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UPDATE (Bangladesh): Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report regarding police brutality

June 12, 2006

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

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

12 June 2006

[UP-095-2006: BANGLADESH: Government names District Judge to conduct a judicial probe into the police brutality on journalists; RE: UP-089-2006: BANGLADESH: Government names the head of the judicial probe commission into the police brutality on journalists; UA-128-2006: BANGLADESH: Journalists beaten by the police at the Chittagong stadium]
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UP-121-2006: BANGLADESH: Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report regarding police brutality

BANGLADESH: Torture; intimidation; threat; deprivation of professional duty; collapse of rule of law
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the case of police brutality on journalists at the Chittagong stadium on 16 April 2006. We have now learned that the established Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report despite having declared that it would do so by May 17. We have also learned that a separate report, submitted to the government, has recommended paying compensation of Taka 1,436,397 (around USD 21,000) to twenty journalists, who were wounded and had their cameras damaged. Furthermore, a departmental inquiry has accused three police officers for the brutality on the journalists. However, despite this the government has not taken any action.

On April 24, the Government of Bangladesh announced that the District and Session Judge of the Comilla district, Mr. Shawkat Hossain, would be responsible for undertaking a judicial probe into the Chittagong stadium incident, and that he would submit a report within 15 days (from the start of his mission) detailing his findings.

The probe commission started its investigation on May 7 and continued until May 17. The commission itself declared that it would submit its report by May 17. However, the commission has not yet submitted its investigation report despite one month having now passed. Furthermore, the journalists' leaders allege that the judicial probe commission recorded statements from a number of fake 'eye-witnesses' who are believed to be police sources and relatives of the policemen and the alleged perpetrators.

Meanwhile, a seven-member committee headed by the Joint Secretary of the Information Ministry, Mr. Mir Mosharraf Hossain, submitted its report to the Minister of the same ministry. The report recommended paying Taka 1,436,397 (approximately USD 21,000) as compensation to twenty journalists, who were injured by the police brutality and suffered damage to their cameras. The government arranged medical treatment for two journalists, namely Mr. Anurup Roy Titu, who was sent to Bamrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand and Mr. Shamsul Haque Tengku, who received treatment from the Apollo Hospital in Dhaka.

The departmental inquiry conducted by the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr. Aminul Islam, submitted his report to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on May 3. The report accused three persons, namely Deputy Commissioner Mr. Akbor Ali Khan, Assistant Commissioner Mr. Enamul Kabir and Sergeant Mr. Anwar Hossain as responsible for the brutality on the journalists.  However, the IGP opined that he would prefer the judicial probe commission's report to take action regarding the case. At the same time, the journalist community warned that if the judicial probe report is found to be distorted, for example based on 'fake eye-witnesses' statements, then they will take further action.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to the relevant authorities listed below voicing your concerns over the current state of this case. Please urge the government to ensure that the judicial probe commission’s report is submitted without further delay. Please also ask that the recommended compensation be paid at once. Please also insist the government to hold the alleged perpetrators accountable for the crimes they committed.

Suggested letter:

Dear ___________,

BANGLADESH: Judicial Probe Commission has yet to submit its report regarding police brutality

I am writing to express my concern regarding the delay of the judicial probe commission's report into the incident involving the police brutality on journalists in Chittagong during the second test cricket match between Bangladesh and Australia.

According to the information I have received, the Judicial Probe Commission headed by the District and Session Judge of Comilla district, Mr. Shawkat Hossain, started investigations into this incident on May 7 but has not yet submitted its investigation report despite one month having now passed. The report was supposed to be submitted on May 17.

While I welcome the recommendation by another committee headed by the Joint Secretary of the Information Ministry, Mr. Mir Mosharraf Hossain, regarding the payment of compensation to wounded journalists for their treatment and damage to their cameras, I am concerned that the absence of the probe report is bringing a greater injustice to this case. I have also learned that the judicial probe commission recorded statements of 'fake eye-witnesses', who are believed to be the sources and relatives to the alleged perpetrators and other policemen. This, obviously, is entirely unacceptable and such statements must be withdrawn at once. 

I have also been informed that the departmental inquiry conducted by the Deputy Inspector General of Police has accused three police officers, namely Deputy Commissioner Mr. Akbor Ali Khan, Assistant Commissioner Mr. Enamul Kabir and Sergeant Mr. Anwar Hossain, of being responsible for the attack on the journalists. Despite these findings the alleged perpetrators have not yet been prosecuted.

In light of this I strongly urge you to take initiatives to ensure that the probe report is submitted without any further delay. I also urge the authorities in Bangladesh to prosecute the alleged perpetrators. Failure to do this will deny justice to all concerned.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mrs. Begum Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister
The Government of the Peoples' Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister
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 Babor MP
State Minister
The Ministry of Home Affairs
The Government of the Peoples¡¦ Republic of Bangladesh
The Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 7169069 (O) or 8359000 (R)
Fax: +880 2 7160405, +880 2 7164788

3. Mr. Sayed J. R. Modassir Hossain
The Chief Justice
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562792
Fax: +880 2 9565058

4. Mr. A J Mohammad Ali
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. Mr. Abdul Quayum
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters¡¦
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677 (O), +880 2 8362552 or 8362553 (R)
Fax: +880 2 9563362 or 9563363

6. Mr. Shawkat Hossain
District and Session Judge
Office of the District and Session Judge
Comilla
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88 081 76209 (O) or 76959 (R)
Fax: +88 081 77567 (O)

7. Mr. M Mazedul Haque
Commissioner
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP)
CMP Headquarter
Chittagong
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88 031 624100 (O)
Fax: +88 031 621565 (O)

8. 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

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-121-2006
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.