Thursday, November 11, 2010

Amnesty International on ARBITRARY ARRESTS of Opposition in Bangladesh

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

PUBLIC STATEMENT


23 February 2010

For immediate release

AI Index: ASA 13/005/2010



BANGLADESH: POLITICALLY MOTIVATED ARBITRARY ARRESTS HAMPER IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATION OF CAMPUS VIOLENCE




The government of Bangladesh must refrain from arbitrary mass arrests, which appear to have been directed only at the opposition student activists. Criminal investigations must be impartial, regardless of the suspect’s political affiliation or party membership. Moreover, the authorities must ensure that the detainees are brought promptly before a court and allowed to challenge the legality of their detention, that they are not at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, and that they have access to their lawyers, families, and proper medical care.


Last week more than 300 supporters of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the opposition party Jamaat-e-Islami, were arrested in Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong and other cities. The majority of them were picked up from dormitories or rented accommodation in and around university campuses. It is not known if any of them have been charged with a recognizable criminal offence.


The arrests followed a wave of violence at major university campuses in Bangladesh, where rival student activists of the ruling Awami League party and opposition parties have fought each other over control of university halls of residence. At least four students, one from Dhaka, two from Rajshahi, and one from Chittagong universities have been killed in the midst of these clashes since early February.


The death of the first student on 2 February at Dhaka University was due to violent clashes between two rival factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League. No members of this group appear to have been investigated for his death. The government’s apparent reluctance to investigate in this case further highlights the political motivations underlying its response to the violence at the universities.



Bangladesh Chhatra League members have also been involved in clashes with the Islami Chhatra Shibir at Rajshahi, Chittagong and other university campuses. While members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir have been the main targets of the mass arrests, Bangladesh Chhatra League activists have continued to clash and attack opposition supporters, with no accountability.


Amnesty International acknowledges the responsibility of government authorities to prevent violence at the university campuses and bring those responsible for the killings to justice. However, the one-sided manner in which the police have carried out the arrests so far indicates that criminal investigations into the violence are unlikely to be impartial or fair.


Raids on student residences have been carried out at random and any Islami Chhatra Shibir supporters found there have been detained. People have reportedly been arrested arbitrarily as police have made no efforts at the time of arrest to separate ordinary student members of the Islami Chhatra Shibir from those suspected of involvement in the attacks.


The majority of the detainees are being held in jails. More than 70 of them are detained at the Dhaka Central Jail; up to 100 at the Rajshahi Central Jail; and up to 70 at the Chittagong Central Jail. More students have been picked up from other cities. According to reports, lawyers were not allowed to meet them, so they have effectively been deprived of the right to appoint legal counsel and apply for release on bail.


Between 30 and 35 of the Islami Chhatra Shibir detainees are reportedly in police custody under interrogation. Torture in police custody is widespread in Bangladesh. Detainees in police custody have no access to lawyers or family visits during the period of their remand even though there are legal provisions for such access.


The government’s politically motivated response to the violence has allowed attacks by members of the ruling party’s student wing to continue, including against news reporters covering these attacks. Bangladesh Chhatra League activists attacked and injured 11 journalists working for different Bangladeshi dailies who were covering Bangladesh Chhatra League’s incidences of beating of other students on the Rajshahi university campus on 11 February.


Background


Violence at university campuses is a frequent occurrence in Bangladesh. Groups involved in the violence are student wings of the main political parties. These student groups are mainly Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL, affiliated to the Awami League, which has the majority of seats in Parliament but rules in coalition with 13 much smaller parties); Islami Chhatra Shibir, (Shibir, affiliated to Jamaat-e-Islami, currently in opposition), and Bangladesh Chhatra Dhal (BCD, affiliated to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, currently in opposition). These groups have in the past reportedly kept arms and have used violence leading to deaths and injury of people. Political parties have pledged, but failed, to disarm them. None of the political parties has condemned the violence carried out by their own members, while often only blaming their opponents for the violence.

main article: http://goo.gl/AblRe

Amnesty International on Mirza Abbas's home torture


Bangladeshi security forces used excessive force during raid
Victims of the raid described sustained and unprovoked beatings

Victims of the raid described sustained and unprovoked beatings

© Amnesty International

Amnesty International has photographed male and female victims' injuries

Amnesty International has photographed male and female victims' injuries

© Amnesty International

30 June 2010

Bangladeshi security forces used excessive force during a raid on the house of a senior opposition politician on 27 June, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

The Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) carried out a violent attack on those gathered peacefully inside the house of Mirza Abbas, a leading Bangladesh National Party (BNP) politician and former mayor of Dhaka, according to testimony given to Amnesty International.

Victims of the raid described sustained and unprovoked beatings of activists and Mirza Abbas' family members, denial of medical treatment after arrests, and the eliciting of signatures on blank forms as a condition of release, which Amnesty International suspects are for the purpose of falsifying confessions.

Amnesty International has photographed injuries to male and female victims of the beatings.

More than twenty people were injured during the raid, including Mirza Abbas’ wife Afroza Abbas and his 85 year old mother.

BNP supporters had gathered at Mirza Abbas’s house after he been arrested and accused of involvement in violence during a general strike called by the party.

"The government should immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding this violent raid and ensure that any people hurt by security officials receive justice and appropriate compensation,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh researcher, from Dhaka.

Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to order security forces to comply with their obligations to exercise restraint and avoid the use of excessive force as the country faces a series of clashes during protests.

At least 80 people have been injured over the past two days as police clashed with striking textile workers and protesters contesting the arrest of three top leaders of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami party.

The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), called for a national strike on 27 June. The strike, which was generally orderly, sparked off clashes between the police and demonstrators in some parts of the country, including in Dhaka.

Hundreds of people have been arrested on allegations of involvement in violence, including Mirza Abbas.

“There has been no evidence that the people in Mirza Abbas’ house were violating any law or in any way threatening anyone, so the violent actions of RAB seem totally unjustified,” said Abbas Faiz. “Given RAB’s history of using of excessive, even lethal, force, this incident demands an immediate and strong reaction from the authorities.”

The RAB claims that the security forces entered the ground floor office of Mirza Abbas after people had thrown pieces of bricks at them from that direction.

However, video footage taken by journalists and viewed by Amnesty International shows no sign of people attacking RAB officers in or around the house, but rather, shows RAB personnel attacking people inside the house.

One woman told Amnesty International that she was in the courtyard fetching water when RAB personnel stormed in and grabbed her: "They beat me on my back, the back of my thighs, my arms and my shoulders with a baton. I fell on the ground but the RAB people continued beating me."

She said four or five men beat her until she lost consciousness, and that she did not go to hospital out of fear of arrest there.

Another woman said she was handcuffed in front of the house, then was tied up with a rope and dragged into the courtyard where she was beaten.

She was detained for eight hours by police, denied medical treatment, and only released on condition that her husband sign a blank piece of paper that they feared would be used to manufacture false evidence.

A woman who ran to the bathroom to hide from the security forces told Amnesty International that the RAB chased her, forced the bathroom door open, dragged her out and began to beat her. "I kept asking why they were beating me, but they did not stop and did not answer."

A RAB official who spoke to Amnesty International said "perhaps there should have been more restraint; if there have been excesses, these would be investigated."

However, the government has so far ignored calls from BNP politicians and at least one MP of the governing Awami League to address RAB excesses in the raid.

"The government of Bangladesh must stop praising security forces for carrying out human rights violations, and instead make them accountable to the rule of law," said Abbas Faiz.

Amnesty International also called for investigations into any criminal attacks carried out by demonstrators during the general strike to be carried out through the criminal justice system, not punished by security forces outside of the due process of law.
main article: http://goo.gl/eGpXL