Support bill against torture
Urges HR Watch
The Bangladesh government should offer its full and public support to a bill before parliament that would criminalise torture, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The New York-based HRW in a statement issued Tuesday urged the government to make parliamentary time for the bill soon to ensure its conformity with the international Convention against Torture, to which Bangladesh is a state party.
The bill was drafted by ruling Awami League MP Saber Hossain Chowdhury.
“Torture is used routinely by law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW. “The bill in parliament presents an important opportunity for this government to show its commitment to upholding the rule of law and to show that it is different from its predecessors.”
It said the HRW and others have long documented the systematic use of torture and deaths in custody in Bangladesh by its various security agencies. Detainees have been subjected to electric shocks, rape, severe kicking, and beating with objects that include iron rods, belts, and sticks.
The Rapid Action Battalion and the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the army's intelligence unit, have routinely engaged in torture, which has often led to the deaths of suspects in their custody, the statement observed.
“Torture seems to have become the accepted norm among security agencies, both as a method of investigation and as a means of law enforcement,” Adams said.
He said enacting this law will prevent law enforcement agencies from claiming that torture is a legitimate way to extract information from suspects or to punish them.
“After many years of turning a blind eye to an acknowledged problem, the government and parliament have an opportunity to back meaningful change and end this shameful practice,” Adams said.
The bill in its current form goes a long way toward closing these loopholes and to meeting the standards set forth under the Convention against Torture, and would create a simplified process and venue for redress for victims of torture, said the statement from HRW.
It would create a regimen under which public officials would be held accountable for the physical and mental well-being of anyone taken into custody, from the process of arrest onwards. The bill, in an important provision, strips away the often cited excuse of public welfare to justify deaths in custody.
However, the HRW urged the government and parliament to make amendments so that the bill meets the international standards set out in Convention against Torture.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments