Alleged torture and subsequent death in custody of Mr. Jahangir Alam and of Mr. Zakaria

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.

Brief description of the situation:

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by ODHIKAR, a member the SOS-Torture network, about the alleged torture and subsequent death of Mr. Jahangir Alam, 28 years old, while in Naval custody, and of Mr. Zakaria (identified as such), 40 years old, while in police custody, in the District of Cox’s Bazaar, Chittagong.

According to the information received, Mr. Jahangir Alam, a local leader of the Jubo League in Teknaf, the youth wing of the Bangladesh Awami League, was arrested by the Navy in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazaar, on 3 May 2007. He was reportedly punched, kicked and beaten by four or five people, dressed as civilians, who then dragged him into a Jeep. He was brought to the hospital for the first time on 3 May at 7:45 pm, before being transferred to the Teknaf Police Station. On 4 May 2007, Mr. Alam was brought back to the hospital for a second time, after his condition had worsened, where he died almost immediately.

According to ODHIKAR, marks, probably due to burns by electric shock or pouring hot water, were found on Mr. Jahangir Alam’s body above the wrists and heels and in the arms as well as bruises and injuries in the palms and soles, below and on the knees, on the thighs, neck, arms and waist, due to kicks.

There was reportedly an unnatural death case filed in the Teknaf Police Station, dated of 4 May 2007, but the Investigation Officer Sub Inspector Ranjit Borua will investigate the case only if the post mortem report certifies that Mr. Alam was tortured to death.

Furthermore, on 28 March 2007, around 1 am, Mr. Zakaria, the son of late Ibrahim Shikder, was arrested at his residence in the village Bibirkhil, Pohorchanda, by members of the Chokoria Police Station, led by Sub-Inspector Abul kalam, on the basis of a case lodged against him at the Lama Police Station of Bandarban District. At that time, Mr. Zakaria was out on bail in another case against him over a land dispute. According to his wife, Mrs. Mashuka Begum, they would have showed the policemen the bail order, to no avail. Mr. Helal Uddin, 36 years old, and Mr. Abul Hosson, 30 years old, were also arrested, while out of bail in the same case as Mr. Zakaria.

When Mrs. Mashuka Begum went to the Chokoria Police Station at around 7 am the same day, her husband requested her to organise his release, for which she went to the police, who took 550 taka from her while assuring that her husband would be released after Sub-Inspector Kalam woke up. Instead, her husband was taken to court around noon, along with Messrs. Helal Uddin and Abul Hosson. The court, when checking their bail order, ordered that the three men be released. However, they were brought back to the police station around 7 pm.

At around 8.30 pm, two policemen brought Mr. Zakaria out of the police station and put him on a rickshaw. One policemen was supporting his neck and the other was holding his legs. The two policemen then asked his wife to take him to a doctor, claiming he was sick. Mr. Zakaria was declared dead at his arrival at the Chokoria Upazila Health Complex.

According to Mr. Helal Uddin, the policemen would have beaten the three of them while they were taken to the police station, and again when they were taken back from the court hearing. The police would indeed have used ropes to tie him up so firmly that he was in severe pain. When being taken to the lock up, he was pushed ahead so forcefully that he bumped against a grille and injured a rib. Mr. Helal Uddin further mentioned that Mr. Zakaria would have been pushed down on the floor while in prison, getting seriously hurt. After drinking a glass of water, his body started to convulse - according to Mr. Uddin, Mr. Zakaria was then dead. As the policemen took him of the lock-up, they went on beating him unconscious.

As for Mr. Abul Hosson, the police would have bruised his toes by stomping on them with their boots. He further reported that his back was aching due to the police beatings and that he had received threats not to disclose the incident.

Mr. Helal Uddin and Mr. Abul Hosson were released later from the police station.

When Mrs. Mashuka Begum went to the local army camp for help, an army officer told her that although she might be able to lodge a case against the police station, the case would “not bring any good to her” and would be “an unnecessary harassment to both her and the police”. Mrs. Mashuka Begum then took her husband’s body home without any post mortem being conducted: being ignorant of such matters, nobody had helped her in this respect. Furthermore, when Mrs. Begum went to the police station to file a murder case, the police station would have refused to accept her case.

On 5 April 2007, Mrs. Mashuka Begum submitted a petition numbered 400/2007 to the Court of Magistrate Akhtaruzzaman to record a murder case under the sections 109/302/34 of the Penal Code. With reference to her petition, the Magistrate ordered the Chokoria police station to re-investigate the case.

During his interview with Odhikar, the officer-in-charge of the Chokoria police station, named Siddiqi, claimed that no such incident had occurred in his police station and that although Mr. Zakaria, Mr. Helal Uddin and Mr. Abul Hosson had been granted bail on 18 March 2007, the police station received the copy of the order only on 27 March.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its deep concern about the alleged acts of torture against Mr. Jahangir Alam, Mr. Zakaria, Mr. Helal Uddin and Mr. Abul Hosson, as well as about the subsequent death in custoy of Mr. Jahangir Alam and Mr. Zakaria,. Besides, OMCT is highly concerned that, although Bangladesh has ratified the UN Convention Against Torture, it has failed to comply with its obligations. Moreover, OMCT recalls to Bangladesh that according to article 7 and 9 1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which it is a State party, “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” and “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention”.

OMCT calls on the authorities to order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Jahangir Alam and Mr. Zakaria, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh urging them to:

1. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Helal Uddin and Mr. Abul Hosson as well as of the victims’ family;
2. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events and into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Jahangir Alam and Mr. Zakaria, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
3. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to the victims’ family;
4. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

• Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, Chief Adviser, Head of the Interim Government, Fax : +880 2 8113243, Email: Info@pmo.gov.bd
• Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh Secretariat, Building 4, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Email: mediacell@homemin-bd.org
• Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Email: info@minlaw.gov.bd
• Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations in Geneva, 65 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 46 16, E-mail: mission.bangladesh@ties.itu.int
• Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Brussels, 29-31 rue J. Jordaens, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 646 59 98; Email: bdootbrussels@freegates.be

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Bangladesh in your respective country.

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Geneva, 31 May 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.