6 April 2015
HONORABLE JUDGE SILVIA ALEJANDRA FERNÁNDEZ DE GURMENDI
President
International Criminal Court
PO Box 19519
2500 CM, The Hague
The Netherlands
Honorable Madam President,
Re: Crimes Against humanity in Bangladesh Necessitate ICC's Legitimate Action
The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) is deeply concerned with the unabated spate of human rights violations in Bangladesh that falls under the category of the ‘crimes against humanity.’ It has become an almost daily phenomenon in Bangladesh where the law enforcement agencies and paramilitary forces arbitrarily arrest and detain people.
Enforced disappearances are allegedly perpetrated by the paramilitary forces and the police of Bangladesh. Almost daily, such crimes are being committed amidst the current political and constitutional crisis. The ruling Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led 20-Party Alliance are in a dispute over free, fair, credible and participatory national elections under a neutral interim government. The government’s refusal to holding an inclusive credible elections has resulted in widespread violence and human rights violations in Bangladesh.
The phenomenon of enforced disappearances has worsened dramatically since 2010. According to information gathered by AFAD, there were a total of 195 disappearances recorded from 23 March 2010 to 31 March 2015. Most of these crimes were allegedly perpetrated by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the Detective Branch (DB) of the police. The victims include two women.
The law-enforcement agencies and paramilitary forces are picking up people even in broad day light in full view of many eye-witnesses. Often, men in plain-clothes claiming to be the members of law enforcement agencies commit the crimes. The perpetrators also use vehicles of the RAB and the police at the time of abducting the victims. In some incidents, bodies are recovered days after their abduction. In most cases, the families of the disappeared and eye-witnesses of the incidents claim that the members of the law enforcement agencies picked up the victims. The alleged perpetrators wash their hands of the crime by denying any knowledge about the abduction and the subsequent disappearances.
The police refuse to register the complaints of disappearances. Instead, they suggest the relatives to wait and see till the person concerned returns home. However, the police sometimes agrees to register complaints on condition that the members of the law- enforcement agencies are not considered as the accused in the complaints and the allegations of disappearance are transformed to an alleged kidnapping by unknown offenders. After that, the police and the intelligence agencies keep the relatives and family members of the disappeared under constant surveillance. Their telephonic and personal communications with human rights defenders and the press are monitored and taped. Any attempt to pursue the matter brings further harassment and threats. For example: when a father pursued his son's disappearance case, the police and the RAB threaten him that his other sons will also be disappeared. There has been not a single instance of completing an investigation of disappearance in the last five years. As a result, there is no question of any prosecution in such cases.
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has failed to address the issue when the relatives sought justice by filing Habeas Corpus Writ Petitions regarding disappearances. Instead of holding the law-enforcement agencies accountable for the crimes and compelling them to bring the disappeared men before the Court, the highest judiciary accepts the statements of the Police and the RAB, who take this opportunity to formally deny their involvement in the crime. Thus, the doors of justice are, in fact, closed for the relatives of the disappeared persons.
As you are aware of, Bangladesh ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 23 March 2010. Enforced disappearance is a heinous violation of human rights and, therefore, it is an international crime. The protection of law and the right to life are not, for all practical purposes, guaranteed in Bangladesh. The default denial of justice affects families in many different ways, including constant fear of their lives. The victims’ families, most especially the wives and mothers, go through an emotional roller-coaster of hope and despair, waiting for news on their spouses and sons that might never come. No resort for justice is left for the families of the disappeared victims in Bangladesh.
AFAD, along with other human rights organizations and civil society the world over, sincerely requests the International Criminal Court to apply its legitimate mandate under the international human rights laws, especially the Rome Statute. The Government of Bangladesh has the obligation under this Statute to protect the citizens from crimes against humanity. The ICC is mandated to intervene in circumstances where the State Parties undermine their obligation of halting the crimes against humanity and guaranteeing the right to justice through maintaining the normative principles of fair trial. Effective intervention of the ICC will pave the way for the victims' families to hope for justice, while the rest will get a breathing space in Bangladesh where the citizens are facing increased restrictions in the enjoyment of their civil and political rights.
Human rights organizations and civil society have been under increased governmental repressions and surveillance that prevent accomplishing their legitimate work for the protection and promotion of human rights. An immediate intervention from the ICC will largely contribute to uphold the rule of law and democratic principles, and to enable human rights defenders to work without fear of retaliation or reprisal from the state and its agents.
AFAD urges your good office, the International Criminal Court (ICC) to urge the Government of Bangladesh to provide the necessary space for peaceful political exercise and refrain from using excessive force and perpetrating systematic persecutions of political opponents and citizens.
AFAD urges the ICC to provide all means necessary for the protection of citizens from the unabated enforced disappearances and all forms of human rights violations.
We request the International Criminal Court to act promptly to prevent further unnecessary loss of lives, enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations in Bangladesh and restore peace and order.
Sincerely yours,
KHURRAM PARVEZ
Chairperson
MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
Secretary-General