Custodial death: some key questions
On Friday, the news of the death of Romel Chakma at the hands of security forces spread like wildfire in social media. The subsequent reports surrounding his detention, death and cremation are puzzling, to say the least.
It all began when a contingent of army personnel picked up Romel Chakma, a student of Naniarchar College in Rangamati and general secretary of Pahari Chhatra Parishad's Rangamati unit, in the morning of April 5 from Naniarchar Bazar area. Subsequently, the director of Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) stated that Romel was detained in connection with two cases filed over torching a truck and looting two buses. The ISPR went on to claim that the detainee was handed over to the police the same day and died on April 19 at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where he was undergoing treatment.
Within a day after Romel's arrest, his father, Kanti Chakma, sought the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission. He informed the Commission about the detention of his son, expressed concern that he (Romel) was critically injured due to torture inflicted on him in detention. He also said his son fell unconscious at the beating of the security force personnel, who later tried to hand him over to the police. But the police refused to accept his unconscious body.
It is revealing that on a query from a leading English daily, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Naniarchar Police Station denied receiving Romel from any quarter. The OC, however, said, "We have information that Romel was admitted to Naniarchar Health Complex after he was injured in a road accident. Documents at the facility also show that he was referred to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH)."
News reports further inform that Romel's family members, wishing anonymity, said that when they went to take his body from the army on April 21, they were told that the body had already been cremated. In a text message the ISPR director informed that the cremation took place between 1:30pm and 4:00pm in presence of Naniarchar OC and Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Kawkhali. Contradicting such a claim, the OC told the media he was not present at the cremation. When the ISPR official was asked if the family was present during the last rites, the official said, "I'd have to check. My common sense tells me that it's only natural that the family members were there."
The Romel case raises some important questions for the authorities. Firstly, Romel was not a fugitive and was an examinee of the ongoing intermediate examinations. Even if the two charges against Romel were true, does the responsibility of arresting him fall on a security force other than the police – now that the much-celebrated peace deal has long been in effect? Secondly, was Romel or his family furnished with any warrant of arrest? Thirdly, if the army had indeed handed over Romel to the police (a claim that the police denies) isn't there any protocol in place for documentation for such a handover? If it does exist, then where is the evidence of the handover? Fourthly, why was he not produced before the court within the stipulated 24-hour period? Fifthly, why was the detainee's family denied access for more than two weeks? Sixthly, what action did the National Human Rights Commission take after receiving the complaint of Kanti Chakma within a day after Romel's detention? Seventhly, in what state and from which authority did the CMCH receive Romel's injured body, what did the marks of injury on his body indicate, what does the autopsy result inform, whom did they hand over the body to after his death and what measures have they taken to preserve documents related to Romel? Eighthly, why has the family been denied the body of Romel to conduct the last rites? Ninthly, under which authority did the concerned security force conduct cremation?
Romel Chakma's death has drawn the nation's attention to the gruesome practice of torture inflicted on detainees by the members of law enforcement agencies. The episode also lays bare the reality of the lack of accountability in matters of custodial torture and deaths. It's time for the political leadership and those at the helm of national security and law enforcement establishments to bring to book those members of the security forces who go beyond their mandated tasks. Not doing so will erode people's confidence in those agencies.
The writer is Professor of International Relations at the University of Dhaka. He researches and writes on rights and migration issues.
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