Font size: 
Every Bangladeshi knows that the country’s armed forces, along with the police and other paramilitary forces, have been perpetrators of torture for decades. They have victimized ordinary citizens by barbaric forms of custodial torture.
Almost daily, the media expose stories of custodial torture. Among the many reports are stories of the brutal treatment of those arrested by the military during the 2007-08 state of emergency, which included political leaders, former members of the Cabinet and Parliament, as well as industrialists and business icons.
These “high-profile” victims have described how they were arrested and the methods and duration of the torture they endured under various circumstances. Other stories describe how detainees were blackmailed and humiliated, and how officers of the armed forces extorted huge sums of money from them.
A former member of Parliament told how he was blindfolded when army officers arrested him and held incommunicado in a soundproof cell, which he assumed to be at the army garrison where dozens of specialized torture cells have been maintained for years. First medical teams did a thorough check-up of the detained persons, he said. After they were examined and their medical histories recorded, death certificates were prepared in advance, with physicians’ signatures and comments, to elude suspicions of torture.
The torture lasted for days, and victims were moved from one cell to another depending on the choice of the perpetrators and their methods. Imaginary stories of private bank accounts and wealth accumulated through corrupt means were used to intimidate and blackmail the detainees. Most victims were forced to pay huge sums of money, based on their respective financial capacities, to escape torture.
Media reports – quoting a ruling-party parliamentarian who was a victim of torture and other “witnesses” – allege that some of those charged with corruption were tried in a Special Anti-Corruption Tribunal controlled by officers of the Bangladesh Army. The officers and the Anti-Corruption Commission reportedly conducted rehearsals of false depositions by arranging false witnesses to the corruption cases.
These so-called witnesses said they were intimidated and forced to testify before the court. There are allegations of brutal torture of those witnesses who were reluctant to testify. In addition, they said, the officers dictated the judgments in many cases.
There have been several such allegations made by lawmakers in Parliament as well as on television and in national newspapers. They require credible investigation and prosecution.
But the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has remained silent on this issue. This has further damaged the country’s already impaired rule of law. For the past seven months, people have been demanding an independent and capable commission to probe abuses by the armed forces. But the government’s silence is akin to a denial of this demand.
Unfortunately, the government sent a direct message to the people when it legislated the National Human Rights Commission Act-2009, which placed the armed forces beyond the purview of the rights body. The commission’s authority is restricted so that it cannot investigate allegations of human rights abuses committed by the armed forces. In other words, the government has put the armed forces beyond the reach of the law.
The Constitution of Bangladesh states that no one has the authority to grant immunity from prosecution for punishable crimes. Article 31 of the Constitution clearly declares: “To enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.”
The country’s highest offices, including the presidency, are bound by the Constitution and there is a legal framework that protects the supremacy of the law. Then how can the government put perpetrators of torture like the army beyond the law?
The solution to this is crystal clear. The government must amend the National Human Rights Commission Act-2009 by allowing the rights body to investigate and take action against any person or institution – including the armed forces – that abuses human rights. Also, it must form a competent commission to investigate crimes committed by the armed forces during the state of emergency and similar crackdowns in the past.
State authorities must prove that they are not maintaining their rule by impunity and illegality.
--
(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.)
