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Sabrang Team
|
October 15, 2004
Creativity needed to
address torture in Bangladesh
(A
Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission)
The obstacles to
eliminating torture in Bangladesh were foremost in the discussion at
a recent meeting in Dhaka organised by Odhikar, a well-known
national human rights organisation. There was consensus that grave
torture exists throughout the country and that its causes are
systemic: these include the following.
Torture is not a crime under national law
Although the government of Bangladesh ratified the UN Convention
against Torture in November 1998, no enabling legislation has been
passed to make torture a crime under national law. Old British laws
prevail--made when the colonial regime tortured supporters of
national independence. The lack of a domestic law is an obstacle to
developing local jurisprudence to eliminate torture, into which the
rich international jurisprudence can be assimilated. There is also
no immediate plan to introduce such a law.
No means exist to compensate and rehabilitate torture victims
No legal provisions exist to enable victims of torture to make
claims for compensation or rehabilitation. The state does not
provide medical facilities for physical and psychological injuries
suffered due to torture. Again, there is no immediate plan to
introduce such legal provisions.
Criminal justice remains very primitive
The criminal justice system has hardly changed since the British
colonial times. Many laws go back over a hundred years. At no stage
has there been a serious attempt to modernise the criminal justice
system and take advantage of the great developments happening
elsewhere. The system for implementation of laws is even worse,
moving so slowly as to be completely out of touch with the rapid
developments in communications, transportation and sense of time
among people in other parts of the world.
No specialised police officers exist for criminal investigations
Police officers have a range of day-to-day duties on top of criminal
investigations. For every 13,000 citizens there is one badly paid
and poorly trained police officer. The very idea of specialised
police officers for criminal investigations does not yet exist. One
of the most needed reforms is for a separate criminal investigation
branch with the necessary training and equipment to fulfil its
duties.
Public prosecutors are politically controlled
All public prosecutors are changed every time a new government comes
to power. As a result, they do not accumulate experience, nor build
an institutional legacy to pass from generation to generation. The
skills needed for proper prosecuting do not develop, and instead
political bias is the determining factor in prosecution cases.
No link exists between the prosecuting and investigating branches
The prosecuting and investigating branches are completely detached.
If the police do not investigate a crime, the prosecutor has no
responsibility. The prosecuting branch needs to be informed when
serious crimes are being investigated, so as to advise the
investigators on basic legal issues. This would reduce the
opportunities for police to fabricate cases against innocent
persons. By collaborating while preserving the independence of each
branch it is possible to avoid prosecutions that lack sufficient
evidence and also ensure successful cases, which at present are few.
No independent branch exists to investigate police officers over
gross violations of human rights
At the moment, police investigate all crimes. Naturally, when police
officers investigate their colleagues over alleged torture,
extrajudicial killings and other grave violations, there is undue
influence on the outcome. As the public lacks confidence in these
investigations, many people may not even complain when suffering
abuse at the hands of the police.
No witness protection programme exists
People do not want to complain or give evidence--especially in the
growing number of serious crimes--as they fear serious repercussions
and lack any form of protection from the perpetrators. This also
applies to the victims of human rights violations complaining about
law-enforcement officers, who hold great power locally and can cause
serious harm to the victims, their families and their property. This
issue must be seriously addressed if the justice system is to obtain
popular cooperation.
Torture is politically motivated
Often torture results from deliberate attempts to harm political
opponents. The party in power typically harasses the opposition in
this manner. Despite torture and law enforcement being used for the
purposes of political repression, no serious attempts have been made
to address the problem.
Torture victims are disregarded because most of them are poor
The poor are badly treated in all areas of life, and this does not
attract interest. Bad treatment of the poor at police stations is
therefore no exception. The poor have little access to the law, and
therefore, most torture cases do not come to the public attention.
Constant reporting on all cases of torture is not yet being
practiced.
No human rights institution exists to monitor law-enforcement
agencies
Despite years of discussion--and some drafting of
legislation--towards establishing a national human rights
commission, no practical steps have been taken to this end. No
reason has been given for the delay; no timetable has been set for
its establishment. The government has not even committed to
establish it, and neither have the opposition or civil society
groups taken up the issue with the urgency it requires.
Violence is prevalent across the society but the state remains inert
Throughout Bangladesh, violence is daily committed in a wide range
of social, political and religious institutions, particularly
against women. It is often defended on ideological grounds, and a
general ethos of intolerance permits daily acts of brutality to
continue unabated. Such violence may constitute torture in cases
where the state is cognisant of what is happening and does nothing
to stop it.
All these obstacles are commonly acknowledged, including by all the
major political parties; nonetheless, no strong lobby exists to call
for action. There is agreement that something is wrong, but no sense
of the need to do anything about it. Civil society organisations
must take a lead role in building public opinion capable of changing
this situation. To do this requires imagination and creativity. By
effective lobbying with specific demands for action, steps can be
taken to see victims make complaints, police investigate torture,
prosecutors win cases, and other people besides act to eliminate
torture.
# # #
About AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
http://www.ahrchk.net/ |