Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) expressed grave concern over

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), a national legal aid and  human rights organization in Bangladesh having the UNECOSOC consultative status has expressed grave concern over Rab’s shooting incident  incident on March 23 which maimed college student Limon at Chhaturia village in Rajapur of Jhalakathi.

Rab shot Limon in the left leg at his village in the afternoon of March 23 ,2011while returning back from their operation in Shahid Jamaddar’s home, Saturia village  in Rajapur of Jhalakathi, although they couldnt come up with any  clear allegations against Limon whom they shot . Afterwards Rab filed two cases against Limon but the investigation officer of the case did not find any evidence of the allegations.
Limon bled for three hours on the bank of river Sandhya before the Rab members realised that the boy immediately needed medical attention. The law enforcers then took him to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital in Barisal, which took another five hours on the way. Doctors on March 25 referred Limon to National Institute of Traumatology, Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation (Nitor) hospital in the capital being sure that the injury was life threatening and irreversible.

Limon’s left leg was amputated from the thigh on March 27 as his leg tissues were totally damaged due to excessive bleeding.

“From now on, people will feel pity for me as they do for the disabled. Or perhaps, they would make my life miserable as I am officially labelled as a criminal,” Limon sobbed out to print  & electronic media  in his hospital bed in the prison ward 7th April 2011. The teenager is now doomed to despair.

“I wanted to be a banker, but that dream of mine is shattered. The Rab members took only two to three minutes before they shot me. I told them that I am a college student and urged to verify the allegations against me with our college principal and villagers,” said Limon recollecting the most horrible moment of his life.

Meanwhile, Nasiruddin Mahmud, principal of Kathalia PGS Multipurpose Vocational School and College, said, “Limon has no bad record that we know of. On the contrary, he is studying here for free for being poor but talented.”
The 16-year-old who had worked in a brick field on his holidays to chase his dreams now faces two cases including one for possessing illegal arms.

Meanwhile, the High Court yesterday issued a suo moto rule upon the government over the alleged torture of Limon by Rab.

An HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Farid Ahmed issued the rule following a news report published in the Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

“We want to know who gave the authority to Rab to shoot a man even if he is a criminal,” said Dr. Mizanur Rahman  , chairman of National Human Rights Commission.

No steps has been taken so far  from the Government  to prevent Rab from continuing extra judicial activities, which is giving rise to such kind of extra judicial killing incident day by day. Our urge and demand  to the Government is to take necessary  steps on investigating the incident and arrange for  treatment of Limon.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

RAB was formed as  an organized and well-planned manner, after having a law passed in parliament. Under this law, the armed police forces have five responsibilities:

1. Maintenance of internal security
2. Seizure of illegal arms, ammunition and explosives
3. Dealing with armed criminal gangs
4. Assisting the police force in maintaining law and order and
5. Performing any other duties assigned by the government.

In the July 9, 2003, amendment, in which RAB is regarded as armed police and they are required to undertake the same five responsibilities. In addition, two more duties have been appended as additional responsibilities of RAB.

1. Investigating crimes and criminal activities
2. Investigating certain crimes in accordance with governmental instructions.

Within a short time since its birth, RAB has succeeded in conveying the idea that they have more important responsibilities than remaining within the bounds of the law. As a result of this sense of responsibility, the word “crossfire” has gained an added dimension in police literature within a very short span of time – as the term “heart attack” had during Operation Clean Heart.

According to the UK newspaper the Guardian (Source: The Daily Star 23.12.10) which ran a story on the leak, in September last year the director general of Rab said his force had killed 577 people in “crossfire”. In March ‘this year he updated the figure, saying they had killed 622 people which have rendered the organization ineligible to receive training and assistance according to Leahy legislation,” said the 2008 cable. In another cable, it was revealed that the British Officials  have been “training RAB for 18 months in areas such as investigative interviewing techniques and rules of engagement”. Asked about the training assistance for the RAB, the Foreign Office said the UK government “provides a range of human rights assistance” in the country. However, the RAB’s head of training, Mejbah Uddin, told the Guardian that he was unaware of any human rights training since he was appointed last summer.

The cables reveal that both the British and the Americans, in their determination to strengthen counter-terrorism operations in Bangladesh, are in favour of bolstering the force, arguing that the “RAB enjoys a great deal of respect and admiration from a population scarred by decreasing law and order over the last decade”. In one cable, the US ambassador to Dhaka, James Moriarty, expresses the view that the RAB is the “enforcement organisation best positioned to one day become a Bangladeshi version of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation”.We have learnt that RAB will transform into the FBI of Bangladesh. Despite all this good news, it still worries us that that the number of people being killed in crossfire incidents is increasing.

Henuara Begum Mother of Limon filed a case with a Jhalakathi court against six members of the elite force on Sunday morning.  She  filed the petition case with Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court against Deputy Assistant Director of Rab-8 Md Lutfor Rahman, Corporal Md Majaharul Islam, Constable Md Abdul Aziz, Nayek Moktadir Hossain, Nayek Prahalad Chandra and soldier Kartik Kumar Biswas.After hearing the petition, Magistrate Nusrat Jahan directed the officer-in-charge of Rajapur Police Station in Jhalakathi to register it as a regular case, reports our Barisal correspondent. Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandaker said investigation into the incident was underway. He spoke at a press briefing at the Police Headquarters on the law and order during the upcoming Pahela Baishakh celebrations that , he, asked for a report from the director general of Rab on Limon’s matter.

The law on the formation of RAB passed in parliament states that RAB works under direct governmental instruction. According to law the overall supervision of the armed forces rests with the government. The amended law also states that RAB will follow the Criminal Procedure Code in the investigation of any crime. If Limon were a criminal Rab should have handed over him to proper authority,but Rab is maiming or killing innocent people in violation of human rights and the constitution. A certain amount of error is not beyond the bounds of normalcy. But when the exceptions become the norm, when perpetrators remain beyond the reach of the law, then it has to be said that the government has failed to do its duty.