Bangladesh: Senior Awami League politician in danger of torture

London - January 9, 2003 Amnesty International is seriously concerned about the safety of a senior Awami League politician, Saber Hossain Chowdhury - a prisoner of conscience. "He has been transferred from prison to police custody where he will be interrogated for seven days in yet another politically motivated allegation of criminal activity brought against him by the authorities," Amnesty International said.

"He is being held incommunicado, his place of detention is unknown and we fear that he may be tortured," the international human rights organization added.

"We urge the Government of Bangladesh to ensure Saber Hossain Chowdhury's safety and well being and to provide immediate access to his family and to his lawyer," Amnesty International continued.

Prisoners remanded in police custody for interrogation are often subjected to torture. The government of Bangladesh has failed to protect prisoners against torture, or to bring to justice those responsible for acts of torture.

Amnesty International believes the continued harassment of Saber Hossain Chowdhury is in violation of his right to freedom of expression. It further believes government defiance of court orders for his release is a denial of his fundamental right to be protected by law. The organization is therefore urging the government of Bangladesh to respect court orders and release the politician immediately.

Background

Saber Hossain Chowdhury was initially arrested on 20 October 2002 and a succession of criminal cases was filed against him. However, despite keeping him in detention for one month, the government failed to substantiate the allegations and was therefore unable to bring formal criminal charges against him.

Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience detained solely for his identity as a vocal critic of the ruling party. He was released on 20 November after the High Court declared his continued detention illegal, however he was arrested again on 8 December 2002 together with over a dozen other Awami League politicians in what appeared to be a new, targeted move against the opposition. After four days in custody he appeared before a magistrate court, which refused to hear or record his statement even after his lawyers obtained a High Court order directing the magistrate to do so and then to present that statement to the High Court.

The government failed to bring any formal charges against him and the High Court ordered his release on bail pending the investigation of the allegations levelled by the government against him. Before that order could come in to effect, the Government issued a detention order against him under the Special Powers Act which overrides safeguards in Bangladeshi law against arbitrary detention. The explanation given by the authorities for this detention order state: "it seems necessary to issue an order for your detention in order to prevent you from deteriorating law and order."

By continually violating Saber Hossain Chowdhury's fundamental rights, the Government has placed a heavy burden on the judicial system to issue rulings on the unlawfulness of the Government's actions. On 8 January the High Court stopped the current remand of him in police custody and directed that he should be released on bail because his detention was illegal. Far from respecting this, the government is trying to stop this order by appealing to the Highest Court.

Amnesty International is concerned about persistent allegations that the authorities in Bangladesh may have been seeking to ensure his ill-treatment while in custody. He was sent to Dhaka Central Jail where he was held in a room with no ventilation, having to sleep on the floor using only a prison blanket. Despite having high blood pressure, he was not given dietary food and the jail officials refused to accept food brought by the family. He was not allowed visits from the family.

It was only after the intervention of the High Court that the family was allowed to visit Saber Hossain Chowdhury for the first time on 16 December, but the presence of four security officials made it impossible for the family to get the details of his treatment in custody. The High Court had also ordered the jail authorities to accord Saber Hossain Chowdhury with privileged facilities, such as a bed, and dietary food consistent with his status as a former deputy minister. Jail officials refused to implement the court order for nine days, allegedly at the instigation of higher authorities. Soon after (27 December), he was transferred to Sylhet Jail in the far north east of the country, which has no privileged facilities and kept under poor detention conditions without any official explanation. This seemed to be yet another move by the government to subject him to poor and unhygienic prison conditions, and make it difficult for him to be visited by his family and lawyers.

On 6 January, the High Court declared his detention illegal and ordered his release but the government refused to do so. The same day Saber Hossain Chowdhury was transferred from Sylhet to Mymensingh Jail (also far from Dhaka), and the day after the government filed a criminal allegation that he was involved in a number of bomb blasts. Following this, police obtained his remand in custody for interrogation for seven days.

In the past, the government of Bangladesh has used various excuses to seriously harass opposition politicians and Saber Hossain Chowdhury's treatment falls within this pattern. There is concern within the country and in the international community that the opportunistic targeting of opposition politicians using allegations of criminal activity is not only against human rights standards, but also serves to divert the course of justice and, effectively, protects actual criminals. (keralamonitor.com)

MIDDLE EAST: Israelis Kill Syrian In Golan Heights Border Clash; More

Israeli troops yesterday shot and killed a Syrian soldier and captured another during a rare border incursion into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Three men dressed in civilian clothes apparently infiltrated Israeli-held territory and opened fire on a military post. Israeli troops returned fire, killing one. In response, Syrian soldiers across the border fired into Israeli territory, but the Israelis did not respond.

Syrian authorities say the men were only seeking water from a nearby river in the disengagement zone. They accuse Israel of firing first, violating a cease-fire agreement that has held since 1974 (Reuters/Washington Post, Jan. 9).

It was the first flare-up on the disputed border since September 2001, when Israeli troops discovered a bag of explosives and weapons (Mark Lavie, Associated Press/Boston Globe, Jan. 9).

The U.N. Disengagement Force monitors the cease-fire agreement over the Golan Heights. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan last month called for a six-month extension of UNDOF in his latest report to the Security Council on the mission, which he called "essential" despite that the area under its mandate had been "generally quiet" (UN Wire, Dec. 17). The Security Council renewed the mandate through June 30 based on Annan's recommendation (U.N. release, Dec. 17).

EGYPT: UNHCR Seeks To Aid Pregnant Qatari Sisters
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The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said yesterday that it is seeking to help two Qatari sisters, both currently four months pregnant, whose parents tried to make them have abortions against their will.

The women, aged 25 and 28, married two Indian men in India last year against their parents' wishes. After the wedding, the sisters' family invited them back to Qatar, ostensibly for a wedding, then sent them to Egypt accompanied by their brothers to undergo abortions.

The women are now in Cairo, and UNHCR's Karim Atassi told Agence France-Presse that UNHCR officials "have met with them and are trying to help them." According to Asharq al-Awsat, UNHCR learned of the women's situation from their husbands (AFP, Jan. 8).

According to Gulf News, the brothers tried to take the women home from Egypt with the help of the Qatari Embassy, but authorities in Egypt have separated the sisters from their brothers. "Negotiations are still on between the UNHCR and the Qatari authorities to put an end to the matter," Egyptian sources said (Gulf News, Jan. 9).

Gulf News reported that the two Qatari sisters are seeking asylum in Egypt fearing reprisals from their family since they married Indians without informing their families. They are now under the custody of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Egyptian authorities.

According to a front page report in the London-based Arabic daily Al Sharq Al Awsat, Nayla and Zabia, 25 and 28, were married to Indians in August without the approval of their family while they were on a trip to India. Later, the family convinced them over the phone to come home to celebrate their marriages. After they arrived in Qatar, the family arranged to send the two sisters with their brothers to Egypt to have their foetuses aborted. On arrival in Egypt, Nayla and Zabia called their husbands from the Cairo International Airport and warn them of the developments.

The husbands contacted the UNHCR and Egypt's Human Rights Organisation which swiftly moved to protect them in coordination with the Egyptian authorities. Cairo International Airport authorities put the women and their brothers at the airport for a while, but later released them and moved them to a hotel in the city awaiting a decision from the higher authorities. "Negotiations are still on between the UNHCR and the Qatari authorities to put an end to the matter," Gulf News quoted Egyptian sources. The authorities, however, separated Nayla and Zabia from their brothers who tried to take them home with the help of the Qatari embassy in Egypt.

According to the paper, Zabia is married to Dr Mohammed, 32, while her sister Nayla is married to his compatriot Wisam, 34. UNHCR sources said that their husbands had e-mailed the Commission saying that they married to the two sisters according to Islamic Sharia and stayed with them more than four months before they returned to Qatar. They said that they had known them since 1996 as the two sisters visited India frequently since their mother is an Indian.

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