Alleged extrajudicial killing of Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi, a member of the local Jubo Dal

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by ODHIKAR, a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the alleged extrajudicial killing of Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi, a 32-year–old shrimp merchant and member of the local Jubo Dal[1], from Shahapur Tala’s village, on 19 August 2009.

According to the information collected by ODHIKAR, around mid-August 2009, Shatkhira police was looking for Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi on the basis of an extortion complaint filed by members of the Awami League with Shatkhira police station. Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi had early been arrested on several occasions allegedly in reprisal of his political activities and had moved from his home to Shatkhira. A police officer reportedly said to Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi that if he paid 5’000.- taka (Bangladeshi taka) by 18 August 2009, the police would not arrest him and would stop harassing him. Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi tried to assemble the money by asking his brother, Mr. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain Gazi. This latter suggested him to contact one of his friend, a lawyer called Shabuj. On 18 August 2009, at about 7:00 pm, Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi reportedly went to Shabuj’s house to collect the missing money. At around 7:30 pm, two police officers from Shatkhira police station reportedly arrived, handcuffed and arrested him. They also allegedly insulted him, punched and slapped him and then took him to a butcher shop, located at the Choyghoriya crossroads, Shatkhira.

Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi’s brother, Mr. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain Gazi, was reportedly immediately informed by Shabuj’s brother that he was arrested by the police. Mr. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain Gazi was trying to locate his brother’s whereabouts when he reportedly received a phone call from an unidentified person who told him that they had taken his brother, that he should stop looking for him and that they would release him if he paid them. Mr. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain Gazi reportedly said that he would give them a first amount of 1’50000.- taka the following day. At about 3:00 am on 19 August 2009, Mr. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain Gazi’s brother-in-law reportedly called him to inform that the police had killed his brother.

Later that same night, Ms. Firoza Begum, Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi’s sister, reportedly went to the said police station and reportedly saw the bullet-ridden body of her brother lying on a rickshaw-van[2]. She reportedly also noticed injuries on his head. On 19 August 2009, at about 8:00 am, the Shatkhira police brought Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi’s body to the hospital, where a post mortem examination was conducted. However, the conclusions of the examination are not known.

According to the same information, several witnesses to the event reported that they heard four to five gunshots around 3:00 am that night, and then saw a group of about ten policemen running around the nearby butcher shop with flashlights. One of the witnesses allegedly heard the police shouting “Catch him, catch him”, followed by the gunshots.

The police reportedly later declared to the media that Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi was a regional commander of the Purba Banglar Communist Party[3] and that he was killed in a so-called “crossfire” incident. According to the police, they surprised a group of criminals nearby the butcher shop and fired back when these alleged criminals opened fire. The police denied arresting Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the circumstances surrouding the death of Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gaz, which seem to suggest that it may have been an extrajudicial execution. Several witnesses confirmed that Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi had been arrested by the police and taken away before being killed, but the police denied any such arrest and have since then alleged that he was killed in in a “crossfire”. It is worth noting that the term “crossfire” is often used to actually describe extrajudicial executions in Bangladesh. OMCT recalls that the authorities in Bangladesh have to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law to protect the right to life and to bringing to justice those responsible for violating this right. OMCT is indeed concerned that no effective investigation was conducted into the killing of Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi.

OMCT calls on the competent authorities to carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into his killing, in accordance with international human rights standards, inter alia, with the UN Principle on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, the result of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh urging them to:

1. Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the killing of Mr. Mohammad Lutfor Rahman Gazi, in accordance with international human rights standards, inter alia, with the UN Principle on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, the result of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
2. Ensure that an effective remedy, including the right to full redress with compensation and rehabilitation be granted to the victim’s family concerned;
3. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• Ministry of Home Affairs, Honorable Minister, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Fax: +880 2 7169667, Email: minister@mha.gov.bd
• Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Honorable Minister, Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, Fax: +880 2 7168557, Email: minoflaw@bdonline.com, info@minlaw.gov.bd
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Honorable Minister, Dr. Dipu Moni, Fax: +880 2 9562188, Email: dirfe@mofa.gov.bd
• Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary, Mr. Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Fax: +880 2 7164788, Email: secretary@mha.gov.bd
• NGO Affairs Bureau, Director General, Mr. Mustak Hassan Md. Iftekhar, Fax: +880 2 9562844, Email: info@ngoab.gov.bd
• Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations in Geneva, 65 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 46 16, E-mail: mission.bangladesh@ties.itu.int

Please also write to the embassies of Bangladesh in your respective country.

Geneva, 17 December 2009

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

[1] Youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), main opposition party to the Awami League Government.

[2] A three-wheeled vehicle with pedals which is used for carrying goods and passengers, mostly in rural Bangladesh.

[3] An ultra-left political party that is operating underground.