Guarantee personal integrity and release Acting Editor of Amar Desh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman

BANGLADESH: Guarantee personal integrity and release Acting Editor of AmarDesh, Mr. Mahmudur Rahman

Geneva-Paris, December 5,2013 - The World OrganisationAgainst Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)express their concern following the remand of Mr. Mahmudur Rahman, Acting Editor of theBangladeshi daily newspaper Amar Desh.

OnDecember 4, 2013, at around 11am, Mr. MahmudurRahman was taken to remand by the Detective Branch Police from KashimpurJail-2. His wife was only informed that Mr. Rahman would be taken to theCantonment Police Station, the Tejgaon Police Station or the Detective Branchheadquarters in Mintoo Road, although the police officers did not indicate theconcrete location. Mr. Rahman was taken out of the centre where he was beingheld in a microbus with no number plates.

Despitethe fact that the wife and other people close to the editor contacted the threefacilities mentioned above to find Mr. Rahman’s whereabouts, they were told atthe police stations that they had not received any information regarding thiscase. At around 7pm on December 4, it was confirmed that Mr. Rahman had beentaken to Tejgaon Police Station from Kashimpur Jail-2.

Mr.Mahmudur Rahman was arrested onApril 11, 2013 without being informed of the charges under which he was beingdetained and further remanded into police custody for 13 days, when he wassubjected to torture.[1]

Mr.Rahman was eventually charged under provisions of the Cyber Crime and ICTAct-2006 and of the Penal Code with the offences of sedition and unlawfulpublication of a Skype conversation between Md Nizamul Huq, an InternationalCrimes Tribunal (ICT) judge, and an external consultant, which raised doubts onthe impartiality of the tribunal. Following the eruption of the “Skype scandal”on December 9, 2012,[2]Judge Huq had to resign on December 11, 2012.

Thisis not the first time Mr. Rahman has been intimidated for peacefully exercisinghis right to free speech as well as his professional freedom as a journalist inBangladesh. The latter had previously been arrested, ill-treated and unjustlyconvicted in relation to his human rights activities.[3]

OMCTand FIDH fear that Mr. Rahman is currently at risk of torture and recallthat authorities have to fulfill their obligations under international humanrights instruments ratified by Bangladesh to protect the right not to besubjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment.

FIDHand OMCT strongly condemn the harassment against Mr. Rahman, which seemsrepresentative of the increasing repression of dissenting voices in thecountry, and call on the Bangladeshi authorities to release him as well as alljournalists and activists arbitrarily detained.

Inthe meantime, OMCT and FIDH urge the relevant authorities to guarantee thephysical and psychological integrity of Mr. Rahman at all times.

FIDHand OMCT have recently released a fact-finding mission report on the situationof human rights defenders in Bangladesh, which outlines the various hindrancesfaced by civil society in terms of freedom of expression and association. Thereport is available here:

http://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/obs_rapportbangladeshuk-ld.pdf

http://www.omct.org/files/2013/11/22434/bangladesh_obs_mission_report.pdf

Presscontacts:

· FIDH:Arthur Manet/Audrey Couprie: +33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18

· OMCT:Alexandra Kossin: + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39

[1] SeeOMCT Urgent Appeal BGD 220413.

[2] Theconversation was first published by The Economist and later republishedin Bangladesh by Amar Desh and other news agencies and websites.

[3] SeeAnnual Report 2011 of the Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (a joint FIDH-OMCT programme).