Joint forces put above the law

The government yesterday indemnified all persons for all their acts during the countrywide joint drive against crime.

A special cabinet meeting approved an ordinance styled Joint Drive Indemnity Ordinance 2003 yesterday afternoon, giving legal cover to the acts done during the drive by the joint forces and civil administration between October 16 and January 9.

President Iajuddin Ahmed signed the ordinance last night.

"It is necessary and pertinent in the interest of the people to indemnify all the persons, including the members of the armed forces and law enforcers, for all the acts done during the joint drive from October 16, 2002 till the working day of January 9, 2003," says the ordinance.

The ordinance precludes any move to seek justice in the court of law for custodial deaths and human rights violations during the countrywide clampdown on crime.

In the next parliamentary session, the ordinance would be placed in the form of a bill, Law Minister Moudud Ahmed told a press briefing at his ministry last night.

"The ordinance was issued after working hours," he added.

When asked whether the indemnity contradicts the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, he said, "There is a provision in the constitution to provide indemnity."

This is the second indemnity in the country's history after the infamous ordinance of 1975 that indemnified the persons involved in the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family members and others on August 15, 1975.

The Khondker Mushtak Ahmed government, which came to power following the bloody coup, issued the 1975 ordinance. Later, the ordinance was ratified in the parliament in 1979 with the fifth amendment of the constitution that gave legitimacy to the military rule of Ziaur Rahman.

In 1996, however, the parliament repealed the infamous indemnity ordinance.

The Joint Drive Indemnity Ordinance 2003 says no one can seek justice and no complaints can be lodged against any person involved with the joint drive for any arrest, death, torture, violation of rights and if any damage of physical, mental or financial nature between October 16 and January 9.

In addition, no complaints can be lodged against the person or persons who had ordered the Operation Clean Heart.

And if cases or proceedings were filed in any court regarding any act during the joint drive it would automatically be cancelled, the ordinance says.

The government launched the Operation Clean Heart on October 16 through an order. Members of the armed forces, paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), police and ansars are engaged in the anticrime drive.

As many as 44 people have died in custody and hundreds have been injured since the drive began, sparking off criticism for human rights violation.

The joint forces have so far arrested more than 11,000 people, including some 2,400 listed criminals.

Human rights violation by the army during the drive has also become evident following several cases filed against some army personnel for torture and deaths of innocent people.

The drive will continue but the scope and nature of the joint forces will change, said Moudud. However, he did not elaborate.