Amnesty International Report 1998 - Bangladesh

(This report covers the period January-December 1997)

Several prisoners of conscience were among scores of political activists detained without charge or trial under the Special Powers Act (spa). Police ill-treated demonstrators. Torture, including rape, was widespread and reportedly led to at least two deaths in custody. At least 33 people were sentenced to death and at least two were executed. Around 400 Rohingya refugees were forcibly repatriated to Myanmar from camps in Bangladesh.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed took further preparatory measures towards the establishment of a national human rights commission. A draft bill was made public in December.

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (cht), talks between the government and tribal representatives to bring about a political solution to the long-standing conflict there resulted in the signing of a peace accord in December. Under an agreement between tribal leaders and government officials, the phased repatriation of around 50,000 refugees living in camps in India began in March and continued in November. Some 12,000 refugees had returned to the cht by the end of the year.

As in previous years, political violence involving supporters of the main political parties – the ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh National Party (bnp) – continued.

The trial of those accused of killing former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his close relatives in a military coup in 1975 began in March. Of the 20 people charged in connection with the killings, five were in detention, one had been released on bail and 14 were being tried in absentia.

Several prisoners of conscience were among scores of people detained under the spa which permits detention without charge or trial for an indefinite period. They included four senior members of the opposition bnp who were detained in March before a nationwide general strike. The four were held without charge until the High Court ordered their release in April. In an unprecedented judgment, the Court also awarded compensation to the prisoners after the authorities failed to demonstrate the lawfulness of their detention

At least one political prisoner, Major Khairuzzaman, a former army officer who was arrested in August 1996 in connection with the 1975 killings, continued to be detained without charge or trial for over 18 months

At least two people died in custody, reportedly following torture. One of them, Nuruzzaman Sharif, was arrested in June for illegally entering the Prime Minister's office in Dhaka. He died in police custody two days later. A post-mortem reportedly showed injuries consistent with torture. An investigation into NuruzzamanSharif's death by the Criminal Investigation Department (cid) apparently found evidence implicating three police officers in murder and grievous harm. The cid were reportedly waiting for clearance from the public prosecutor before filing charges against the policemen, but it was not known if permission had been given by the end of the year

Ill-treatment by police continued to be reported. Scores of demonstrators were beaten by police during a number of political rallies organized by opposition parties throughout the year.

At least three incidents of rape in custody by the security forces were reported during the year. In one case, in September, a woman was allegedly raped by a police officer in Rajshahi district after he had entered her home uninvited. Few of the officers responsible for rape in custody in this and previous years were brought to justice. In February, 18-year-old Shima Chowdhury died in Chittagong Jail where she was being held in so-called "safe custody" during an investigation into her alleged rape in police custody in October 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997). In July, four police officers accused of raping Shima Chowdhury were acquitted by a trial court in Chittagong. The judge reportedly criticized the prosecution for presenting a weak case. The government appealed against the decision, following an outcry from women's groups and human rights organizations. In August, three police officers were found guilty of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Yasmin Akhter in 1995 (see Amnesty International Reports 1996 and 1997) and sentenced to death.

In December, three prisoners died in Narayanganj district jail after falling ill while awaiting trial. Their deaths sparked renewed protests about prison conditions.

The whereabouts of Kalpana Chakma, a tribal women's rights activist who reportedly "disappeared" in the cht in June 1996, remained unknown. A government-appointed commission of inquiry into the case was understood to have submitted its final report to the government in February, but its findings had not been made public by the end of the year.

In July the scope of the death penalty was widened to include the offences of airline hijacking and sabotage. At least 33 people were sentenced to death, all for murder.At leasttwopeoplewereexecuted

In July a group of around 400 Rohingya refugees were forcibly returned to Myanmar from refugee camps in Bangladesh. Following protests by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Bangladesh Government agreed not to return any more Rohingyas against their will, but stated that none of the remaining 21,000 refugees would be allowed to stay in Bangladesh permanently (see Myanmar entry)

Amnesty International appealed to the government to release all prisoners of conscience and urged that detainees arrested under the spa be either charged with a recognizably criminal offence or released. In a report on the trial of those accused of killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman published in May, the organization welcomed the investigation of past human rights violations and abuses, but called on the government to ensure that all trials conform to international standards for fair trial. In July Amnesty International published a report on the custodial rape and death of Shima Chowdhury and urged the government to strengthen institutional and legal safeguards to prevent similar human rights violations in the future.