BANGLADESH: Extra-judicial killings of 378 people allegedly at the hands of Bangladesh’s law enforcement agencies 

Dear friends

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from a reliable source regarding the increasingly common practice of extra-judicial killings by law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh. Three hundred and seventy eight people have been killed by these agencies since June 2004, with 18 killed in a matter of only 13 days in recent weeks.

The police and special forces, established to reduce the crime rate, have stated that these deaths were the result of crossfire and that it was the victims who fired first. They have also allegedly fabricated charges against some of the innocent dead, in an attempt to make them appear as criminals.

Though the government called for an enquiry into these deaths, impartiality remains a huge issue with the police and other law enforcement agencies, who are often directly responsible for the killings themselves, being designated as the investigators.

We therefore call for your intervention in this matter. Please write to relevant authorities within Bangladesh and the UN regarding this case. Extra-judicial killings under the pretext of crossfire shootings must not be tolerated. The law enforcement agencies must be made aware of this and informed that they will be prosecuted for any future conduct of this nature. As for those killings that have already occurred, the government must ensure that an independent agency investigate this matter. Allowing local police or army branches to investigate these cases would prevent any form of impartiality in the investigations. For this to occur, the government needs to establish a special and independent agency/institute designed solely for the purpose of investigating these cases of extra-judicial killings. The government must also establish an effective mechanism whereby victims and their families can lodge complaints regarding these killings. Once investigations have been conducted and the alleged perpetrators of these crimes are established, they must be brought before a court of law without delay and made to answer questions as to their involvement in these cases. Full punishment must be laid against them if it is found that they are guilty of such deaths. Compensation should be provided to the victim¡¯s families and all security measures met whilst investigations are underway.

Finally, the government must bring a stop to its Operation Clean Heart and strictly discipline Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) if it wishes these forms of human rights abuses to cease. Only by taking such action will the government show its true resolve to improve the human rights situation in Bangladesh.

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

In the past year, Bangladesh¡¯s law enforcement agencies have killed 378 people. Of these, 245 of the victims died as a result of police actions, 116 in Rapid Action Battalion, 12 were killed by Cobra and Cheetah (special crime-busting units of police) and five by joint forces.

Initially, when it was learnt that several of those killed were top criminals, some members of the public voiced their relief that such people were no longer a threat. However, when a number of people with no criminal record fell victim to the police shootings, panic started to pervade cross sections of the society.

Perhaps in an attempt to combat any criticism laid against them, the law enforcers attempted to portray the innocent victims as persons with criminal records. However, investigations have nullified these claims by the law enforcers who have clearly fabricated charges against innocent people they have killed.

Law enforcers have targeted some of their victims in work places and at their homes, and have then later gunned them down in public, describing the deaths as a result of ¡®crossfire¡¯.

Such violent tactics by Bangladesh¡¯s law enforcers comes in the wake of the government establishing special forces to contain a growing crime rate. Whilst justifying the existence and heavy handedness of these forces, the government has also come under criticism by human rights bodies who describe the forces as temporary solutions in a situation that requires a long term approach.

With crimes spiraling out of control, on October 17 2002, the government launched army-led Operation Clean Heart. Despite only limited signs of success, the government nevertheless boasted about the operation and the improvement in law and order in the country as a result of it.

To sustain the apparent success, the government launched Rapid Action Team (Rat), comprising of policemen with para-commando training from the army, on 25 January 2003. When Rat failed to bring tangible results, army personnel were included in the team and the force was renamed Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on 14 April 2004.

The government also previously launched special drives with different agencies of the police. One such driver was Operation Spider Web, which was conducted in 2003 in the southwestern region to net criminals. The government also formed Cobra in June 2004, which worked in the capital, and Cheetah, which came into force in September 2004.

Soon after the formation of Rab, the so-called ¡®crossfire¡¯ killings started to take place. The police also soon picked up on this method and very quickly surpassed the Rab in ¡®dealing with criminals¡¯ in this manner.

The government earlier had given army personnel indemnity from prosecution for killing 54 people during Operation Clean Heart, but no such measures have yet been adopted for the law enforcers responsible for the deaths of the 378 people killed in the past year.

Upon the killings of these people, the police and Rab authorities have informed the media that the victims died after engaging in crossfire.

When human rights bodies pressed the government to stop extra-judicial killings, the government announced that it would conduct executive enquiries into all deaths during police and Rab operations. Despite this welcomed news, the heads of the police and Rab have stated that the executive enquiries have so far found no fault on the part of any of their members for any of the deaths in crossfire. However, human rights groups, legal experts, civil society and opposition parties are most skeptical of this claim. They previously demanded that an independent enquiry involving the judiciary and professional bodies be conducted into the extra-judicial killings. Such enquiries must not involve the police or any Rab authorities in the investigative process itself.

Suggested action:

Please send a letter to the relevant authorities listed below regarding your concern over the growing number of extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh.

Please send a letter to.

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