Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2007 - Bangladesh

Political context

Following the proclamation of the state of emergency by President Iajuddin Ahmed on January 11, 2007, after several weeks of violent election-related clashes between supporters of the former coalition in power and those of the opposition parties, the elections that should have taken place on January 22 were postponed sine die and a new caretaker Government was set up with the support of the army. Many people have been arrested since then, notably in the framework of the fight against corruption, including top officials from the two main political parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League. According to the organisation Odhikar, 395 people – mainly political activists – arrested under the state of emergency on the basis of the 1974 Special Powers Acts (SPA) were still being held in January 2008. Furthermore, at least 35 journalists were victims of attacks in 2007 and 13 were arrested. Therefore, a climate of auto-censorship currently dominates most of the media.

On January 12 and 25, 2007, the President issued two decrees, the Emergency Powers Ordinance and the Emergency Power Rules (EPR), which severely curtail freedoms of movement, assembly, association and expression. These two texts confer considerable powers on the bodies responsible for the implementation of law, in particular the power to arrest without a warrant any person suspected of attempting to participate in a "prejudicial act", in infringements to the Emergency Power Rules, or in other offences punishable under criminal law. In addition, the 1974 SPA, which has been the basis for a number of cases of preventive detention without charges, now applies to crimes and offences defined under the EPR. Persons arrested for crimes against national security, including for the crime of corruption, may not ask to be freed on bail.

Reprisals against defenders who denounce acts of violence by the Government and the security forces

In 2007, the many acts of violence (arbitrary detentions, torture, extrajudicial killings, etc.) committed by the security forces – beginning with the army, the police and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) – continued with full impunity, especially since the provisions of the Emergency Power Rules are so broad that they leave the door open to such violations. In addition, the Government has on several occasions invoked emergency laws to arrest human rights defenders, sometimes on the basis of alleged "anti-State activities" in order to discredit their activities.

Thus, during the night of May 10, 2007, Mr. Tasneem Khalil was arrested at his home and detained for nearly 24 hours as a result of wide-ranging discussions on his blog about human rights and the role of the army, and his participation as a consultant in the drafting of several Human Rights Watch reports on extrajudicial killings committed by the security forces. Similarly, on October 24, 2007, Mr. Jahangir Alam Akash, a journalist and Regional Coordinator of the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) and the Task Force Against Torture (TFT), was arrested in the middle of the night in the town of Rajshahi by members of the RAB. On May 3, 2007, a documentary that he had directed was shown on television, in which RAB members were accused of firing on a man who put up no resistance, at his home and in front of his family. Although he was released on bail at the end of November 2007, a new arrest warrant was issued against him on January 7, 2008. As for the Director of Odhikar, Mr. Nasiruddin Elan, he was taken on May 3, 2007 to naval headquarters, following an enquiry carried out by the organisation concerning suspicious deaths in custody. He was intimidated and threatened, then released. On December 4, 2007, Mr. Hasan Ali, an Odhikar member who carried out several inquiries in to extrajudicial killings, was taken to Kushtia police station. He was released a few hours later without being given any explanation on the reasons for his arrest.

Obstacles to freedom of assembly

While the SPA already authorised the security forces to disperse or arrest any group of four or more people meeting in the same place, the EPR now prohibit any demonstration unrelated to "religious, social, State or Government authorised programmes". Although these restrictions were partly lifted in Dhaka to allow certain political meetings to take place, they remained in force in the rest of the country, resulting in an environment that was not conducive to the preparation of free and fair elections. The EPR also restrict the activities of political parties and trade unions.

For instance, on August 21, 2007, in the aftermath of violent clashes between the army and students from Dhaka university, a march was organised on the Rajshahi university campus. On August 22, the students demanded the lifting of the state of emergency, the implementation of sanctions against the agents of the security forces responsible for the previous day's violence and police withdrawal from the campus. This demonstration was violently repressed and resulted in a curfew from August 22 to 27. The security forces arrested in particular professors from the universities of Rajshahi and Dhaka¹ and, on December 4, 2007, four of them – Messrs. Moloy Kumar Bhoumik, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and Abdullah Al Manun – were sentenced to two years' imprisonment for taking part in the August 21 march, in violation of the EPR. In addition, several journalists were arrested and others were beaten while trying to cover the demonstrations, and the Government prohibited some of the media, including the TV channels Ekushey Television (ETV) and CSB News, from broadcasting "inflammatory" news and criticism of the Government on the basis of Article 5 of the EPR. Persons who violate the provisions of the EPR risk from two to five years in prison.

Other demonstrations were also repressed and certain participants arrested for violating the state of emergency. On September 3, 2007, a complaint was filed against 17 workers from a garment factory who had taken part in a demonstration to protest about their monthly wages, and 12 of them were arrested. Moreover, following a demonstration organised in Borguna on December 2, 2007 which was attended by nearly 500 victims of cyclone Sidr² to call for adequate aid for victims, 12 demonstrators were arrested for violating the EPR.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH).

1 To that extent, the European Parliament expressed its deep concern "[...] about the disproportionate response of the military and the police against the student protests which erupted in late August 2007 at Dhaka university" and called for "the immediate release of the persons who have been arrested subsequent to the students' and teachers' unrest, including members of the teachers' association Shikkhok Samity, i.e. Anwar Hossain, Harun Ur Rashid, Saidur Rahman Khan and Abdus Sobhan" (see European Parliament Resolution P6_TA (2007) 0385 of September 6, 2007, on Bangladesh).

2 The cyclone hit Bangladesh on November 15, 2007, causing nearly 4,000 deaths and disappearances.