Arbitrary detention of Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium, a member of Odhikar Human Rights Defenders Network

Judicial harassment

Bangladesh

May 23, 2019

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture(OMCT) and FIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situationin Bangladesh.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informedby reliable sources about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium, a member of the Human Rights Defenders Network of the humanrights non-governmental organisation (NGO) Odhikar[1],a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network and of FIDH. Mr. Kaiumis is also a journalist of bdpress24.com and a web developer in Mymensingh District, Bangladesh.

According to the informationreceived, on May 11, 2019, at around 5.30 pm, Mr. MohammadAbdul Kaium was arrested bythe Detective Branch of Police of Mymensingh after he had gone to see one ofhis clients, Mr. Mohammad Idris Khan, aka Idris Ali[2],to receive the balance due by the latter for a news portal Mr. Kaium developedfor him. Mr. Idris Khan offered to pay Mr. Kaium in US Dollars (USD) but thelatter refused, saying that he would only accept his payment in BangladeshiTaka. Mr. Kaium was arrested as he was leaving Mr. Khan’s office. The policeofficers accused Mr. Kaium of carrying USD and being involved in “illegalbusiness of foreign currency”. Despite that they could not find any USD on Mr.Kaium, they still arrested him and took him to the Detective Branch Police station of Mymensingh.

At 10:30 pm, the Detective Branch Officer-in-charge Shah Kamal, andSub-Inspectors Akram, Monju, Jewel, and Porimol asked Mr. Kaium to confessabout taking USD from Idris Khan, which Mr. Kaium refused to do. The latterthen asked to be produced before a court. The police officers became angry andthen Officer-in-charge Shah Kamal and Sub-Inspector Akram slapped and kickedhim. Later, Sub-Inspector Porimol asked Mr. Kaium to remove his belt and thenthe police officer started beating him with his belt, while Sub-Inspector Monjuhit him with a wooden chair and Sub-Inspector Jewel punched in his head. As Mr.Kaium still refused to confess anything, the officers went away.

On May 12, 2019, the police informed Mr. Kaiumthat he was arrested under Sections 23 (“digital or electronic fraud”), 25 (“publishing, sending of offensive,false or fear inducing data-information”)and 29 (“to publish, broadcast, […]defamatory information”) of the DigitalSecurity Act of 2018 and Sections 385 (“putting person in fear of injury inorder to commit extortion) and 386 (“extortion by putting a person in fear ofdeath or grievous hurt”) of the Bangladeshi Penal Code.

On May 14, 2019,the Mymensingh Court rejected Mr.Kaium’s bail application. On May 16, 2019, Mr. Kaium’s lawyer filed a bailapplication to the Sessions Judge Court in Mymensingh, which again rejected thebail application on May 23, 2019. At the time of publication of this UrgentAppeal, Mr. Kaium remained detained at theMymensingh Central Jail.

The Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrarydetention and judicial harassment of Mr. Md Abdul Kaium, as they clearly aim at punishing him for his peacefuland legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory urges the authorities of Bangladesh toimmediately release Mr. Md Abdul Kaium and put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judiciallevel, against him.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh, urgingthem to:

i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physicalintegrity and psychological well-being of Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium as well as of all human rights defenders inBangladesh;

ii. Immediately and unconditionally release Mr. Mohammad AbdulKaium, as well as all human rights defendersdetained in Bangladesh, as their detention is arbitrary as it is merely aimedat punishing them for their human rights activities;

iii. In the meantime, guarantee Mr. Mohammad AbdulKaium’s right to due process and fair trial,as protected under international law, including the unhindered access to hislawyer and family;

iv. Carry out an immediate, thorough, impartial, and transparent investigationinto the above-mentioned allegations of torture against Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium in order to identify allthose responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and sanction themas provided by the law;

v. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium, as well as of all human rights defenders in Bangladesh and ensure that they are able to carry out their activitieswithout hindrance;

vi. Conform in all circumstances to the provisions of theDeclaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by theUnited Nations General Assembly, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;

vii. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rightsand fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rightsinstruments ratified by Bangladesh.

Addresses:

· Ms. SheikhHasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 8113243, Email: pm@pmo.gov.bd

· ProfessorDr.Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to the Prime Minister (International Affairs),Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 9111312 Email: advinternational@pmo.gov.bd

· Mr.Asaduzzaman Khan, State Minister for Home Affairs of Bangladesh. Fax: +880 29515541. Email: stateminister@mha.gov.bd

· Mr. AnisulHuq, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs ofBangladesh. Fax: +880 2 7168557. Email: minoflaw@law.com

· Md.Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh. Fax: +8802 9562188. Email: fm@mofa.gov.bd

· JusticeSyed Mahmud Hossain, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Fax: +880 2956 5058 /+880 2 7161344, E-mail: chief@bdcom.com or supremec@bdcom.com

· Mr.Mahbubey Alam, Attorney General for Bangladesh, Email: adv_mahbubey@yahoo.com

· H.E. Mr.Abdul Hannan, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic ofBangladesh to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 46 16,E-mail: mission.bangladesh@ties.itu.int

· Embassy ofthe People’s Republic of Bangladesh in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 64659 98; Email: bdootbrussels@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Bangladesh in yourrespective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions or embassies inBangladesh.

***

Geneva-Paris, May 23, 2019

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

The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programmeis to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against humanrights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights DefendersMechanism implemented by international civil society.

[1]As a member of Odhikar’s Human Rights Defenders Network, Mr. Abdul Kaium hastaken active part in the organisation’s information gathering, documentation,reporting and campaign against human rights violations. He has also carried outseveral fact-finding missions in the areas of rights violations, particularlyon enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture.

[2] Mr. Idris Khan is the Principal of a Madrassah in Mymensing and a closerelative of the ruling Awami League MP Hafiz Ruhul Amin Madani. @font-face { font-family: Wingdings;}@font-face { font-family: "MS Mincho";}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: "@MS Mincho";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }p.MsoNoSpacing, li.MsoNoSpacing, div.MsoNoSpacing { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }span.InternetLink { }span.Accentuation1 { font-style: italic; }span.ww-lieninternet { }span.FootnoteAnchor { vertical-align: super; }span.NotedebasdepageCar { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Calibri", sans-serif; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }