly beaten for half an hour by Captin Shibli and another plainclothes personnel, who claimed to be a major. After the beating, he was forced to sign some documents which were not explained to him. He was then dropped back to Concept Tower.

Family of Liton and residents of Concept Tower immediately sent him to Samorita Hospital in Panthapath. Doctor examined him and could recognize torture marks on his body.

I know that Liton had had personal disputes with Captain Shibli, which might be related to his arrest and torture. Captain Shibli's mother owns a flat on the 13th floor of Concept Tower. Liton is an executive member of the owners' association of the building. The association had had a month long dispute with residents of 13th floor, who were planning to build a wall near the lift. On 8 June, Liton received a call from Captain Shibli, threatening him that "You have gone too far with the 13th floor… I'll show you what the army is."

I also learned that Liton's wife Meher Afroz went to Dhanmondi Police Station to file a complaint against Captain Shibli and the other six unidentified army personnel, but the police refused to register the case, claiming that they did not have jurisdiction as the army was involved. Afroz then went to the army camp and submitted a written complaint.

I am completely shocked by the blatant power abuse by these members of the Bangladesh army.
I therefore urge a prompt investigation into the allegations of torture against the above military personnel. If the allegations are proven, disciplinary and legal actions should be taken against those involved. Compensation and medical assistance should also be provided to the victim. I further urge to investigate the police who denied registering the complaint by saying that the police have no jurisdiction as army was involved even though the police station and the court are only government institutions to receive a complaint by citizens.

As a state party to the Convention Against Torture (CAT), Bangladesh has the duty to actively prevent torture and other forms of degrading punishments, as well as prosecute the perpetrators. Yet, torture is still rampant in the country, especially by the army and the police. I therefore urge the Bangladesh government to implement the Convention on local level and criminalize torture in the country without further delay.

I look forward to your intervention in this case.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND LETTERS 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
E-mail: pm@pmobd.org or psecretary@pmobd.org (to the Secretary)

2. Barrister Moinul Hossain
Adviser
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7160627 (O)
Fax: +88-02-7168557 (O)

3. 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

4. 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

5. General Moeen U Ahmed
Chief of Army Staff
Bangladesh Army
Army Headquarters
Dhaka Cantonment
Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9870011
Fax: +880 2 8754455

6. 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

7. Professor 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 9179016 (general)

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-213-2007
Countries :
Issues :
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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.