Torture frequent, probes rare in Bangladesh: AI
Bangladeshi authorities have frequently resorted to torture and failed to investigate dozens of reported custodial killings, Amnesty International said yesterday.
In its report on 2002, the London-based human rights watchdog said 38 people "reportedly died after torture in army custody and eight after torture in police custody.
"Many detainees were tortured by police, who continue to use widely Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to detain people without an arrest warrant," Amnesty said.
The reported deaths in army custody came after Prime Minister Khaleda Zia ordered tens of thousands of troops onto the streets in October in a three-month crackdown on crime.
"Despite international calls for independent inquiries into these deaths, no investigations were carried out," Amnesty said.
The government contends the army drive reduced Bangladesh's rampant street violence, but the United States and the European parliament both said they had seen evidence of human rights abuses.
Amnesty said more than 10,000 people were arrested in the crackdown, although many were later released.
The rights watchdog said authorities have tortured both common criminals and members of the opposition.
It alleged Bahauddin Nasim, a senior official of the main opposition Awami League party, was tortured for five days, during which he was reportedly hung upside down and beaten with glass bottles on his buttocks, knees, elbows, hips and genitals, and given electric shocks.
Amnesty also noted that a number of journalists were arrested, including five people who were filming a documentary for Britain's Channel Four television and Shahriar Kabir, who was reporting on attacks against the Muslim country's Hindu minority.
The rights group criticized Bangladesh for not releasing details of a promised investigation into reported anti-Hindu violence that erupted after Zia's Islamist-allied government came to power in October 2001 elections.
But Amnesty noted that authorities "took action to protect Hindus during their festivities" in October 2002.
Reports of violence against women were also common in 2002, according to Amnesty, which said at least six women committed suicide after being raped.
Amnesty, which opposes the death penalty, said at least 87 people were sentenced to death in 2002 in Bangladesh, although no executions were reported.
Bangladesh is torn by a bitter rivalry between Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League, which has repeatedly brought the parliament to a standstill.
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