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UPDATE (Bangladesh): Police seriously intimidate and threaten victim, her husband and her witnesses

March 27, 2006

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

28 March 2006

[RE: UA-105-2006: BANGLADESH: Pregnant woman tortured by police in Dhaka]
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UP-058-2006: BANGLADESH: Police seriously intimidate and threaten victim, her husband and her witnesses

BANGLADESH: Torture; arbitrary arrest; harassment; lack of witness protection; intimidation; threats; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that Mrs. Shahin Sultana Santa, a woman who we reported was tortured by the police in Dhaka, despite being pregnant and who has since had three fabricated cases filed against her, is now receiving credible threats – including death threats – by her alleged perpetrators. In fact the police have threatened and intimidated Santa and her husband, Mr. Atiur Rahman to such a degree, that both are now in hiding and fear for their lives. Additionally, the police are also harassing the witnesses in Santa’s case and on March 23 they arrested one. To see details of the original case please refer to: UA-105-2006.

In recent days the police have paid frequent visits to Santa’s house, forcing her and her husband to leave out of fear for their safety. However, although they have fled, the couple continue to receive threats, by way of telephone calls, from the police who are trying to coerce Santa into withdrawing the two cases she lodged against them, following their brutal torture of her on 12 March 2006. Such coercion has also been directed at the witnesses in the case with the police trying all possible to ensure that neither Santa, her husband, nor her witnesses provide evidence or give statements to the judicial inquiry committee. This, the police hope, would result in the two cases being discharged from the courts, which would relieve them of their crimes.

At the same time, it is believed that the police are influencing those persons who have filed three separate cases against Santa, including two that involve her husband. Of further concern is that the police involved in the cases that Santa has filed, are also the investigating officers in the three allegedly fabricated cases against Santa. This, no doubt, raises serious issues as far as conflict of interest is concerned.

Mr. Atiur holds grave fears that his wife’s life is in danger, having been informed of this by credible sources.

Meanwhile, on March 23 one of the witnesses in Santa’s case, Mr. Zakir went to the Magistrate's office in order to give evidence regarding Santa's case filed with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court under section 10/30 of the Women and Child Repression (Prevention) (Special Provision) Act – 2003. He did this despite the continuous intimidation and threats made against him by the police. However, some time shortly after leaving the Magistrate’s office, Zakir was arrested. The police have also been threatening other witnesses in Santa’s case by frequenting their homes.

The police are also trying to establish Santa as a political activist and criminal. However, the leaders of the  main opposition political party, the Bangladesh Awami League, have declared that Santa is in no way involved with any section of their party. 

The Supreme Court Bar Association has decided to extend legal support to Santa for her cases against the police. Santa's lawyers have claimed that two of the persons who lodged cases against Santa have provided false addresses in their claims. This, they believe, further discredits these persons and the cases they are bringing against Santa.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities listed below urging them to take measures to ensure that the intimidation of the victim, her husband and the witnesses in her case is stopped. Please ask that the judicial inquiry committee investigates impartially and immediately into the incident. Please urge the government to release the arrested witness of Santa's case and to restrain from doing so further. Santa, her husband and the witnesses must be afforded appropriate security and protection during the judicial investigation and the trial. Please highlight that appropriate compensation must be afforded to the victim.

Suggested letters:

Dear ______________,

BANGLADESH: Police seriously intimidate and threaten victim, her husband and her witnesses

Name of victim: Mrs. Shahin Sultana Santa (34), wife of Mr. Atiur Rahman (a lawyer by profession), former residents of house number 7/A (3rd Floor), Road number 10, Mohammadia Housing Society under Mohammadpur police station in Dhaka
Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Mazharul Haque, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
2. Mr. Kohinur Mian, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
3. Mr. Ruhul Amin, Police Constable of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
4. Around 20 to 25 police personnel of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
Date of original incident: 12 March 2006
Place of incident: Mirpur Road, in between Manik Mian Avenue and Road number 27 of Dhanmondi R/A in Dhaka

I am appalled to learn that Mrs. Shahin Sultana Santa, a woman who was tortured by the police in Dhaka, despite being pregnant and who has since had three fabricated cases filed against her, is now receiving credible threats – including death threats – by her alleged perpetrators. The police have threatened and intimidated Santa and her husband, Mr. Atiur Rahman to such a degree, that both are now in hiding and fear for their lives. Additionally, the police are also harassing the witnesses in Santa’s case and on March 23 they arrested one.

These incidents of threat and harassment by the police are an attempt to coerce Santa into withdrawing the two cases she has lodged against them, following their brutal torture of her on 12 March 2006. Such coercion has also been directed at the witnesses in the case with the police trying all possible to ensure that neither Santa, her husband, nor her witnesses provide evidence or give statements to the judicial inquiry committee. In fact the police have gone to such an extent that they arrested one of the witnesses, Mr. Zakir on March 23. This type of conduct by the police is an attempt to have the two cases filed against them discharged from the court, which would relieve them of their crimes.

The police are also trying to establish Santa as a political activist and criminal. However, the leaders of the main opposition political party, the Bangladesh Awami League, have declared that Santa is in no way involved with any section of their party. 

At the same time, it is believed that the police are influencing those persons who have filed three separate cases against Santa, including two that involve her husband. Of further concern is that the police involved in the cases that Santa has filed, are also the investigating officers in the three allegedly fabricated cases against Santa. This, no doubt, raises serious issues as far as conflict of interest is concerned.

I am deeply concerned about many different factors in this case; the threats being directed at Santa, her husband and witnesses; the allegedly fabricated cases filed against Santa; the need for witness protection; the police bullying; and the investigations ability to achieve justice for all concerned. Accordingly, I call on you to intervene in this case. I urge you to take measures to ensure that the intimidation of the victim, her husband and the witnesses in her case is stopped. Please ask that the judicial inquiry committee investigates impartially and immediately into the incident. Please urge the government to release the arrested witness of Santa's case and to restrain from doing so further. Santa, her husband and the witnesses must be afforded appropriate security and protection during the judicial investigation and the trial. If the alleged perpetrators are found guilty at the end of the trial, they must be held accountable for their crimes and punished exemplarily. Compensation must also be afforded to the victims of this case.

I trust that you will take immediate action in this case.

Yours sincerely

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

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

2. 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

3. Mr. Md. Lutfozzaman Babor MP
State Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7169069 (O)/ +88-02-8359000 (R)
Fax: +88-02-7160405/ +88-02-7164788 (O)

4. Mr. Abdul Quayum
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-9562054(O)/ +88-02-7176451/ +88-02-7176677       
Fax: +88-02-9563362 (O)/ +88-02-9563363

5. Mr. SM Mizanur Rahman
Commissioner
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP)
The DMP Headquarters
1, Shaheed Captain Monsur Ali Road
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-8322746 (O)/ +88-02- 8316248
Fax: +88-02-8322746 (O)

6. Mr. Anwarul Karim
Joint Seceretary (Police)
Ministry of Home Affairs
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7164680 (O)/ +88-02-8953012 (R)
Fax: +88-02-7171592 (O)

7. 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 9179016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

8. Ms. Yakin Erturk
Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
c/o Ms. Vernonica Birga
Room 3-042
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9615
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (Attn: Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women)
Email: lohanlon@ohchr.org

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-058-2006
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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.