The Bangladesh police recently swooped on the relatives of the victims of enforced disappearances and rights abuses and forced them to sign false statements, in an attempt to absolve themselves from the crimes they had earlier committed.
The Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh) strongly condemns these illegal police actions on the already aggrieved relatives and suffering people of Bangladesh. This is another example of police brutality in Bangladesh under the oppressive regime of Sheikh Hasina since 2009. The police actions also testify to their past wrongdoings.
The Daily Star, a top circulated English daily in Dhaka, reported on January 14, 2022 that some of the victims’ families “were being harassed and coerced into signing pre-written statements saying they deliberately misled the police by concealing information.” After the disappearance, says the report, relatives were not allowed to sue the RAB or police “even though there was enough circumstantial evidence” to prove their involvement. Instead, they were made to file vague General Diaries (GDs), simply mentioning that the victims “went missing” or were taken by “unidentified people.” Most victims belong to the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or other dissident groups. (Please see the report:
There were at least 10 cases for which the police raided this week to obtain such false certifications. Interestingly, all the ten cases were cited for investigation by the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance (WGEID)’s list of 76 in 2021. Bangladesh did not comply.
Even the relatives of the escaped dissidents are not safe in Bangladesh. Ms. Nusrat, a homemaker, is languishing in police custody, also dubbed as torture cell, for months. Her “crime” was that she is the sister of Dr. Kanak Sarwar, a dissident journalist living in New York.
Bangladesh, under the brutal dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina, is rapidly sliding towards becoming a fascist state that would be a threat to global peace and security. The exodus of a large number of people from Bangladesh in search of security and livelihood is the clear indication of a failed state.
Following various reports, including the US Annual Country Reports, recommendations from Congressional Committees and CHRD Bangladesh, the US administration on December 10, 2021 enforced sanctions on a few key officials of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the police of Bangladesh. Taking the US lead, the United Nations and a few other major countries are said to be taking or contemplating similar actions against the fascist practices of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is known to be illegally holding on to her position through successive fraudulent elections.
Though the sanctions appear too little too late to most rights organizations and the sufferers, they seem to have shaken, though not penitent, the fascist authorities. Dhaka has already approached Washington to withdraw the sanctions and engaged a lobbying firm to do the needful on its behalf.
Domestically, in addition to the above forcible and illegal obtaining of certificates from victims’ kins, the fascist regime increased its repressive activities on people who are suspected of reporting the abuses. The Digital Security Act (DSA) is a deadly tool to prevent the people from speaking against the government.
(Please see: https://aequitasreview.org/the-digital-security-act-the-tool-of-abuse-in-bangladesh-by-ahmad-shihab/)
CHRD Bangladesh hopes that the US and other concerned authorities around the world will not compromise on their stated priorities of foreign engagements, as well as their profound respect for human rights, democracy and rule of law. It also urges the US administration once again to further tighten the noose so that top culprits in the command channel that originate from the Office of the Chief Executive are brought under punitive actions.
*CHRD Bangladesh is a nonprofit organization registered and based in the United States. www.chrdbangladesh.org
January 17, 2022
