Alleged ill-treatment and killing of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party

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 ill-treatment and killing of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, a 47-year–old leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party[1], from the village of Doba in Rupsha, Khulna.

According to the information collected by ODHIKAR, a group of police officers surrounded the house of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu at 1:00am, on 18 September 2009, in order to arrest him and take him to the Rupsha Police Station because he was allegedly accused in a murder and an extortion case. Mrs. Lilima Mondol, wife of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, reportedly showed to the police officers the bail documents granted by the Court to Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu in both cases. Despite this, the Sub-inspector of the Rupsha Police Station, Mr. Azad Rahman, allegedly beat Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu on his face and insisted that he get dressed to take him to the police station.

According to the same information, Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, who, on the pretext of putting on his clothes, apparently tried to leave the house through the back door, was taken by a group of unidentified men (believed to be police officers and other individuals who had accompanied the police) to the front lawn of his neighbour’s house, where he was allegedly beaten and strangled to death. After this, the Sub-inspector reportedly threatened Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu’s family saying: “If you make a big deal out of this, I’ll kill you all”.

The next day, a police officer reportedly prepared the Inquest Report of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu’s body. However, according to Mr. Purnendu Mondol, Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu’s brother, such report did not include the signs of beatings on his brother’s body. According to the information collected, when Mr. Purnendu Mondol protested against the Inquest Report, the police officers allegedly threatened him and his family members again.

According to the same information, the police rejected the complaints presented by Mr. Purnendu Mondol on his brother’s case following what he filed a murder case in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, in Khulna, on 5 October 2009.

On the other hand, two Officers in Charge of the Rupsha Police Station and a Superintendent of Police in Khulna reportedly alleged that Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu was not verbally or physically abused in any way, and that his family had never been threatened. According to them, Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu died because he suffered a heart attack when he was trying to escape from the police.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the circumstances surrouding the death of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, which seem to suggest that he may have been victim of an extrajudicial killing. Several witnesses heard that Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu was beaten and signs of strangulation were detected on his body, but the police denies such facts and alleged that he died from a heart attack. 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. Orbindo Mondol Bulu.

OMCT calls on the competent authorities to carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the killing of Mr. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, 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. Orbindo Mondol Bulu, 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. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Purnendu Mondol and the members of his family;
3. Ensure that an effective remedy, including the right to full redress with compensation be granted to the victim’s family concerned;

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, 15 January 2009

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

[1] The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is the main opposition party to the Awami League Government.