Tortures in Custody
http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/editorial.htm
http://www.thebangladeshtoday.com/editorial.htm
sunday, january 20, 2008
Tortures, of all sorts, on persons in custody of Police and other law-enforcement agencies is as old as the British Colonial period but it is difficult to understand and accept why such inhuman and unlawful acts take place in an Independent Bangladesh. Torture has been widespread in Bangladesh under each successive government, particularly authoritarian ones. Each government's failure to address the issue of torture has constituted a dereliction to fulfill obligations of the Constitution, of Justice, of rule of law and of human rights; inaction on the issue of torture has effectively contributed to the continuation of this endemic violation of the rights of citizens and of human beings.
The provisions of the Constitution of Bangladesh, laws and legislation contradict each other as far as they relate to physical and psychological abuse and torture in custody. Article 35(5) of the Constitution forbids torture, as does Section 330 of the Penal Code which infact makes torture a criminal act; however, other legislations facilitate or encourage torture such as the Special Powers Act of 1974, Public Safety (Special Provisions) Act 2000 and Section 54 of the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Therefore, although torture is illegal in Bangladesh, it has not stopped torturers because governments in Bangladesh have been keen to maintain and enforce legislations which facilitate tortures by giving the police and other law-enforcers a free hand to arbitrarily arrest and torture people.
Numerous studies on this subject by various NGOs have brought to the fore the following points :
1) Torture results from abuse of power and authority by government officials, politicians and police while corruption, burdensome bureaucracy and an ineffective judiciary facilitate abuse of power rather than accountability at all levels.
2) The poor have always been the least protected against torture and people with political connections to successive ruling parties are the most protected.
3) Administrative detention laws and new laws to combat the so called "law and order" problems have enabled law-enforcement agencies to abuse power with impunity and create new torture victims; some police officers often arrest and torture people for money or connive in the torture of poorer people by "local leader" in return for a bribe.
4) Torture victims and their families are apprehensive of filing complaints of torture because when they do, they and their families are subjected to further bouts of harassment and torture by police, local politicians and goons employed by politicians.
5) Police and other law enforcers accused of torture are rarely investigated; even more rarely charged or convicted because the police often falsify and manipulate evidence in connivance with the lower judiciary and local politicians and influential persons.
Therefore, we see that a whole culture of "impunity to torture" has developed in Bangladesh. This has been possible because politicians make laws which facilitates violations of human rights and governments are more interested in enforcing those laws rather than the ones which protect the rights of their own citizens. Therefore, the only way of stopping tortures in custody, is for the people to take action themselves through networks of the common people, groups, NGOs and professionals; through lobbying, protests and contacts with donor agencies, human rights NGOs, foreign embassies to exercise pressure on the government for improvements.
Tortures, of all sorts, on persons in custody of Police and other law-enforcement agencies is as old as the British Colonial period but it is difficult to understand and accept why such inhuman and unlawful acts take place in an Independent Bangladesh. Torture has been widespread in Bangladesh under each successive government, particularly authoritarian ones. Each government's failure to address the issue of torture has constituted a dereliction to fulfill obligations of the Constitution, of Justice, of rule of law and of human rights; inaction on the issue of torture has effectively contributed to the continuation of this endemic violation of the rights of citizens and of human beings.
The provisions of the Constitution of Bangladesh, laws and legislation contradict each other as far as they relate to physical and psychological abuse and torture in custody. Article 35(5) of the Constitution forbids torture, as does Section 330 of the Penal Code which infact makes torture a criminal act; however, other legislations facilitate or encourage torture such as the Special Powers Act of 1974, Public Safety (Special Provisions) Act 2000 and Section 54 of the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure 1898. Therefore, although torture is illegal in Bangladesh, it has not stopped torturers because governments in Bangladesh have been keen to maintain and enforce legislations which facilitate tortures by giving the police and other law-enforcers a free hand to arbitrarily arrest and torture people.
Numerous studies on this subject by various NGOs have brought to the fore the following points :
1) Torture results from abuse of power and authority by government officials, politicians and police while corruption, burdensome bureaucracy and an ineffective judiciary facilitate abuse of power rather than accountability at all levels.
2) The poor have always been the least protected against torture and people with political connections to successive ruling parties are the most protected.
3) Administrative detention laws and new laws to combat the so called "law and order" problems have enabled law-enforcement agencies to abuse power with impunity and create new torture victims; some police officers often arrest and torture people for money or connive in the torture of poorer people by "local leader" in return for a bribe.
4) Torture victims and their families are apprehensive of filing complaints of torture because when they do, they and their families are subjected to further bouts of harassment and torture by police, local politicians and goons employed by politicians.
5) Police and other law enforcers accused of torture are rarely investigated; even more rarely charged or convicted because the police often falsify and manipulate evidence in connivance with the lower judiciary and local politicians and influential persons.
Therefore, we see that a whole culture of "impunity to torture" has developed in Bangladesh. This has been possible because politicians make laws which facilitates violations of human rights and governments are more interested in enforcing those laws rather than the ones which protect the rights of their own citizens. Therefore, the only way of stopping tortures in custody, is for the people to take action themselves through networks of the common people, groups, NGOs and professionals; through lobbying, protests and contacts with donor agencies, human rights NGOs, foreign embassies to exercise pressure on the government for improvements.
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