Arbitrary arrest of Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar and a member of OMCT General Assembly

Arbitrary arrest

Bangladesh

August 10, 2013

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for HumanRights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Bangladesh.

Description of thesituation:

The Observatory has been informedby reliable sources of the arbitrary arrest of Mr. AdilurRahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar, a member of OMCTGeneral Assembly and Executive Committee Member of Forum Asia, at his Gulshanresidence, in Dhaka.

According to the information received, onAugust 10, 2013, at 10.20 pm, Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan wasarrested by eight or nine detectives of the Detective Branch of Police (DB) ashe was returning home with his family. The detectives, who brought a whitemicrobus apparently belonging to the United Commercial Bank and a blue andsilver coloured mitsubishi pajero, asked Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan to follow them.Reportedly, Mr. Rahman Khan was brought to the headquarters of the police DB inDhaka.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police subsequently confirmed thearrest to the media, adding that Mr. AdilurRahman Khan has been arrested under the Information and Communication TechnologyAct. The arrest was allegedly made on the basisof a general diary filed by the police with Gulshan Police Station, in relation to the report preparedby Odhikar about the killing of 61 people during an operation carried out on May 5, 2013 bylaw enforcement agencies against Hifazat-eIslam activists at the Dhaka’s downtown Motijheel area. Mr.Adilur Rahman Khan has also been the Deputy Attorney General duringthe erstwhile four-party alliance government.

TheObservatory expresses its deepest concern about Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan's arbitraryarrest, which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his peaceful human rightsactivities, and calls upon the authorities inBangladesh to guarantee in all circumstances his physical and psychologicalintegrity as well as to release him immediately and unconditionally.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Bangladesh, urging themto:

i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical andpsychological integrity of Mr. Adilur RahmanKhan and of all human rights defenders inBangladesh;

ii. Release Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan immediately and unconditionally as hisdetention is arbitrary since it only aims at sanctioning his humanrights activities;

iii. Put an end to any kind of harassment - includingat the judicial level - against Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan and all human rightsdefenders in Bangladesh;

iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nationson December 9, 1998, especially:

- its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right,individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for theprotection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at thenational and international levels”, as well as

- its Article 12.2, which provides that the State shall “takeall necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities ofeveryone, individually and in association with others, against any violence,threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure orany other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exerciseof his or her rights”;

v. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights andfundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standardsand international instruments ratified by Bangladesh.

Addresses:

· Ms. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister, Office of thePrime Minister, Gona Bhaban, Old Sangsad Bhaban, Tejgaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Fax: +880 2 8113243, Email: info@pmo.gov.bd

· Mr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Minister for HomeAffairs, Ministry of Home Affairs, Bangladesh Secretariat Building 4, Dhaka,Bangladesh, Email: mkalamgir@yahoo.com; minister@mha.gov.bd;

· Barrister Shafique Ahmed, Minister for Law,Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Law, Justice and ParliamentaryAffairs, Bangladesh Secretariat, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Email: info@minlaw.gov.bd

· Mr. Hasan Mahmud Khandaker, Inspector General ofPolice, Police Headquarters, Phoenix Road, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh, Email :ig@police.gov.bd

· H.E. Mr. Abdul Hannan, Ambassador, PermanentMission 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

· Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladeshin Brussels, 29-31 rue J. Jordaens, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 646 5998; Email: bdootbrussels@freegates.be

Please also write to thediplomatic missions or embassies of Bangladesh in your respective country as well as to the EU diplomatic missions orembassies in Bangladesh.

***

Geneva-Paris, August 10, 2013

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

The Observatory, an OMCT and FIDH venture, is dedicated tothe protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concretesupport in their time of need.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
  Tel andfax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
  Tel andfax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80