Lawmen worst human rights violators

Law enforcement agencies are the worst violators of human rights in the country, said National Human Rights Commission Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman yesterday.

"The number of complaints of human rights violation against law enforcement agencies tops the list we receive," he said, adding that research should be done as to "why law enforcers are at the top".

The rights boss made the comments at a report sharing and discussion programme titled “NHRC: Institutional Commitment Needed". Organised by Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) at the Jatiya Press Club, the programme was chaired by ASK Executive Director Sultana Kamal.

Referring to Mohammad Nafiz, 32, an alleged operative of banned outfit Hizb-ut Tahrir, who was shot by police on October 17 in the capital's Mohammadpur, Mizan said it was brutal and inhuman that they shot a person at point blank range and injured him.

Regarding Limon who was shot and maimed by the Rapid Action Battalion in 2011, he said the government cannot restrict its duty to only dropping false charges against Limon.

The judiciary has a role to play in realising compensation for Limon, he added.

On March 23, 2011, a Rab team shot Limon in the left leg at Shaturia village in Jhalakathi, taking him for a notorious criminal it was looking for. Later, the Rab brought two false charges against him, which had been dropped in October this year.

At the programme, the ASK published an annual report on the performance and establishment of national human rights institutions in Bangladesh between January 2013 and June this year. It prepared the report as the Bangladesh country chapter for the Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institution (ANNI) Report 2014.

"The overall human rights situation in 2013 was alarming amid continuous political violence throughout the year, and it has been one of the most challenging years for the country's economy in recent times," noted the report.

"Enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings [as "crossfire" and "encounter"] and deaths in police custody continued along with communal violence, harassment and killing of journalists, gender-based violence and violation of workers' rights," it added.

The report also referred to the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Act, 2013, that empowers law enforcers to record conversations, videos, photographs and conversations posted on social media. The Anti-Corruption Act, 2004, has been amended to curtail the power of the ACC to sue government officials, it notes.