Amnesty decries extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh
Dhaka, May 24 (UNB) - Amnesty International has crticised Bangladesh government for failing to live up to its promise to stop extrajudicial killings.
"Extrajudicial executions continued despite a government pledge to end them," the human rights watchdog said in its annual report 2012.
The report said the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel were reportedly involved in more than 54 unlawful killings in 2011 which were neither investigated independently nor brought the offenders to justice.
It said Rab allegedly killed more than 700 people and injured or tortured scores more since its formation in 2004.
“In many cases, family members told Amnesty International that victims died after being arrested by Rab and not in encounters as Rab claimed. The authorities failed to investigate these incidents credibly,” the report mentioned.
Referring to the case of Jhalakati schoolboy Limon Hossain, who was shot in the leg by Rab officers on 23 March, the report said Rab officials alleged that he was a member of a criminal gang and that he was injured when Rab officers returned fire after the gang shot at them.
Limon Hossain said he was alone, bringing cattle home, when Rab personnel arrested and shot him. The conclusions of a separate government inquiry - never made public - reportedly confirmed his claim. The police charged Limon with trying to kill Rab officers, it added.
The London-bases human rights body also criticised the government for being failed to enforce the National Women Development Policy 2011 to support women victims of violence.
Human rights organisations said the authorities had failed to implement the policy and many women and children subjected to sexual and other violence were receiving no support from state institutions.
The report said amendments to the rules governing the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal reduced, but did not eliminate, the possibility of unfair trials for those accused of 1971 war crimes.
“The government failed to secure the right to livelihood and land of Indigenous People in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,“ the report stated.
Indigenous people told Amnesty International delegates visiting the area in March that Bengali settlers, emboldened by the army’s tolerance of their actions, had frequently set fire to indigenous homes, usually in clear sight of soldiers or other law enforcement personnel, without being stopped.
Highlighting the custodial death of three people, the reputed human rights watchdog said the government did not commit to bringing to justice police, Rab or other security personnel who allegedly tortured thousands of individuals in their custody throughout the year.
It said newspaper editor Mahmudur Rahman told Amnesty International after his release in March that he was beaten severely on his back over the course of a night at a police station inside the army cantonment.
Besides, the report said at least five men were executed, and more than 49 people were sentenced to death.
"Extrajudicial executions continued despite a government pledge to end them," the human rights watchdog said in its annual report 2012.
The report said the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel were reportedly involved in more than 54 unlawful killings in 2011 which were neither investigated independently nor brought the offenders to justice.
It said Rab allegedly killed more than 700 people and injured or tortured scores more since its formation in 2004.
“In many cases, family members told Amnesty International that victims died after being arrested by Rab and not in encounters as Rab claimed. The authorities failed to investigate these incidents credibly,” the report mentioned.
Referring to the case of Jhalakati schoolboy Limon Hossain, who was shot in the leg by Rab officers on 23 March, the report said Rab officials alleged that he was a member of a criminal gang and that he was injured when Rab officers returned fire after the gang shot at them.
Limon Hossain said he was alone, bringing cattle home, when Rab personnel arrested and shot him. The conclusions of a separate government inquiry - never made public - reportedly confirmed his claim. The police charged Limon with trying to kill Rab officers, it added.
The London-bases human rights body also criticised the government for being failed to enforce the National Women Development Policy 2011 to support women victims of violence.
Human rights organisations said the authorities had failed to implement the policy and many women and children subjected to sexual and other violence were receiving no support from state institutions.
The report said amendments to the rules governing the Bangladeshi International Crimes Tribunal reduced, but did not eliminate, the possibility of unfair trials for those accused of 1971 war crimes.
“The government failed to secure the right to livelihood and land of Indigenous People in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,“ the report stated.
Indigenous people told Amnesty International delegates visiting the area in March that Bengali settlers, emboldened by the army’s tolerance of their actions, had frequently set fire to indigenous homes, usually in clear sight of soldiers or other law enforcement personnel, without being stopped.
Highlighting the custodial death of three people, the reputed human rights watchdog said the government did not commit to bringing to justice police, Rab or other security personnel who allegedly tortured thousands of individuals in their custody throughout the year.
It said newspaper editor Mahmudur Rahman told Amnesty International after his release in March that he was beaten severely on his back over the course of a night at a police station inside the army cantonment.
Besides, the report said at least five men were executed, and more than 49 people were sentenced to death.
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