The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls on the United Nations and other international organizations to intervene on the continued detention of Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan of Bangladesh by the government of Sheikh Hasina. AFAD believes international pressure is important in a situation where the State, through its security forces, are in wanton disregard of its obligations to respect, protect and uphold the human rights of its citizens.

Not content with the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Khan, the Detective Branch of the Police searched their office from 8:20- 9:00 p.m. last night and seized three laptops and two Central Processing Units (CPUs), Odhikar reports stated.

Moreover, amidst calls over the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Khan on trumped-up charges, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Amit Kumar Dey at 1:20 p.m. yesterday denied the bail petition of Mr. Khan and remanded him back to the Detective Branch for five days.

The decision was based on two General Diaries lodged against him by the police: General Diary number 268, dated 10/8/2013 filed by the Detective Branch of Police (North) which stated that he was arrested under section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and General Diary 514, dated 10/8/2013 lodged in Gulshan Police Station which charged him under clauses 1 and 2 of section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act 2006 for publishing false images and information and disrupting the law and order situation of the country. The complaint also states that there is reasonable suspicion that Adilur Rahman Khan is also directly and indirectly liable for other cognizable offences.

It must be noted that the police at the Gulshan Police Station had denied that they had any information or case against Adilur Rahman Khan on 11 August 2013.

The above facts only showed that State security forces behave without regard of its human rights obligations. This is a clear violation, among many other human rights instruments, of the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which protects people working on the issue of enforced disappearance from human rights violations. To note, this was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1992. Mr. Khan, as Secretary of Odhikar and Council Member of AFAD, indefatigably works against enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations.

There seems to be a pattern of arbitrary arrest and detention of targeted personalities critical of the government’s human rights performance, and the search and seizure of their offices’ computers. It must be recalled that in April this year, another person, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, Interim Editor of a prominent Bangladeshi daily, Daily Amardesh also met the same fate with Mr. Khan. It was Mr. Rahman’s second arrest. He was also previously arrested and remanded on fabricated charges where he was subjected to severe torture under police custody. Moreover, his newspaper was closed immediately after his recent arrest.

Finally, AFAD requests governments who made critical observations and recommendations of the human rights performance of Bangladesh during the recent Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations to make representations on this case and of increased threats to human rights defenders. AFAD hopes that maybe through your intervention, Sheikh Hasina’s government will listen.

Signed by:

MUGIYANTO
Chairperson

MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General