Amnesty International Report 2003 - Bangladesh

Covering events from January - December 2002

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH
Head of state: Iajuddin Ahmed (replaced Badruddoza Chowdhury in September)
Head of government: Begum Khaleda Zia
Death penalty: retentionist
International Criminal Court: signed

At least 38 men died reportedly after torture in army custody and eight after torture in police custody. Several opposition politicians were arbitrarily detained. Women continued to suffer violent attacks in their homes and communities. On one of the rare occasions when authorities ordered a judicial inquiry into such an attack, they neither published the findings nor promised to implement the recommendations. Tribal representatives continued to demand implementation of the peace accord in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At least 87 people were sentenced to death.

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Background

President Badruddoza Chowdhury resigned on 21 June after the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) reportedly accused him of disrespecting the party founder Ziaur Rahman by not attending a function to mark his 1981 assassination. Parliament Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar became acting president until Iajuddin Ahmed, the unopposed presidential nominee and a close BNP ally, was sworn in as President on 6 September. The opposition Awami League ended its boycott of parliament in June, but staged several protest walk-outs.

Concern about corruption and poor governance continued to be raised internationally and within the country.

The government repealed the Public Safety Act, but continued to detain people under the Special Powers Act (SPA) which overrides safeguards in Bangladeshi law against arbitrary detention.

Army abuses during 'Operation Clean Heart'

On 17 October some 40,000 army personnel were deployed across the country in a joint army-police crack-down on crime named "Operation Clean Heart". By the end of the year, more than 10,000 people, including members of opposition and ruling political parties, had been arrested. Many were subsequently released. In the same period, at least 38 men died, allegedly as a result of torture in army custody. Despite international calls for independent inquiries into these deaths, no investigations were carried out.

Torture

Many detainees were tortured by police, who continued to use widely Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to detain people without an arrest warrant. At least eight people died reportedly after they were tortured in police custody.

• Kauser Mia, a 15-year-old boy detained by the police on 4 February on suspicion of involvement in a bomb blast, told a relative on 6 February that he had been beaten with sticks with a chair placed on his head, and had received electric shocks. His health deteriorated and he died in hospital on 15 February.
• Bahauddin Nasim, a senior Awami League official detained on 28 February, was reportedly tortured for five days by army and police. With his hands and feet tied and his head covered with a bag, he was reportedly hung upside down from what felt like a ceiling fan, spun round and beaten with glass bottles filled with water on his buttocks, knees, elbows, hips and genitals, and given electric shocks.
• Mohiuddin Alamgir, an Awami League leader detained on 15 March, testified before a court on 24 March that while in police custody, three masked men had beaten him with lathis (bamboo sticks) and glass bottles filled with water on his buttocks, feet and other parts of his body, and that he was not allowed his medicine for diabetes.

Arbitrary detention

There was a series of politically motivated detentions of journalists, politicians and others during the year.

• On 20 January, Shahriar Kabir, a journalist detained in November 2001 after he had gathered information on attacks on members of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, was released on bail. Politically motivated charges of sedition against him remained pending before a court. On 8 December Shahriar Kabir and Muntasir Mamun, a university lecturer and human rights defender, were arrested after they had given interviews to foreign journalists, and were detained without charge.
• Omar Tarek Chowdhury, deputy director of the non-governmental organization Proshika, a centre for human development, was detained between 13 March and 4 April for carrying documents relating to attacks against members of the Hindu minority.
• Several Awami League leaders were detained for long periods and reportedly tortured or ill-treated. The authorities routinely ignored court orders for their release. Among those detained and later released were Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Mohiuddin Alamgir, Liaqat Shikder, Nazrul Islam Babu, Rafiqul Islam Kotowal and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim. Bahauddin Nasim was still detained at the end of the year. Over a dozen Awami League politicians were arrested in December and continued to be detained under the SPA, despite court orders for their release on bail. They included Saber Hossain Chowdhury, who had been detained between 20 October and 20 November, Shafi Ahmed, Mukul Bose, Sheikh Bazlur Rahman and Tofael Ahmed.
• In late November, five people involved in making a documentary about the political situation in Bangladesh for the United Kingdom (UK) television station Channel 4 were arrested. They were: Zaiba Malik, a woman journalist from the UK; Bruno Sorrentino, an Italian cameraman; and three Bangladeshi nationals – Pricila Raj, an interpreter, Saleem Samad, a journalist and local guide, and Mujib, a driver. The authorities accused them of seeking to tarnish Bangladesh's image abroad, but no formal charges were brought against any of them. Mujib was released after a few days. Zaiba Malik and Bruno Sorrentino were released and deported to the UK on 11 December. Pricila Raj was released on 22 December and stated that she had been tortured. Saleem Samad continued to be detained.

Violence against women

There were frequent reports of violent attacks against women in their homes and communities, including rape, murder and acid throwing. At least six women committed suicide following rape.

• Mahima, a young woman, was raped by three youth activists of the BNP and one youth activist of Jamaat-e-Islam (Islamic society), part of the ruling coalition, in what was suspected to be a politically motivated action against her father, an Awami League worker in a village in Rajshahi Division. The rapists took photographs of the rape scene and told the family they would be distributed if a complaint was made. Following Mahima's suicide on 19 February, police brought charges against the four culprits. A court sentenced them to death in October. Their appeal against the death sentence was pending.
• On 24 July, police raided Shamsunnahar hall of residence at Dhaka University and subjected dozens of female students to brutal beatings. More than 50 students were reportedly injured. Following widespread condemnation of the action, the authorities ordered a judicial inquiry. The inquiry confirmed police brutality and recommended punishment of the perpetrators. The report was not made public and by the end of the year no action had apparently been taken against the police involved in the attack.

Violence against minorities

No information was made public about an investigation promised by the government into widespread attacks against Hindus in 2001 that included rapes, beatings and the burning of property. However, the authorities took action to protect Hindus during their festivities in October.

Violent clashes continued between members of the majority tribal groups (PCJSS) who signed the peace accord with the government in December 1997, and radical groups seeking more autonomy and opposing the peace accord. Police sources reportedly said that at least 231 people had been killed and 400 injured in clashes between the PCJSS and radical groups between December 1997 and September 2002. Tribal representatives continued to demand implementation of the peace accord, including the withdrawal of army camps from the region.

Death penalty

At least 87 people were sentenced to death. No executions were reported.

Visits

AI delegates visited Bangladesh in March/April.