Death in custody in unclear circumstances of Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia

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 death in custody of Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia, a 56-year-old day labourer from Purba Chandipur village, Pirgacha, on 5 November 2009.

According to the information collected by ODHIKAR, on 5 November 2009 at about 7:30 pm, Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia was arrested in a shop at the Pirgacha Railway Station by two plain clothes police officers from Pirgacha Police Station. The police officers allegedly gave no reasons for his arrest. One witness to the event reportedly saw that one of the police officers slapped Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia several times. This latter was then reportedly taken to the Pirgacha Police Station.

When Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia’s wife learned that her husband was arrested, she and her sisters went to Pirgacha Police Station to inquire about him. Once there, she was reportedly informed that her husband had been taken to Pirgacha Upazila Health Complex. She reportedly expressed concern about her husband’s situation, following which she was allegedly physically assaulted by the police officers. She then left the police station for the hospital where she was informed that her husband had died.

According to an eye witness at the hospital, Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia’s body had bruises around the chest. A post mortem examination was reportedly conducted at the mentioned hospital, on 6 November 2009. However, the conclusions of the examination are not yet known.

According to the police’s declaration, Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia was arrested on the basis of a mugging complaint[1]. Apparently, another complaint had been filed under the Public Gambling Act against Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia, in September 2008. Once at the above mentioned police station, Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia allegedly complained of chest pain following which the police drove him to the hospital where he was declared dead. The police have denied any allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment inflicted on Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia during his custody. An unnatural death case was filed at the Pirgacha Police Station, on 5 November 2009, and an investigation conducted by three police officers was launched. At the time of issuing this appeal, no further information was available on the status of the investigation.

It is also worth noting that, according to the same information received, some discrepancies were detected between the declaration of the complainant of the above mentioned mugging case and the subsequent First Information Report (FIR) registered by the police, on which basis Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia was arrested. These discrepancies seem to suggest that Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia’s arrest was unjustified (e.g. the complainant reportedly had to sign a document without being informed of its content, the complainant’s signature on the FIR allegedly did not correspond and the complainant has reportedly never recognised the alleged perpetrators because it was night).

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the circumstances surrouding the death in custody of Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia. 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 calls on the competent authorities to carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into this death, 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, as well as into the alleged physical assault that Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia’s wife suffered at the police station, 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 death in custody of Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia, 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, as well as into the alleged physical assault that Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia’s wife suffered at the police station, 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, 21 December 2009

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

[1] A man from Gonganarayanpur village reportedly filed a complaint, on 23 December 2008, after his rickshaw was robbed. A court later reportedly issued arrest warrants against several individuals, including Mr. Mohammad Nurujjaman Mia.