Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) is expressing its deep concern over the ‘unnatural death’ of a number of Bangladesh Rifles soldiers.

From newspaper reports we have come to know that by Sunday morning last, Mobarak Hossain, a detained BDR soldier, was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where on-duty doctors declared that he had died long before he was brought to the hospital. The newspaper reports stated that there were marks of wounds in different parts of his body. The matter is worrying because the responsibility for such deaths in custody lies with the government.

It is a matter of worry that only few had so far been allowed to meet their relative BDR members inside the Pilkhana while large number could not do that even after waiting at the gate for days together. Moreover, such deaths inside Pilkhana have caused deep concern and anxiety among the family members of BDR soldiers as well as the people of the country.

We like to remind the government that at the United Nations Human Rights Council in February 2009, it pledged to take highest measures to prevent deaths in custody. We, so hope that the government would take steps to ensure that no human rights violation takes place in reaction to the gruesome killings at Pilkhana on February 25-26.
We demand proper trial of the Pilkhana killings but do not want to see any extra judicial dealing with the matter.