Afad Calls For UN Intervention on the Continued Detention of Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan and the Seizure of Odhikar Documents and Computers

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) calls on the United Nations and other international organizations to intervene on the continued detention of Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan of Bangladesh by the government of Sheikh Hasina. AFAD believes international pressure is important in a situation where the State, through its security forces, are in wanton disregard of its obligations to respect, protect and uphold the human rights of its citizens.

Not content with the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Khan, the Detective Branch of the Police searched their office from 8:20- 9:00 p.m. last night and seized three laptops and two Central Processing Units (CPUs), Odhikar reports stated.

Immediately Release Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan and Protect His Right not to be Tortured!

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) condemns the arbitrary arrest of its Council Member, Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan in his residence in Dhaka last night, 10 August 2013. AFAD also calls on the government to respect his right from torture and to immediately release him.

Based on reports received from Odhikar, AFAD member organization in Bangladesh as well as reports from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan was with his family and children when arrested without warrant by about 8-10 plainclothes men just as his vehicle entered the family compound. The security guard on duty tried to prevent the men from entering but to no avail. Upon the demand of Mr. Adilur Khan, the men who surrounded his car informed him that they were from the Detective Branch of Bangladesh Police. He was forced into a white microbus vehicle reportedly from United Commercial Bank and a blue and silver Mitsubishi Pajero.

Mr. Adilur Khan was arrested without warrant and his family was not informed of where they were taking him. Members of the Gulshan Police Station when approached by Odhikar at 2:00 a.m. this morning denied that a case was filed against Mr. Khan. It was learned later, through a media interview of DB Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman that Khan is being held at the DB Headquarters in Mintu Road for violations of the Information and Communication Technology Act of 2006 - Section 57 which prohibits the “publication of fake, obscene or defaming information in electronic form.” He supposedly distorted facts about Hefazat-e-Islam and distorted photographs using Photoshop.

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

BGD 001 / 0813 / OBS 074
Arbitrary arrest
Bangladesh
August 10, 2013

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

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources of the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar, a member of OMCT General Assembly and Executive Committee Member of Forum Asia, at his Gulshan residence, in Dhaka.

According to the information received, on August 10, 2013, at 10.20 pm, Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan was arrested by eight or nine detectives of the Detective Branch of Police (DB) as he was returning home with his family. The detectives, who brought a white microbus apparently belonging to the United Commercial Bank and a blue and silver coloured mitsubishi pajero, asked Mr. Adilur Rahman Khan to follow them. Reportedly, Mr. Rahman Khan was brought to the headquarters of the police DB in Dhaka.

Remembering Fr. Rudy Romano: Reckoning the Past and Breaking the Silence

The eleventh of July is a special day for victims of enforced disappearance in the Philippines. It is a day of remembering the well-loved Redemptorist priest, Fr. Rudy Romano, who disappeared in Cebu City on July 11, 1985. A staunch defender of human rights during the Marcos dictatorship, Fr. Rudy became the voice of the voiceless farmers, workers and urban poor. He championed their issues in the many organizations that he headed: as executive secretary of the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace; chairperson of the Coalition Against People’s Persecution; vice chairperson for the Visayas of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and Cebu Oust Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism and Democracy, among others.