Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (Bangladesh): Transfer of the Executive Officer of Shibganj falls well short of appropriate punishment
 

UPDATE (Bangladesh): Transfer of the Executive Officer of Shibganj falls well short of appropriate punishment

February 3, 2006

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

3 February 2006

[RE: UP-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Three persons tortured by the Chapainawabganj police; UA-041-2006: BANGLADESH: Eight people killed and at least one hundred injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UA-013-2006: BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district; UP-016-2006: BANGLADESH: Three detained and tortured leaders have been released from prison in Chapainawabganj]
-----------------------------------
UP-020-2006: BANGLADESH: Transfer of the Executive Officer of Shibganj falls well short of appropriate punishment

BANGLADESH: Arbitrary arrest; Torture; Harassment; Deprivation of medical treatment; Rule of law
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the Upazilla Nirbahi Officer [(UNO) Executive Administrative Officer] of Shibganj, Mr. Rafiqul Islam, who was allegedly involved in the recent incidents that took place in Shibganj of Chapainawabganj district, was ordered to be transferred by the government authority on 2 February 2006. (To see further details of those incidents please refer to UA-013-2006; UA-041-2006; UP-013-2006; and  UP-013-2006).

Such action by the authorities however, is entirely inadequate and serves as no form of punishment whatsoever, if this person was to have committed some of the heinous crimes that were orchestrated during the conflict in Chapainawabganj district in recent weeks. Simply transferring Mr. Rafiqul to another station in no way properly addresses the situation and brings no sense of justice to the victims of those clashes. The authorities in Bangladesh cannot merely make this trivial gesture in an attempt to appear to be responding to calls for proper intervention in this case.

If justice is to be served in this case, then a full and impartial investigation must be conducted into all of the incidents that occurred in Chapainawabganj district and legal action must be taken against those found to have violated the law.

The AHRC is therefore calling upon you to write letters to the relevant authorities in Bangladesh, in particular the Prime Minister, who is also in charge of the Ministry of Establishment, urging them to take immediate steps to ensure that an investigation is conducted into recent events. If, during the course of that investigation, Mr Rafiqul and other members of the police force are found to have committed crimes during the clashes then full legal action must follow.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
----------------------------------------
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send letters immediately to the Prime Minister as the in charge of the Ministry of Establishment and the other persons listed below expressing your concern about this incident urging them to take prompt action to investigate the conduct of the police, the administrators and the politicians and to ensure that justice is attained for the victims.

Suggested letter:

Dear ______________,

BANGLADESH: Transfer of the Executive Officer of Shibganj falls well short of appropriate punishment

I am writing to voice my dismay at the action taken by the authorities in Bangladesh to transfer the Upazilla Nirbahi Officer [(UNO) Executive Administrative Officer] of Shibganj, Mr. Rafiqul Islam, who was allegedly involved with the incidents that took place in Shibganj of Chapainawabganj district in Bangladesh in recent weeks.

Such action by the authorities is entirely inadequate and serves as no form of punishment whatsoever, if this person was to have committed some of the heinous crimes that were orchestrated during the conflict in Chapainawabganj district in recent weeks. Simply transferring Mr. Rafiqul to another station in no way properly addresses the situation and brings no sense of justice to the victims of those clashes. The authorities in Bangladesh cannot merely make this trivial gesture in an attempt to appear to be responding to calls for proper intervention in this case.

I am also aware that along with this inconsequential response, little has been done to properly identify other police persons who were allegedly involved in the clashes. Given that people were killed, tortured, arbitrarily arrested and detained, this lethargic response by the authorities in Bangladesh falls well short of what is required if justice is to be obtained for the victims of this case.

In light of this, I request that you ensure a fair and thorough investigation into the alleged conduct of the police and the administrative officials.  If it is found that the alleged perpetrators committed crimes against the victims, then they must be made accountable for their actions and if found guilty of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and extra-judicial killing, indicted under the prevailing domestic laws of Bangladesh. During the investigation of the police protection must be afforded to the victims. 
 
I look forward to your urgent intervention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,
---------------
PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO:

1. Mrs. Begum Khaleda Zia
Honourable Prime Minister &
Minister for Establishment
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. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

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

7. Mr. Dr. Baharul Islam BPM
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG)
Rajshahi Range
Office of the DIG of Rajshahi Range
Rajshahi
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-0721-772309 (O)
Fax: +88-0721-775444 (O)

8. 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 (general)
Email: lventre@ohchr.org

9. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr.Sarir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

10. Ms Leila Zerrougui
Chairperson
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
c/o Miguel de la Lama
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTENTION: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention)
Email: mdelalama@ohchr.org

Thank you.

Urgent Appeal Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-020-2006
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.