That is what our Human Rights Day is -- a farce. A country that has
shameful number of extrajudicial killings, extremely high number of
disappearances and, most disturbingly, a government which is at best
nonchalant or at worst tacitly acquiescing of it can only observe the
International Humans Rights day as a human 'farce' day.
There was a time when we were known for our poverty. Thankfully those days are partly over. However now we are more and more becoming known as a country increasingly indifferent to violations of human rights and one that sanctions organised thuggery by ruling party musclemen and more disturbingly by law enforcers themselves.
According to the highly regarded and prestigious human rights body, Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK), 250 people were abducted allegedly by law enforces between 2007 and 2013, and only last year 69 people were picked up by police or Rab or people pretending to belong to these bodies. In the first 10 months of this year 118 people were killed in so-called "shootouts" between law enforces and those who were picked up. Last year the figure was 208 for extrajudicial killings.
Tragically custodial deaths or killings by our law enforces have become mere figures. They do not seem to make any impact on the mind of our government. Most infuriatingly, in none of the above cases did the government feel even an iota of responsibility as the protector life and property of every single citizen of the country.
To comprehend the centrality of human rights in today's world one key relationship needs to be understood -- that between the government and the people, both as a collective and as individuals. In the recent past, especially as the notion of democracy took firmer root, importance and status of the individual became stronger. A government exists to ensure the welfare of the individuals, and the former derives all its power and its very right to exist from the support given to it by the people as individuals.
As individuals cannot run a country, we elect a government to do so. But at the same time we put the government within a straightjacket of a constitution, the laws framed within it, and the various rules and regulations so that it operates within clearly specified limits. Even when a government is extremely powerful it can only operate within the limits of the law.
The problem arises when government start exceeding those 'limits' and behaving as if it is above the law. This feeling is directly proportional to its strength within the parliament, and transforms into a sense of 'right' when a government has three-fourths majority. We can easily imagine what happens to a government when it practically 'owns' the whole parliament.
This is where our story begins. In our case, the government not only feels that is above the law, its feels that it IS THE LAW. When a parliament is virtually without any opposition save in name, and when that same opposition party sits both in the cabinet and in the opposition bench and when more than 50% of a parliament is elected uncontested from a single alliance -- meaning that a majority to form a government is obtained before a single vote is cast -- then it is natural that the government in question should consider itself to be THE LAW.
That is why our society is becoming one of 'sanctioned thuggery.' The culture of impunity that is being enjoyed by our law enforcement agencies has made them totally non-answerable to the people who they are supposed to serve.
Take the case of Shahnur Alam, a trader from Bhrahmanbaria. He was picked up by Rab on April 29, and handed over to Nabinagar Police Station on April 30. On May 1 he was produced before a court and sent to local jail. On May 4 he was shifted to a hospital in Comilla. This is when his family could see him for the first time, when he recounted his torture ordeal. Next day, on May 5, he died. Rab is a legal body, police is a legal body -- both answerable under law -- and the courts are there to uphold the people's rights. Where did the law operate in Shahnur's case?
Four year old Arwa and her 10 year old elder sister Raita came to the Press Club on Thursday, December 4, demanding to know about their father who was allegedly picked up by Rab from Bashundhara residential area. So were seven others, in the same place, making the same demand, to know about their near and dear ones who were picked up from different parts of the city by law enforcers and have since been missing. ASK has many other horrifying statistics in reply to all that State Minister for Home Affairs, Asaduzzaman Khan, told the BBC on the same day: “I asked Rab, I asked Detective Branch (DB) whether they knew about any such incidents. They both denied.” End of the matter. Nobody is responsible, nobody is answerable to the law, to the courts, to the relatives of those who have disappeared. There are so many other stories.
This can only happen when public agencies consider themselves above the law, which they can only do when the elected government of the day allows these agencies to think that they are NOT answerable to anyone.
The culture of impunity has given birth to what we would term as the rise of 'sanctioned thuggery.' This means that if one belongs to any part of the law enforcement agencies and if one belongs to any part of the ruling party then one can take the law in one's hand and practically do anything, including, and literally, get away with murder.
It all started when, early on, the last AL government started withdrawing cases of those accused of murder, rape, loot, abduction, etc. under the guise of withdrawing 'politically motivated' cases. Soon, it was followed by activities of the student and youth wing of the ruling party. The more 'impunity' the more were the frequency, depth and extent of their crimes. When direct denial failed to convince the public, it was said that 'crimes were being committed by outsiders in the name of ruling party bodies.' Soon, police, Rab and others got into the act.
Whenever media tried to focus on the rising crimes from within the law enforcers we were accused of 'tarnishing” their image and serving some 'agenda' of somebody somewhere.
Perhaps the only ray of hope in this dismal picture of 'impunity culture' is the latest probe report by Rab, which revealed that 21 of their personnel were involved in the sensational 7-murder case in Narayanganj. It may be recalled that Rab initially vehemently denied any involvement and was forced to investigate because of a ruling by the High Court, which earned the displeasure of the prime minister who publicly criticised the judiciary of interfering in the work of the executive.
On the occasion of this human rights day, we feel constrained to ask how free are we in today's democratic Bangladesh, and what is the real status of our freedom of expression and freedom of assembly? Why should people be jailed for expressing their views on powerful persons? Why should there is arbitrary arrest and detention of people? Why should newspaper offices be raided and newsmen hauled up for publishing so-called 'provocative news,' when established avenues exist to hold the media accountable.
An unmistakable smell of authoritarianism is “blowing' in the wind.” The 'sanctioned thuggery' appears to be a weapon of intimidation to suppress dissent.
If the present “culture of impunity” is not completely removed and genuine rule of law is not established soonest our democracy will run the risk of becoming something only in name.
The writer is Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star.
There was a time when we were known for our poverty. Thankfully those days are partly over. However now we are more and more becoming known as a country increasingly indifferent to violations of human rights and one that sanctions organised thuggery by ruling party musclemen and more disturbingly by law enforcers themselves.
According to the highly regarded and prestigious human rights body, Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK), 250 people were abducted allegedly by law enforces between 2007 and 2013, and only last year 69 people were picked up by police or Rab or people pretending to belong to these bodies. In the first 10 months of this year 118 people were killed in so-called "shootouts" between law enforces and those who were picked up. Last year the figure was 208 for extrajudicial killings.
Tragically custodial deaths or killings by our law enforces have become mere figures. They do not seem to make any impact on the mind of our government. Most infuriatingly, in none of the above cases did the government feel even an iota of responsibility as the protector life and property of every single citizen of the country.
To comprehend the centrality of human rights in today's world one key relationship needs to be understood -- that between the government and the people, both as a collective and as individuals. In the recent past, especially as the notion of democracy took firmer root, importance and status of the individual became stronger. A government exists to ensure the welfare of the individuals, and the former derives all its power and its very right to exist from the support given to it by the people as individuals.
As individuals cannot run a country, we elect a government to do so. But at the same time we put the government within a straightjacket of a constitution, the laws framed within it, and the various rules and regulations so that it operates within clearly specified limits. Even when a government is extremely powerful it can only operate within the limits of the law.
The problem arises when government start exceeding those 'limits' and behaving as if it is above the law. This feeling is directly proportional to its strength within the parliament, and transforms into a sense of 'right' when a government has three-fourths majority. We can easily imagine what happens to a government when it practically 'owns' the whole parliament.
This is where our story begins. In our case, the government not only feels that is above the law, its feels that it IS THE LAW. When a parliament is virtually without any opposition save in name, and when that same opposition party sits both in the cabinet and in the opposition bench and when more than 50% of a parliament is elected uncontested from a single alliance -- meaning that a majority to form a government is obtained before a single vote is cast -- then it is natural that the government in question should consider itself to be THE LAW.
That is why our society is becoming one of 'sanctioned thuggery.' The culture of impunity that is being enjoyed by our law enforcement agencies has made them totally non-answerable to the people who they are supposed to serve.
Take the case of Shahnur Alam, a trader from Bhrahmanbaria. He was picked up by Rab on April 29, and handed over to Nabinagar Police Station on April 30. On May 1 he was produced before a court and sent to local jail. On May 4 he was shifted to a hospital in Comilla. This is when his family could see him for the first time, when he recounted his torture ordeal. Next day, on May 5, he died. Rab is a legal body, police is a legal body -- both answerable under law -- and the courts are there to uphold the people's rights. Where did the law operate in Shahnur's case?
Four year old Arwa and her 10 year old elder sister Raita came to the Press Club on Thursday, December 4, demanding to know about their father who was allegedly picked up by Rab from Bashundhara residential area. So were seven others, in the same place, making the same demand, to know about their near and dear ones who were picked up from different parts of the city by law enforcers and have since been missing. ASK has many other horrifying statistics in reply to all that State Minister for Home Affairs, Asaduzzaman Khan, told the BBC on the same day: “I asked Rab, I asked Detective Branch (DB) whether they knew about any such incidents. They both denied.” End of the matter. Nobody is responsible, nobody is answerable to the law, to the courts, to the relatives of those who have disappeared. There are so many other stories.
This can only happen when public agencies consider themselves above the law, which they can only do when the elected government of the day allows these agencies to think that they are NOT answerable to anyone.
The culture of impunity has given birth to what we would term as the rise of 'sanctioned thuggery.' This means that if one belongs to any part of the law enforcement agencies and if one belongs to any part of the ruling party then one can take the law in one's hand and practically do anything, including, and literally, get away with murder.
It all started when, early on, the last AL government started withdrawing cases of those accused of murder, rape, loot, abduction, etc. under the guise of withdrawing 'politically motivated' cases. Soon, it was followed by activities of the student and youth wing of the ruling party. The more 'impunity' the more were the frequency, depth and extent of their crimes. When direct denial failed to convince the public, it was said that 'crimes were being committed by outsiders in the name of ruling party bodies.' Soon, police, Rab and others got into the act.
Whenever media tried to focus on the rising crimes from within the law enforcers we were accused of 'tarnishing” their image and serving some 'agenda' of somebody somewhere.
Perhaps the only ray of hope in this dismal picture of 'impunity culture' is the latest probe report by Rab, which revealed that 21 of their personnel were involved in the sensational 7-murder case in Narayanganj. It may be recalled that Rab initially vehemently denied any involvement and was forced to investigate because of a ruling by the High Court, which earned the displeasure of the prime minister who publicly criticised the judiciary of interfering in the work of the executive.
On the occasion of this human rights day, we feel constrained to ask how free are we in today's democratic Bangladesh, and what is the real status of our freedom of expression and freedom of assembly? Why should people be jailed for expressing their views on powerful persons? Why should there is arbitrary arrest and detention of people? Why should newspaper offices be raided and newsmen hauled up for publishing so-called 'provocative news,' when established avenues exist to hold the media accountable.
An unmistakable smell of authoritarianism is “blowing' in the wind.” The 'sanctioned thuggery' appears to be a weapon of intimidation to suppress dissent.
If the present “culture of impunity” is not completely removed and genuine rule of law is not established soonest our democracy will run the risk of becoming something only in name.
The writer is Editor and Publisher, The Daily Star.
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