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Bangladesh: Torture and Extra-Judicial Killings

Despite Promises, No End to Systematic Human Rights Abuses

January 24, 2011

(New York) - The Awami League government has not kept its promise after its election
victory in December 2008 to show "zero tolerance" for abuses by its security forces, Human

Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2011. Two years on, new extrajudicial
Police inspect the homes of garment
killings have been reported, and those responsible have not been brought to justice.
workers where they suspect
The 649-page World Report 2011, the organization's 21st annual review of human rights protesters are hiding after a
practices around the globe, summarizes major human rights trends in more than 90 nations demonstration in Dhaka on August
and territories worldwide. Bangladesh should immediately end systematic human rights 30, 2010.
abuses, including stopping extrajudicial executions and torture by its security forces,
© 2010 Reuters
Human Rights Watch said in the chapter on Bangladesh. It should allow the media, political

opponents, and labor rights activists to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and More Coverage:
association fully, Human Rights Watch said. World Report Chapter: Bangladesh

"The government should not just keep turning a blind eye to all these killings because they
The government should not just
are not fooling anyone with their excuses," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of
keep turning a blind eye to all these
Human Rights Watch. "Credibility will only come if the government follows the National killings because they are not fooling
Human Rights Commission's recommendation to name an impartial panel of inquiry for anyone with their excuses.
each killing and to hold those found responsible to account." Credibility will only come if the
government follows the National
The joint police-military Rapid Action Battalion Force (RAB) carries out the extrajudicial Human Rights Commission's
killings, frequently termed "crossfire killings," and after the fact, the government has recommendation to name an
justified each killing as legitimate, Human Rights Watch said. impartial panel of inquiry for each
killing and to hold those found
Human Rights Watch noted that often independent groups find signs of torture and abuse responsible to account.
on the bodies of "crossfire" victims, and survivors of RAB custody testify that torture is
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of
commonly inflicted by the RAB on those in its custody. This is consistent with information
Human Rights Watch
in recently leaked US government diplomatic cables that stated there was credible evidence
that the RAB tortures detainees.

Human Rights Watch also found that it is not only the Bangladeshi security forces who commit abuses. Acute poverty and

unemployment prompts millions of Bangladeshis to cross the border into India in search of jobs or to engage in trade. Many of
them are killed by India's Border Security Force (BSF), which engages in indiscriminate and excessive use of deadly force. The
Bangladesh government should be more vocal and determined in pressing the Indian government to restrain the Indian border

forces and to end the killings that too often occur all along that border.

The government regularly harassed, repressed, and retaliated against its political opponents and labor union activists during 2010,
Human Rights Watch said. A leading opposition daily newspaper, Amar Desh, was forced to close down and the editor was arrested

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Bangladesh: Torture and Extra-Judicial Killings | Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/01/24/bangladesh-torture-and-extra-...

under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The editor, Mahmudur Rahman, claimed to have been tortured by the RAB while in custody.

Labor union activists also bore the brunt of the government crackdown against public protests and organized demands. While
demanding further increases in the monthly minimum wage, many garment workers were arrested, and some were allegedly beaten
while in custody, credible human rights institutions and journalists said.

The government also stripped the internationally respected Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) of its
nongovernmental organization status, and arrested the top leaders of BCWS (along with other senior labor leaders) on
unsubstantiated charges of incitement connected to worker disturbances in late July. Two BCWS leaders publicly stated they were
tortured while in police custody.

In a new development, the government took steps to bring to trial those responsible for international crimes in connection with the
war of 1971. The government arrested five members of opposition parties, but there are strong suspicions that the detentions at this
time are politically motivated. Equally troubling, the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 still falls well short of
international standards.

"Bangladesh has a long way to go to live up to its commitments, in both national policies and meeting international obligations,"
Robertson said. "It is only when its people can live free of fear of torture, repression, curbs on free speech, or politically motivated

actions that it can truly lay its claim to being a democratic country."

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