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Many of these occur while people are in the custody of police or security forces. Anyone who has a heart is in danger of a "heart attack" at the hands of these heartless beings.
The latest such incident took place on Sunday in the Dimla subdistrict of Nilphamari district in northern Bangladesh. Three policemen – led by Assistant Sub-Inspector Harun-or-Rashid, who was in plain clothes – arrived at the house of Abdul Hamid in Goyabari village. The police officer accused Abdul Hamid of selling marijuana, which he strongly denied.
Harun demanded 5,000 takas (US$72) from Hamid, who refused to pay, insisting he was not a drug dealer. The police raided his house, though they had no search warrant. They found nothing, yet continued to insist that Hamid pay the money.
When he refused to pay the bribe, the police began to brutally torture Hamid. They knocked him to the floor and repeatedly kicked his chest. Hearing his cries, relatives came running to the scene, but by the time they arrived he was already dead. Neighbors caught Harun, the assistant sub-inspector, but the other policemen managed to escape.
The officer-in-charge of the Dimla police station, Inspector Shawkat Hossain, termed Hamid’s death a "heart attack." According to his story, Abdul Hamid was a marijuana dealer. After obtaining this information from secret sources, the policemen went to his house in plain clothes. As soon as Hamid saw the police he had a heart attack! The inspector's claim makes the police synonymous with Azrael – the angel of death whose arrival may cause death.
The district superintendent of police declared that Harun was suspended from duty and withdrawn from the Dimla police station. After Abdur Rahman, brother to the deceased, filed a murder case with the Dimla police, Harun was reportedly arrested and put in jail.
The arrest of a police officer for torturing a person to death is a very rare occurrence in Bangladesh – but not because such deaths are rare. It is because there is no mechanism to handle complaints of custodial torture and death. Ironically, cases against police officers involving custodial torture and death typically end with an investigation report fabricated by another police officer. In this manner justice is denied to the victim, who may also face intimidation and threats from the police if he pursues the case.
The term "heart attack" was an invention by the armed forces during a crackdown on crime called "Operation Clean Heart" that continued from Oct. 16, 2002 to Jan. 9, 2003. Around 58 deaths in military custody were termed "heart attacks."
Recently, the deaths of around 25 soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles, a paramilitary force that guards the county’s borders, were termed “heart attacks.” The deaths occurred during a mutiny within the group’s headquarters in Dhaka in late February. All of the guards reportedly died in the custody of either the police or the army, which lost about 60 officers killed in the mutiny or at the hands of the Rapid Action Battalion.
Most of the dead bodies showed multiple signs of injury, according to the magistrates’ reports submitted after inquests were conducted. However, the people were told the deaths were “heart attacks” – even though no competent medical doctor verified this.
No change of regime – regardless of its political or nonpolitical identity – has made any difference with regard to heart attacks, which are endemic in Bangladesh. During the tenure of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party the "heart attack" was invented by the armed forces, and continued with blatant impunity. The Joint Drive Indemnity Act-2003 closed all doors for victims to seek justice in court following incidents of torture and death after illegal arrest and arbitrary detention.
The military-controlled emergency government – which illegally took over power and ruled for two years at gunpoint – validated all deaths in custody, following its predecessors. The State of Emergency Ordinance-2007 ensured impunity to the perpetrators from the day it was imposed.
Bangladeshis try to console themselves by reflecting that at least those who have died had hearts, which enabled them to suffer "heart attacks." The police, armed forces and paramilitary forces, in contrast, appear to have no heart at all. They are shielded by the authorities, who are feared even by diseases, it appears, as it is very rare for members of these forces to suffer heart attacks.
Politicians sometimes fall prey to the law enforcers when they are in the opposition. But once freed, they seem to forget their experience. Where is the conscience of the lawmakers, who take an oath to protect the law of the land?
The judges seem to be mere spectators at an out-of-control horse race. They remain silent, even though they have lawful authority to issue rulings against anyone who violates the laws of the land.
Members of civil society speak out occasionally to criticize the ruling party or the existing dysfunctional system as a whole; however, those who support or belong to the ruling political class remain silent and wait for their party’s tenure in office to end before raising their voices against the misdeeds. This division among civil society helps sustain the brutal and unlawful practices.
As a result, political parties may change positions, but everything remains the same. The police, the armed forces and the paramilitary security forces maintain their false mechanisms. The judiciary remains deaf and dumb – and "heart attacks" continue.
Will there be any redress for those who suffered massive heart attacks? Will there eventually be treatment, or a method to prevent this dread disease? These questions come to the government of the Bangladesh Awami League, which was elected for its promises to bring change in Bangladesh.
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(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender based in Hong Kong, working at the Asian Human Rights Commission. He is a Bangladeshi national who has worked as a journalist and human rights activist in his country for more than a decade, and as editor of publications on human rights and socio-cultural issues.)
