Bangladesh
24.01.01
Urgent Interventions
Bangladesh: new information on the arrest of human rights defenders
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
BGD 001 / 0101 / OBS 007.01
Arrest of human rights defenders
Bangladesh
24 January 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.
New Information
The Observatory has received new information from the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) regarding the arrest of Mr Sanchay Chakma.
SAHRDC has obtained a copy of the preliminary charges, what is known as “Chalan” in Bangladesh, filed by Sub-Inspector of Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong, Mr Mohammed Shahid to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Chittagong on 13 January 2001. The “Chalan” states that Mr Sanchay Chakma and his collegaues were arrested under General Diary entry No. 729 of 12 January 2001. The case has been registered in the Kotwali Police Station in Chitagong under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The “Chalan” further states that “the accused were arrested under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code on 12 January 2001 at 4 pm from the District Auditorium under Kotwali Police Station while creating disturbance in the minds of the public by delivering provocative and objectionable statement against the Accord” of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Chittagong on 17 January 2001. Their bail plea was rejected. Furthermore, SAHRDC now understands that the local police are attempting to implicate Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues in other cases. SAHRDC is presently verifying these reports.
It is clear from the “Chalan” of the Kotwali Police Station, Chittagong that the Government of Bangladesh has arrested Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues for exercise of their right to freedom of speech and right to peaceful assembly and association. Mr Sanchay Chakma has been a vociferous critic of the non-implementation of the various provisions of the Peace Accord referred to above and that the Peace Accord failed to address the fundamental problems of the indigenous Jumma people.
Brief reminder of the situation
The Observatory was informed by the SAHRDC of the arrest of human rights defender Sanchay Chakma and 8 others in Bangladesh on 12 January 2001.
According to the information received, the human rights defender and indigenous Jumma leader, Mr Sanchay Chakma, was arrested along with 8 other activists at 4.30 pm on 12 January 2001 by Bangladesh Police and plainclothed personnel from the Intelligence Bureau. Mr Chakma and others were organising a public meeting at Chittagong District Auditorium after being granted permission by the government authorities to celebrate the second anniversary of the formation of the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), one of the organisations of the indigenous Jumma peoples. The police reportedly manhandled the organisers and participants of the meeting, snatched away the microphone and forced the participants to leave the auditorium. They are presently being held in Chittagong jail and will reportedly be produced before the court on 17 January 2001.
The others arrested persons are: (1) Dipayon Khisha, member, Reorganisation Committee of the Hill People's Council, (2) Mr Rupok Chakma, President, Hill Student's Council, (3) Mr Biplob Chakma, a student of Chittagong University and also a Executive Committee Member of the Hill Student's Council, (4) Mr Rupayon Chakma, a polytechnic student at Chittagong, (5) Mr Newton Chakma, a BA examinee, (6) Mr Sadhan Mitra Chakma and (7) Mr Kalai Chakma, supporter of the UPDF. The police also arrested a guest speaker, Mr Karim Abdullah, a Chittagong City leader of the Janotantric Biplobi Jote (Democratic Revolutionary Front).
The police arrested Mr Sanchay Chakma and others without arrest warrant under Section 54 of the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code.
Mr Sanchay Chakma recently participated in the 6th Session of the United Nations Open Ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples in Geneva held on 20 November-1 December 2000. Mr Sanchay Chakma made statements on standard setting processes and cited the situation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts as illustration. He also addressed a public meeting organised on 27 November 2000 during the Working Group session on the occasion of the release of the report, “Life Is Not Ours: Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh – Update 4”, an investigative report of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission.
Mr Sanchay Chakma, the former President of the Hill Student Council, was first arrested on 16 March 1993 without a warrant under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after his return from the Diplomacy Training Programme organised by the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was detained by the Special Branch of the Bangladesh police who questioned him about a video cassette made on the Logang massacre where over 100 Jummas were massacred by illegal Bengali settlers and members of the army. After 70 days of detention, he was released by order of the High Court in response to a writ petition.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of Bangladesh urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Sanchay Chakma and his collegues arrested under Section 54 of the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code and release them immediately;
ii. take effective measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association and assembly by the indigenous Jumma peoples;
iii. ensure the application of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on December 9th 1998, especially with respect to the protection of the right of all persons, "...individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" (Art.1.) as well as the duty of the State to ensure “the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration" (Art.12.2);
iv. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Ms Sheikh Hasina, Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Old Sangsad Bhawan, New Airport Road, Tejgaon, Dhaka - Fax: 00-880-2-8113243
Mr Rafiqul Islam Biruttam, Minister for Home Affairs, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh - Fax: 880-2-8696667
The Diplomatic Representatives of Bangladesh in your country.
Geneva-Paris, 24 January 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: + 033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
BGD 001 / 0101 / OBS 007.01
Arrest of human rights defenders
Bangladesh
24 January 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.
New Information
The Observatory has received new information from the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre (SAHRDC) regarding the arrest of Mr Sanchay Chakma.
SAHRDC has obtained a copy of the preliminary charges, what is known as “Chalan” in Bangladesh, filed by Sub-Inspector of Kotwali Police Station in Chittagong, Mr Mohammed Shahid to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Chittagong on 13 January 2001. The “Chalan” states that Mr Sanchay Chakma and his collegaues were arrested under General Diary entry No. 729 of 12 January 2001. The case has been registered in the Kotwali Police Station in Chitagong under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The “Chalan” further states that “the accused were arrested under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code on 12 January 2001 at 4 pm from the District Auditorium under Kotwali Police Station while creating disturbance in the minds of the public by delivering provocative and objectionable statement against the Accord” of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Chittagong on 17 January 2001. Their bail plea was rejected. Furthermore, SAHRDC now understands that the local police are attempting to implicate Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues in other cases. SAHRDC is presently verifying these reports.
It is clear from the “Chalan” of the Kotwali Police Station, Chittagong that the Government of Bangladesh has arrested Mr Sanchay Chakma and his colleagues for exercise of their right to freedom of speech and right to peaceful assembly and association. Mr Sanchay Chakma has been a vociferous critic of the non-implementation of the various provisions of the Peace Accord referred to above and that the Peace Accord failed to address the fundamental problems of the indigenous Jumma people.
Brief reminder of the situation
The Observatory was informed by the SAHRDC of the arrest of human rights defender Sanchay Chakma and 8 others in Bangladesh on 12 January 2001.
According to the information received, the human rights defender and indigenous Jumma leader, Mr Sanchay Chakma, was arrested along with 8 other activists at 4.30 pm on 12 January 2001 by Bangladesh Police and plainclothed personnel from the Intelligence Bureau. Mr Chakma and others were organising a public meeting at Chittagong District Auditorium after being granted permission by the government authorities to celebrate the second anniversary of the formation of the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), one of the organisations of the indigenous Jumma peoples. The police reportedly manhandled the organisers and participants of the meeting, snatched away the microphone and forced the participants to leave the auditorium. They are presently being held in Chittagong jail and will reportedly be produced before the court on 17 January 2001.
The others arrested persons are: (1) Dipayon Khisha, member, Reorganisation Committee of the Hill People's Council, (2) Mr Rupok Chakma, President, Hill Student's Council, (3) Mr Biplob Chakma, a student of Chittagong University and also a Executive Committee Member of the Hill Student's Council, (4) Mr Rupayon Chakma, a polytechnic student at Chittagong, (5) Mr Newton Chakma, a BA examinee, (6) Mr Sadhan Mitra Chakma and (7) Mr Kalai Chakma, supporter of the UPDF. The police also arrested a guest speaker, Mr Karim Abdullah, a Chittagong City leader of the Janotantric Biplobi Jote (Democratic Revolutionary Front).
The police arrested Mr Sanchay Chakma and others without arrest warrant under Section 54 of the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code.
Mr Sanchay Chakma recently participated in the 6th Session of the United Nations Open Ended Inter-Sessional Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples in Geneva held on 20 November-1 December 2000. Mr Sanchay Chakma made statements on standard setting processes and cited the situation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts as illustration. He also addressed a public meeting organised on 27 November 2000 during the Working Group session on the occasion of the release of the report, “Life Is Not Ours: Land and Human Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh – Update 4”, an investigative report of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission.
Mr Sanchay Chakma, the former President of the Hill Student Council, was first arrested on 16 March 1993 without a warrant under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after his return from the Diplomacy Training Programme organised by the University of New South Wales, Australia. He was detained by the Special Branch of the Bangladesh police who questioned him about a video cassette made on the Logang massacre where over 100 Jummas were massacred by illegal Bengali settlers and members of the army. After 70 days of detention, he was released by order of the High Court in response to a writ petition.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of Bangladesh urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr Sanchay Chakma and his collegues arrested under Section 54 of the Bangladesh Criminal Procedure Code and release them immediately;
ii. take effective measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association and assembly by the indigenous Jumma peoples;
iii. ensure the application of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on December 9th 1998, especially with respect to the protection of the right of all persons, "...individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" (Art.1.) as well as the duty of the State to ensure “the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration" (Art.12.2);
iv. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
Ms Sheikh Hasina, Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Old Sangsad Bhawan, New Airport Road, Tejgaon, Dhaka - Fax: 00-880-2-8113243
Mr Rafiqul Islam Biruttam, Minister for Home Affairs, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh - Fax: 880-2-8696667
The Diplomatic Representatives of Bangladesh in your country.
Geneva-Paris, 24 January 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: + 033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch