List of '61 deceased' sent to int'l watchdogs

Odhikar yesterday said it sent four international organisations and a local rights body a list of 61 people, “killed during the violence that occurred on May 5 and 6, 2013” centring the Hefajat rally at Shapla Chattar.
In a press release, Odhikar said the list had been sent to the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Asian Human Rights Commission and Ain O Salish Kendra.
Odhihar claimed that on August 11 police from the detective branch had seized three laptops and two desktop computers that contained important information on victims and witnesses and drafts of the names and addresses of those killed during the May 5-6 violence.
“Odhikar is extremely concerned about the welfare of the family members of the deceased; and is already receiving information that some family members are being scrutinised by the police, who have told them not to speak about their incident. The informants of this news are the family members themselves,” read the release.
“This is exactly why Odhikar refused to give the information of the 61 deaths to the Ministry of Information, unless it formed some sort of independent inquiry commission under the law.”
It claimed that it had sent the list “in order to hold a fair and just investigation, without further intimidating and threatening the victim families”.
Detectives on August 10 arrested Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan in connection with tarnishing the image of the government, the state and law enforcers by publishing a “false report” online about law enforcers' flushing out Hefajat men from the capital's Shapla Chattar on May 5 and 6.