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HR news reports
February 26, 2017

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UN demands action on
Bangladesh enforced
disappearances
Group calls on government to reveal whereabouts of
'kidnapped' men whose opposition-activist
fathers were executed.
A UN group has called on Chowdhury, Quasem and Azmil are linked to
the Bangladesh government to either the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist
"immediately reveal the whereabouts" Party or Jamaat-e-Islami, and each of their
fathers has been convicted and executed by
of three sons of opposition leaders it
the Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribu-
says were kidnapped six months ago,
nal (ICT).
while sounding a warning on rising
enforced disappearances. The ICT was set up in 2010 to investigate
and prosecute those accused of crimes dur-
In separate incidents, Hummam Quader ing the country's war of independence in
Chowdhury, Mir Ahmed bin Quasem and 1971.
Brigadier-General Abdullahil Amaan al-Azmi
went missing in the capital, Dhaka, in August Bangladesh authorities have repeatedly de-
2016, allegedly abducted by Bangladesh nied any involvement or knowledge of their
security forces. whereabouts.

In each case, there were multiple witnesses. Toby Cadman, a UK lawyer acting for the
But in all three events, police deny any in- families of the three men, told Al Jazeera that
volvement. he understands the men are currently held by
the military intelligence agency, the Direc-
The United Nations Working Group on Invol- torate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI), in
untary and Enforced Disappearances said on Dhaka.
Friday that in total now, more than 40 people
have been "disappeared". "The reality is that all three individuals have
been unlawfully abducted in strikingly similar
In a statement, the expert UN panel said the circumstances and, to date, the government
government should "halt an increasing num- has denied all knowledge of their wherea-
ber of enforced disappearances". bouts and refused to comment. They should
be immediately released," Cadman said.
"Enforced disappearance is a heinous crime
and an offence to human dignity and no cir- Attempts by Al Jazeera to contact the DGFI
cumstances whatsoever may be invoked to to respond to Cadman's claim were not suc-
justify it," the statement said, appealing to cessful.
Sheikh Hasina's government to "take action HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT
now". Read More; Next page
FOR BANGLADESH NEWSLETTER
 Enforced Disappearances in Bangladesh:

A New Cruel Culture

By Md Saiful Islam

Enforced disappearance is a relatively
new addition to state crime. It is nowa-
days the most abominable term in
Bangladesh. According to Amnesty
International, Enforced disappear-
ance is frequently used as a strategy
to spread terror within society. The
feeling of insecurity and fear it gener-
ates is not limited to the close rela-
tives of the disappeared, but also af-
fects communities and society as a
whole. It has become a global prob-
lem. Once largely used by military dic-
tatorships, disappearances now hap-
pen out of many internal conflicts, par-
ticularly when trying to repress politi-
cal opponents.
Enforced disappearance is a heinous
violation of human rights and an inter-
national crime. It affects victims indif-
ferent ways, including constant fear
for their lives. Their families go
through an emotional rollercoaster of
hope and despair, waiting for news
that might never come. The disap-
peared person is removed from the
protection of law, a fundamental
right.
Every disappearance violates a range bullet-riddled dead body has been found
of human rights including: in several places. Between January 2009
and March 2016, human rights groups
Right to security and dignity of a per- have documented at least 250 people
son forcibly disappeared in the country. Many
witnesses have testified to the law en-
Right not to be subjected to torture or forcement agents involvement in these
other cruel, inhuman or degrading cases, and the pattern of abductions and
treatment or punishment the profiles of victims suggest that disap-
pearances are used as a weapon by the
Right to humane conditions of deten-
government to silence political oppo-
tion
nents.
Right to a legal personality
Enforced disappearance violates the
Right to a fair trial criminal law of Bangladesh and Interna-
tional law:
Right to a family life
The enforced disappearance violates
Right to life (if the disappeared per- both the Bangladeshi law and Internation-
son is killed or their fate is unknown). al law. Enforced disappearance is a new
cruel culture in our country. After the year
(Source: Amnesty International) of 2009, it is massively seen in this coun-
try. The constitution of Bangladesh
Enforced disappearance has increased strongly opposes this. Though it is a new
in Bangladesh recently. culture, there are provisions regarding
kidnap and abduction in the Penal Code,
After coming into the power in 2009, The
1860. According to section 362 of the
Awami League government started to
Penal Code, 1860, a person
repress the opposition parties. Many polit-
ical activists have been disappeared by (See next page)
the law enforcement agency and their

From front page Lord Carlisle, a member of the British [branch] is failing to fulfil one of its central
House of Lords, has also issued a state- obligations as a government, in that it is
Rule of law' broken ment criticising the alleged detention of failing, or refusing, to protect its own citi-
the three men. zens, regardless of political affiliation."
In its recently released annual re-
port, Amnesty International, the rights "These individuals have now been miss- Source: Al Jazeera News- David Berg-
group, said: "Enforced disappearances ing for some six months without access to man
continued at an alarming rate, often of their families, without access to a lawyer,
supporters of opposition parties Bangla- and without having had their detention Watch: Sons of opposition leaders go
desh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e- authorised or supervised by the courts," missing (2:14)
Islami." he said.
Read more: Concern over missing
The UN group's appeal was endorsed by "The rule of law has effectively broken sons of Bangladeshi politicians
four separate UN special rapporteurs. down in Bangladesh. Security forces are
acting with impunity, and the executive
 B
u
s
i
n

A new cruel culture: from Page 2 curity of person and the right to fair trial, this is the stinging incident for the par-
and, in particular cases the right to life. ents.
is said to commit the offence of abduction Investigations into enforced disappear-
when he by force compels or by any de- ances are rarely made in Bangladesh. Victims family faces serious eco-
ceitful means induces any other person to (Amnesty International)
go from one place to another.
nomic problems when
was the main bread- E the victim
winner of the
Enforced disappearance is one of the family. Children face psychological prob-
The punishment for murder after abduc- forms of cruel inhumane violence in lem when their father is disappeared.
tion is death penalty or imprisonment for Bangladesh. Opposition leaders and ac- They generally grow with social immaturi-
life as stipulated in section 302 of the tivists are the main victims of such inhu- ty.
Penal Code 1860. In addition to this, if mane activity. Every human being has the
kidnapping or abduction is committed with right to get justice when he is victimized The present government cant avoid liabil-
an intention to wrongful confinement, the by any other means but in the context of ity of enforced disappearance. Police,
offender shall be punished with custody Bangladesh the situation has become of RAB are also accountable for the disap-
of either description for a term, which may such nature that victim has no opportunity pearance because they are the main ac-
extend to seven years and shall also be to get minimum justice. The family mem- tors of this cruel culture. If this inhuman
liable to fine. shibir-activists bers and relatives of the person disap- culture continues, the government may
peared pass their days with great confu- lose trust from mass people though the
A serious violation of International Law is present government is passing over a
sion whether their beloved will return or
also committed by enforced disappear- crisis regarding their legitimacy.
not.
ance. Article 7 of the Universal Declara-
tion of Human Rights (UDHR) asserted
Effect of enforced disappear-
that, All are equal before the law and are
entitled without any discrimination to ance:
equal protection of the law. All are entitled
Enforced disappearance has a horrific
to equal protection against any discrimi-
impact on the sufferers life and his family
nation in violation of this Declaration and
as well. Now in Bangladesh, such offen-
against any incitement to such discrimina-
sive treatment has become very cruel.
tion.
Many people including students are forci-
Bangladesh has international obligations bly disappeared by the law enforce agen-
as a state party to the International Cove- cy and after disappearance the victims
nant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), dead body is found in pond, river, field,
as enforced disappearances violate a crematory and so on. Victims relatives
number of rights mentioned in the cove- dont know what his fault was. When a
nant, including the right to liberty and se- son of a family becomes disappeared,
 ed, but on 8 September 2016 the Bangla-
desh Law Minister Anisul Huq told media
that the children of war criminals are
hatching conspiracies, and that the gov-
ernment had to stay alert against them.

Since 2009, enforced disappearances

have become alarmingly routine in Bangla-
desh. Amnesty International has docu-
mented many cases where individuals
have been arrested by members of the
Aman Al-Azmi Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem Hummam Qader Chowdhury security forces and never heard from
again. According to the Bangladeshi hu-
man rights organisation Odhikar, there
have been at least 14 enforced disappear-
The three men Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, August 2016. About 30 officers, some of ances so far in 2016 and at least 64 in
Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem and Hummam whom claimed to be from DB, took him into 2015.3 Torture and other forms of ill-
Qader Chowdhury all have not just been custody late at night from his home and the treatment is rife in detention in Bangla-
deprived of their liberty but there is also a officers also badly assaulted some staff in desh.
complete lack of information about their the apartment building, according to credi-
fate. This unacceptable situation places ble sources. As in Chowdhurys case, po-
Amnesty International calls on the
them outside the protection of the law. As lice in Dhaka refused to accept a general
Bangladesh authorities to:
with all people subjected to enforced disap- diary note when the family tried to file it.
pearances they are at risk of torture and Immediately disclose to the families the
other ill-treatment, or even death, in custo- To date, the authorities in Bangladesh fate and whereabouts of Abdullahil Amaan
dy. have continued to deny their role in the
Azmi, Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem and Hum-
deprivations of liberty. This is despite sev-
mam Qader Chowdhury;
Hummam Qader Chowdhury, a senior eral witness testimonies pointing to the
member of the opposition Bangladesh Na- involvement of security forces in the ar- Charge all three individuals with an inter-
tional Party, was arrested as he was travel- rests. Credible sources have told Amnesty nationally recognized criminal offence or
ling with his mother to a courthouse to at- International that the men have been release them immediately; and
tend a hearing on 4 August, 2016. Several moved between diferent security agencies,
men in plainclothes some of whom were Put an end to enforced disappearances
armed and claimed to be from the Bangla- including the police, the Rapid Action Bat- in the country by bringing all of those sus-
desh Detective Branch (DB) forced talion (a police unit widely implicated in pected of criminal responsibility for that
Chowdhury to leave his car and come with human rights abuses), and the Directorate crime and other human rights violations to
them. Chowdhurys family tried to file a General of Forces Intelligence (the military justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian
general diary complaint the standard first intelligence agency), but their current courts without recourse to death penalty.
report of transgression filed with the police whereabouts are unknown.
- after his arrest, but the police in Dhaka Amnesty International and Human Rights
All three men are sons of high-profile sen- Watch, Bangladesh: End illegal detentions im-
refused to accept it.
ior opposition politicians who were convict- mediately, 14 August 2016, available at https://
Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, a Supreme ed by the International Crimes Tribunal www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/
bangladesh-end-illegal-detentions-immediately/
Court lawyer, was arrested from his home (ICT), a Bangladeshi court established to
on 9 August, 2016 by several men in plain- investigate mass scale human rights viola- 2 War criminals children hatching conspiracies:
clothes. The men did not identify them- tions committed during the 1971 War of
Law minister, The Daily Star, 8 September
selves as being associated with any securi- Independence. Chowdhurys father, Sala- 2016, available at http://www.thedailystar.net/
ty forces. His wife and cousin were present huddin Qader Chowdhury, was executed in country/war-criminals-children-hatching-
during the arrest. Mir Ahmed Bin Qasems November 2015, while Bin Quasem's fa- conspiracies-law-minister-1282780
wife filed a general diary complaint shortly ther, Mir Quasem Ali, was executed in Sep-
tember 2016. Abdullahil Amaan Azmis 3 Odhikar, statistics on enforced disappearances
after his arrest.
2009-2016, available at
father, Ghulam Azam, was given a 90-year
http://1dgy051vgyxh41o8cj16kk7s19f2.wpengine
Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, a former Briga- prison sentence in 2013 and died of a
.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/
dier General in the Bangladesh army, was stroke in prison a year later. It is still un- Statistics_Disappearance_2009-2016.pdf
arrested at his family home in Dhaka on 22 clear why the three sons have been arrest-

Human Rights and Development for Bangladesh (HRDB) / email: humanrightsbd@gmail.com