Uwazi

Two DBC News journalists, Saiful Islam Jewel and Azad Ahmed, were assaulted on August 2 while investigating alleged irregularities in the procurement of medical equipment. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the attack and calls on the Bangladeshi authorities to bring all perpetrators to justice.

On August 2, Jewel and Ahmed were investigating allegations of corruption and irregularities made against the Victor Trading Corporation in their procurement of medical equipment. As they reported outside the Corporation’s office, the owner of Agargaon Taltola trading house, Kawsar Bhuiyan, and other employees proceeded to beat the journalist and cameraperson.

Jewel said that the assailants first attacked Ahmed, seizing and vandalising his camera and deleting all audio and video. After asking for their camera and equipment back, Ahmed and Jewel were again beaten by approximately 12 assailants, leaving both seriously injured.

The journalists’ colleagues at DBC news reported the men received immediate medical care at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Media College Hospital in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The current state of their injuries remains unclear.

Sher-e-Banglanagar police inspector, Shahjahan Mandal, confirmed that Jewel has since filed a police report in relation to the assault, and all eight persons identified have been placed in custody. Information surrounding other assailants or related persons has yet to be revealed.

Media associations and press freedom organisations in Bangladesh have condemned the assault and called for further action of protect journalists and media workers.

The IFJ has documented several recent incidents of violence against Bangladeshi media workers. On June 6, the body of DBC News Journalist Abdul Bari was found with multiple stab wounds. The IFJ’s South Asia Press Freedom Report 2021-22 also recorded the assault of Prothom Alo journalist Shahadat Hossain at a protest organised by the Bangladesh Chhatra League in June 2021, while Bahannor Alo correspondent Selim Shamrat was assaulted while investigating similar allegations in July 2021.

On 15 July 2022, the Bangladeshi Armed Police Battalion 16 conducted a raid at the house of Rohingya human rights defenders and journalists Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani in Nayapara Registered Camp. Unable to find them at the residence, the police physically assaulted and arrested the defenders’ father Sultan Ahmed and their brother-in-law Nur Bareq. While Sultan Ahmed was released by the police after four hours, Nur Bareq remains under detention for more than four days without being made to appear in court. He was also severely beaten and tortured in the custody of the police.

Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani are brothers and Rohingya journalists who report on the various human rights violations faced by Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and elsewhere in Asia. Saiful Arakani works as a reporter and Aziz Arakani as a camera operator for Rohingya news website The Arakan Times. The human rights defenders report on issues such as human trafficking of Rohingya refugees, killings of Rohingya human rights defenders and leaders, sale of drugs, lack of food security schemes, fires in refugee camps and so on. For their reporting on the issues faced by Rohingyas, Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani have faced repeated threats, harassment and violence from the police in Bangladesh and local mobs. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has been following their case and issued statements in support of the human rights defenders.

On 15 July 2022, the Armed Police Battalion 16 raided the house of Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani in search of the human rights defenders and instead detained their father and brother-in-law as a form of reprisal. Nur Bareq, their brother-in-law remains under detention without being presented in court. He is currently being detained in Cox Bazar Prison. The police also attempted to extort money from Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani in order to release Nur Bareq. The police uncovered a sum of money at their house during the raid which they claim has been unlawfully obtained and have accused the human rights defenders of money laundering, even though they have written evidence to prove that the money has been donated by international organizations for their father’s cancer treatment.

This is not the first form of reprisal faced by Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani in retaliation for their journalistic activities. On 29 June 2022, Aziz Arakani was violently assaulted by human traffickers in the presence of Bangladesh police, for his reporting on the trafficking of 34 Rohingya refugees from their camps. The traffickers also threatened to kill him and Saiful Arakani. Aziz Arakani tried to lodge a complaint with the police but believes that the police have been bribed by the traffickers and no action was taken against them.

On 20 December 2021, the Armed Police Battalion summoned Saiful Arakani to the station in Nayapara Refugee Camp, in relation to one of his reports and severely tortured him and threatened him against reporting. He was also forced to call Aziz Arakani to the police station and when he warned him that the police were looking for him, the police beat Saiful even more. The following day, the police hunted Aziz Arakani down at his residence and threatened him against reporting for the Rohingya people. The police detained their father for over three hours and let him go after obtaining his signature on a blank sheet of paper. Both Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani went into hiding for several months after this incident.

On 16 October 2021, people from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an armed insurgent group who are against the repatriation of Rohingya refugees and are believed to be behind the killing of Rohingya human rights defender Mohib Ullah, visited their residence looking for them and shot their guns in the air as a threat for reporting on the death of Mohib Ullah. When they informed the police of this incident, they refused to take any action saying that CPJ and Rohingyas will save them. On 29 September 2021, the journalists had also received threatening phone calls from members of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the repeated threats, harassment and police brutality faced by human rights defenders Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani and their family. We condemn the use of force as a reprisal against legitimate human rights work and peaceful activities carried out by human rights defenders. The safety of Saiful Arakani and Aziz Arakani must be ensured by the authorities in Bangladesh as they are refugees and do not have the rights related to nationality.

Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in Bangladesh to:

Immediately and unconditionally cease all forms of harassment against human rights defenders Saiful and Aziz Arakani and their family;

Immediately and unconditionally release Nur Bareq, the brother-in-law of the human rights defenders and conduct an impartial investigation into his wrongful detention and allegations of torture with a view to bring the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international human rights law;

Initiate an immediate, impartial and thorough enquiry into the threats and harassment faced by the human rights defenders and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice in accordance with international human rights law;

Initiate a thorough judicial review of the rights guaranteed to refugees in Bangladesh in genuine consultation with independent civil society organisations and human rights defenders, with a view to aligning the laws with Bangladesh’s obligations under international human rights law and standards;

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in Bangladesh are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.

Every time someone gets "picked up", reports are published in media. After being "picked up", whereabouts of some become known, while the unlucky ones are never found. What is never known, however, is the way someone gets "picked up" and who does the "picking up".

Mizanur Rahman, who became the latest person to be "picked up", was fortunately found and released several hours later. He spoke to The Daily Star, detailing the chronology of events that happened on that day.

Mizanur, an activist and resident of Dhaka's Jurain area, was picked up by law enforcers from Shyampur Police Station on June 9, 2022, from a market near Jurain Rail Gate.

When the incident was reported, Shyampur police and Detective Branch did not clear the air, while Mizanur's family members and friends panicked.

The day before, police lodged a case in connection with an attack on a police sergeant in Jurain, accusing 450 persons including three named individuals.

Besides talking to media in this regard, Mizanur published a post on social media after the incident, saying: "It can be said that two things will happen. One is trade involving the cases filed, and the other being bribes demanded through threatening to sue people. We are living in a country where it is not at all possible to expect an impartial and fair investigation into the incident that happened." ONE HOUR AT THE POLICE STATION

According to Mizanur, he came to know that DB was looking for him before he would be picked up from Jurain later in the day on June 9. A close junior in the area had alerted him in this regard and suggested him to go into hiding.

"I, however, thought that I did not have a reason to be on the run. Firstly, I did not commit any crime. Secondly, there are many unnamed accused in this case, the meaning of which is not unknown to us. It will be all about arresting any and all, leaving mostly common people harassed and with no one to stand by them. Considering this, I gave up the thought of going into hiding," Mizanur told The Daily Star.

On the day he was "picked up", Mizanur went to a market named Bikrampur Plaza, where he noticed a police inspector nearby calling him.

"It occurred to me that they may detain me, so I tried to get inside the market but the policemen ran to catch up with me and asked my name. 'Our DC sir will have a word with you,' they then said," Mizanur recounted.

Meanwhile, he somehow managed to inform his daughter in this regard over mobile phone. Soon afterwards, several other police personnel arrived on the spot and surrounded him before "picking him up" in a car. Mizanur told a friend at the time that he was being taken to Shyampur Police Station.

"In the car, they misbehaved with me and snatched away my mobile phone," he said.

The family members and near ones began to panic from this point on. As his family contacted Shyampur police, they denied picking up Mizanur straight away. Then who picked him up? What had happened to him? There were so many questions that his family members were imploring to find answers to while looking for information on his whereabouts.

"In Shyampur OC's room, there was a female police official, possibly the ADC. There they misbehaved with me, used abusive words. They asked why I said that [social media post] about bribery demanded by policemen. I tried to explain, but they hardly let me speak properly," Mizanur narrated.

"At one point, the female officer ordered to beat me up. A policeman was standing there with a stick. Once ordered, he beat me hard several times," he said.

"I have so far fought a lot to live with self-respect. Being beaten like this was unacceptable to me. Yes, I was beaten up before on the road while protesting some cause. But being beaten up like this just for saying something really hurt my self-respect. I could hardly speak. I never felt so helpless. I was also enraged by this," he said.

"After a while, another senior official came. He spoke casually with me, did not misbehave. 'What you said is alright, but you could have said this through a proper channel,' he told me," Mizanur said.

Mentioning that he was kept standing the whole time at the police station, Mizanur said, "One police personnel was telling an officer there, 'Sir, he is in the BNP committee.' Another said angrily, 'Sir, his whole family are protesters. Even his daughters are also involved in protests.' 'Go pick them up too,' an official said in response."

While this was going on at the police station, Mizanur's wife, daughter and friends could not even be sure whether he was in the station.

The Daily Star also tried to contact Mizanur over phone, but no one received it.

Contacted, Shyampur OC Mofizul Alam had said, "We did not pick up Mizanur Rahman. However, we came to know that he has been taken to Detective Branch (DB). He is one of the suspected instigators in the attack on police sergeant in Jurain. Higher officials are looking into the matter." ON THE WAY TO DB HEADQUARTERS, BLINDFOLDED!

Around an hour after being taken to the police station, Mizanur along with another arrestee were handcuffed, blindfolded and taken in a car for DB headquarters, where they reached half an hour later.

"They did not talk to me much on the way, rather were speaking among themselves. One, however, remarked, 'Old man, why bother doing things like this? Now you will suffer from pain for the rest of your life!'"

Mizanur also said the blindfold was removed after he was taken to a "high official's" office at the DB headquarters.

"After being quizzed by all present in the room, the senior-most person there spoke to me, asking my name first. This was not like quizzing. Around 5-6 persons were present there. While he was talking to me, the junior officers were getting angry at me and misbehaving with me. The senior person made them stop. 'These should be present in democratic practice. We also make mistakes many times. When people like them [referring to me] speak up, it gives us scope to rectify our mistakes too,' he had said," Mizanur recalled.

"The official also said, 'Let's say you were accused in a case. A case can be lodged in many ways. Suppose someone framed you with 10-20 yaba pieces and filed a case against you. Then the verdict may be delivered in the case after 20 years, proving you not guilty. Those who filed the case also knew that you were innocent. However, can you imagine the journey you'd have to make during these 20 years till that verdict?'" Mizanur recounted.

Meanwhile, three hours went by. No one, family or friends, yet knew where Mizanur was taken to. The Daily Star also tried to contact DB and police alongside other relevant sources, but nothing could be known. ASKED FOR WATER, TOLD "KEEP FASTING"

After some time, Mizanur was taken to another room and for the first time was allowed to sit after three hours.

"During this time they tried to discuss with me and tried to make me realise that learned men should not speak a lot, by giving references of Dr Zafar Iqbal and Prof Anu Muhammad. I requested for water. They told me to 'keep fasting'," Mizanur said.

"One of them sarcastically remarked that I had taken water from the drain to get Wasa MD to drink it."

"Then I was taken to another room where I was asked if I had anything to eat. They gave me rice, water and coffee. After the meal, one officer came and asked for someone I wanted to be my custodian. I asked for my wife to be informed," Mizanur said.

The official during that time tried to convince Mizanur that he has a family and their future is important, so he should not be involved in any activities like this. 'NOT EVEN BIRDS WILL KNOW IF PICKED UP SECRETLY'

Mizanur's wife Shamim Hashem Khuki was contacted from DB headquarters after 3:30pm, more than four and half hours after he was picked up. Informed, his family went to the DB headquarters on Minto Road.

According to Mizanur, some time after 4:00pm his wife and daughter entered the DB headquarters. They stayed there for around 20-25 minutes.

"When my wife entered, someone told her in front of me, 'We brought him in broad daylight before everyone. If we picked him up secretly, not even birds would come to know'," Mizanur said.

Later he was released after signing an undertaking that said, "I shall not get involved in any illegal or anti-state activities." "After considering a lot of things, I decided to sign," Mizanur said.

"My daughter was also asked to try to make me understand that I should not speak up. One official said if things like this continue, my daughters will not be considered for government jobs, while warning me of risks," he also said.

"They also asked me about my political identity and views. They did not ask whether I support Awami League or BNP, though. I wanted to say I want a society free of exploitation, repression. One that upholds peoples' dignity. They did not let me speak, instead changed the topic."

On 6 June 2022, workers of several garment factories, including Zuki, Loadstar, Saras, Vision, Polka and MBM in Mirpur, Dhaka, blocked roads in protest, demanding a salary increase. At that time, police baton charged and threw tear gas shells at the workers, injuring some. The workers said that although the factory authorities had promised to increase their salaries this year, it had not been done. Workers have been fired on various pretexts for demanding a pay rise.

Eight people were injured when Chhatra League leaders and activists attacked a procession brought out by left-leaning student organisations on their way to Dhaka University from Shahbagh in Dhaka on 6 June. The students were protesting against a horrific explosion at a container depot at Sitakunda in Chittagong.

Excerpt of the Government communication:

The JUA made a couple of reference about one of its source i.e. ODHIKAR. It being registered under NGO Affairs Bureau, has been working on human rights issues in Bangladesh since 1995. ODHIKAR is widely known for its disproportionate bias and prejudice against Bangladesh, in particular the ruling party Awami league, which is evident in its various reports. Besides, one of the top members of ‘Odhikar’ was earlier appointed by the BNP-Jamaat Govt as the Deputy Attorney General, which should provide disqualification for the UN human rights mechanism to accept it as an objective and neutral organization for reasons of its inherent biasness and motivation. The JUA quoted allegations of reprisal against Odhikar. Whatsoever, should there be any incident of intimidation or reprisals, as experienced by the concerned organization, judicial intervention needs to be sought immediately, rather than trying to raise allegation supported by inadequate information. Hence, ,the Joint Urgent Appeal might ponder to have retrospective analysis on what prompted the drawing of conclusion by itself that ODHIKAR’s cooperation with the UN human rights mechanism has been considered as anti- State and anti-Government activity.

Bangladeshi authorities should immediately reverse their decision to deregister prominent human rights organization, Odhikar, 11 organizations said today. Human rights defenders should be allowed to conduct their work without fear of reprisals, intimidation, and harassment from the authorities.

On June 5, 2022, Bangladesh’s Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau sent a letter to Odhikar, denying the group’s application for renewal of registration. The letter said that Odhikar had published “misleading information” on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh that has “seriously tarnished the image of the state to the world.” The bureau further claimed that Odhikar’s publications on such human rights violations were propaganda that “created various issues against Bangladesh.”

This latest development appears to be part of a pattern of reprisals by the Bangladesh government against human rights groups and defenders following the United States Global Magnitsky sanctions against Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion on December 10, 2021.

Odhikar has been documenting human rights violations in Bangladesh since 1994. Odhikar’s application for renewal with the Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau was pending since 2014, severely inhibiting its ability to conduct human rights monitoring and reporting. But after years of inaction, in early February 2022, soon after the United States sanctions were passed, the bureau sent Odhikar a letter requesting specific information and documents, including the names and addresses of everyone killed extrajudicially and disappeared between 2009 and 2021.

In May 2019, in response to government inaction on its application for registration renewal, Odhikar filed a writ in the High Court. The court asked the bureau to provide an explanation for its non-renewal. The bureau’s decision to deny Odhikar’s application, without providing a reply to the High Court, even as the matter is pending there, shows its disregard for following due process.

Since the announcement of the United States Sanctions, members of Odhikar and their family members have reported facing increased surveillance and harassment by law enforcement officials. Bangladeshi authorities have previously targeted Odhikar’s members in an attempt to silence their work. In 2013, Odhikar’s Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director ASM Nasiruddin Elan were arbitrarily detained for 62 days and 25 days, respectively, after publishing a fact-finding report on extrajudicial killings. They are currently facing ongoing delays and other forms of judicial harassment in a trial based on trumped-up charges at the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, has expressed her concerns on the court’s failure to uphold fair trial principles as well as attacks, smear campaigns, surveillance, and harassment against Odhikar.

The Non-Governmental Organization Affairs Bureau’s decision to deregister Odhikar demonstrates the government’s determination to stifle human rights work in the country. It is the authorities’ failure to ensure accountability for human rights violations rather than Odhikar’s exposure of those violations that has tarnished Bangladesh’s reputation, the organizations said.

The authorities should immediately renew Odhikar’s registration, allow them to conduct their human rights work without reprisals, and welcome their findings as an opportunity to improve the country’s human rights record. More broadly, the government of Bangladesh should end politically motivated persecution of human rights defenders and critics, allow human rights groups to do their work without fear, and ensure accountability for human rights violations.

Human rights defenders (HRD) associated with Odhikar have been under surveillance and subjected to various forms of intimidation and harassment due to them speaking out about human rights violations and their contact with family members of the victims. An HRD associated with Odhikar was approached by members of RAB near his home on 26 February 2022, who wanted to talk to him, but the HRD did not want to talk to them as it was late at night. The RAB members left. On 6 March at around 12 o'clock in the night, his frightened wife called him when he was working in the newspaper office, and told him that some RAB members had come to their house to look for him. When he called the RAB members on cell phone asking them to meet him at day time, they left. At around 9:00 pm on 7 March, that same HRD was called from his office to a dark place by a RAB member. There, another man claiming to be a member of RAB’s Intelligence Unit (name and designation was not disclosed) wanted to know about his contacts with the victim-families and the meetings organised by Mayer Daak, a network of the families and relatives of the disappeared.

On 11 March 2022, the Khalishpur-Daulatpur Jute Mill Joint Factory Committee announced a protest rally in Khulna City demanding the launching of state-owned jute mills, payment of arrears and withdrawal of cases filed against Khalishpur Jute Mill workers. On the day before the programme, at around 2:30 pm on 10 March, the police came on an easy bike to the road adjacent to Khulna Circuit House, in plainclothes, and picked up Monir Hossain, President of Khalishpur-Daulatpur Jute Mill Joint Factory Committee and Organizing Secretary of Khalishpur Jute Mill Workers Union. Monir Hossain informed Odhikar that when he asked them for the reason behind his arrest, the police abused him. He was first taken to the Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) office and later detained at the Boyra Police Outpost. He wanted to drink water but he was not given water till half past two at midnight. Alamgir Kabir, General Secretary of the Committee, was also arrested from the Khalishpur Jute Mill gate at around 8:00 pm on 10 March. Both were taken to Khalishpur Police Station on 11 March at noon. After 29 hours of detention, they were released on 11 March at around 7:00 pm. Monir Hossain also informed Odhikar that they had called a meeting in front of the Khalishpur Jute Mill gate on 15 March with the same demand but the police did not allow them to assemble.

A Dhaka tribunal yesterday framed charges against cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and six others in a case filed under the Digital Security Act for anti-government activities and spreading rumours.

The six others are Hungary-based entrepreneur Zulkarnain Saer Khan alias Sami; Swedish-Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil, editor-in-chief of Netra News; Minhaj Mannan Emon, former director of Dhaka Stock Exchange; Didarul Islam, an activist; Ashik Imran; and Shapan Wahed.

Emon and Islam, now on bail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after Judge Mohammad Ash Sams Joglul Hossain of Dhaka Cyber Tribunal read out the charges.

Earlier in the day, the tribunal cancelled the bail of Kishore and issued an arrest warrant as he was absent at the court for two consecutive dates.

The tribunal also dismissed two petitions submitted for dropping the names of Minhaj and Didarul from the case.

The tribunal set April 7 to launch the trial in the case.

Among the accused, Sami, Tasneem, Ashik and Shapan are absconding.

On June 13 last year, Sub-inspector Afchhar Ahmed of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of police submitted the supplementary charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

Names of the late writer Mushtaq Ahmed, US-based journalist Shahed Alam; Germany-based bloggers Asif Mohiuddin and Philip Schuhmacher were dropped from the charge sheet.

Mushtaq died at Kashimpur High Security Jail on February 25 last year.

On May 6 of 2020, Rab Assistant Director Abu Bakar Siddique filed the case against 11 people with Ramna Police Station under the DSA.

The Bangladesh authorities should immediately conduct an independent and transparent investigation into the death in custody of an Indigenous political activist, Human Rights Watch said today. Any officers found responsible for Nabayan Chakma Milon’s torture and death should be held accountable.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, an independent rights group in the region, said that soldiers detained Milon in Dighinala sub-district on March 15, 2022, at 3:30 a.m. while he was recovering from a medical procedure. Witnesses saw the soldiers beating and kicking Milon for over an hour until he was “half dead,” barely conscious, and appearing to have broken limbs. The soldiers then took him away in a military vehicle. Nearly four hours later, soldiers brought Milon to Dighinala Upazila Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“Nabayan Chakma Milon’s tragic death is just the most recent case in a pattern of abuses by the Bangladesh military in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities should immediately open an independent and transparent investigation into Milon’s death as well as other cases of military abuse in the CHT that the government has persistently ignored.”

Milon was a member of the United People’s Democratic Front (UPDF), an ethnic political party with some armed factions in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The party was formed in 1998 by Indigenous groups that were dissatisfied with the terms of the 1997 Peace Accords signed between the Bangladesh government and the armed insurgent group Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), ending a twenty-year conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts over Indigenous autonomy and land rights. Under the 1997 Peace Accords, the Bangladesh government committed to military withdrawals and transfer of authority to representative Hill District Councils, including over local police, land management, and environmental protection.

The 1997 peace agreement has never been fully carried out. Nearly 25 years later, much of the region remains under military occupation, and most of the commitments laid out in the accord have yet to be realized. Instead, Indigenous rights groups in the Hill Tracts say that the military presence has increased in recent years.

A witness whose name is withheld for his protection told activists that the soldiers took turns beating Milon in an effort to get the password to his computer. The witness told activists that the soldiers repeatedly kicked Milon on his thighs and testicles and beat him with a wooden baton. “When he couldn’t stand up, they threw water on him,” he said. Eventually Milon lost consciousness, at which point the soldiers carried his body out on their shoulders. “He was almost dead at that time,” he said.

Another witness said that the soldiers had tied up Milon’s arms and legs and were beating him with sticks and guns: “They were kicking him like a football with their boots, beating him up with sticks. His arms and legs were broken; he was half-dead.”

Thorough investigations into abuses against Indigenous activists in the Hill Tracts are rare, and those responsible are almost never held to account. Three years after the disappearance of Michael Chakma, an Indigenous rights activist, the government has ignored appeals from his family, as well as inquiries from the High Court, the National Human Rights Commission, and the United Nations Committee against Torture. In January 2020, the police finally responded to an order from the High Court by simply stating that they “could not find anybody named Michael Chakma in any prisons in Bangladesh.”

The Bangladesh military and other branches of law enforcement commit widespread abuses against Indigenous people living in the Hill Tracts, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and land-grabbing, with little redress.

“Nearly 25 years after the signing of the Peace Accords, the Bangladesh government has so far been correct in assuming the international community will ignore abuses in the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” Adams said. “The Bangladesh military should not be allowed to continue to rape, torture, and kill Indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts with impunity.”

“Over 100 people on motorcycles stormed into our office at around 12:15 p.m.,” journalist Arif Hossain Kanak told media outlets, describing the start of the raid on Dainik Somoyer Narayanganj, a local daily newspaper based in the Dhaka suburb of Narayanganj, on 12 February.

The entire staff were the victims of the carefully planned operation. After smashing surveillance cameras and destroying the recordings they contained, they threatened to kill the editor and said they would return if an apology was not published in the next day’s issue.

“We will set fire to this office and shoot your editor dead," they warned.

This punitive raid was prompted by an article in the previous day’s issue about a police investigation involving Ajmeri Osman, a person famous in Narayanganj for being the nephew of a local parliamentarian who is a member of Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League.

Videos that members of the newspaper’s staff recorded on their smartphones show that the raid was led by Awami League activists. “It’s clear that Ajmeri’s supporters were hired to launch the attack,” Dainik Somoyer Narayanganj editor Zabed Ahmed Juel told RSF.

Impunity

RSF has confirmed that the police arrested eight suspects on 13 February but released them the next day. No one has been charged and no other arrest has been made in the five days since the raid.

“We call on Anisul Huq, the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, to do what is necessary to ensure that the perpetrators and instigators of this unacceptable operation, which was designed to threaten and intimidate, do not go unpunished,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We also call on Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader to firmly condemn these acts by members of his party, which – as an organisation that claims to be committed to democracy – cannot tolerate such press freedom violations.”

Ever since Awami League president Sheikh Hasina began her second stint as prime minister in 2009, there has been a steady increase in the number, frequency, violence and intensity of attacks by Awami League activists on journalists who criticise the party’s leaders.

Even journalists based abroad are the targets of reprisals and, as RSF reported last October, pressure is put on them via close relatives still in Bangladesh, who are subjected to judicial harassment and even physical attacks.

Bangladesh is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

On 10 February 2022, a press conference was organised by leaders of the Subornogram Foundation, a civil society organization in Bangladesh. The press conference was aimed at demanding the security and well-being of woman human rights defender Mariyam Akhtar Pakhi and her family, who were physically assaulted in their home in Narayanganj district by local leaders of Awami League, the ruling party of Bangladesh. Since then, Mariyam Akhter Pakhi and her family have been forced to live in a rented house and have been unable to return to their residence due to persistent threats by the assailants. Mariyam Akhtar Pakhi is a woman human rights defender and headmistress of Mayadwip Shishu Patshala, a school for children belonging to low-income households, in particular those coming from the fishingcommunities in Mayaswip island in Nunertek village. The school was founded by the local social organization Subornogram Foundation in 2007 with the intention of providing free education to vulnerable children. On 22 January 2022, woman human rights defender Mariyam Akhter Pakhi, was attacked by a local leader of the ruling party of Bangladesh Awami League. The local leader, Mohammad Hashem, along with at least 20 men armed with knives, hockey sticks and other weapons, forcefully entered Mariyam Akhter Pakhi’s residence around 8:45 pm, and physically assaulted her and her family members. She and her elderly mother, two brothers and her infant daughter were severely injured in the attack. The men also looted the household and took away gold ornaments and 50,000 Bangladeshi Taka in cash, and set fire to the house. The woman human rights defender filed a complaint regarding the incident at Sonargoan Police Station and it was registered under Case no. 32, dated 23 January 2022. A charge-sheet filed by the police was also sent to the Narayanganj Court on 31 January 2022. Following the attack, due to the persistent threats by local leaders of Awami League, the woman human rights defender is living in a rented house in Sonargaon since 28 January 2022. Her relatives and neighbours from Mayadwip Shishu Patshala have informed her that the attackers have threatened to kill the family if they return to their residence. Witnesses have also observed some men standing guard outside the woman human rights defender’s original residence. The woman human rights defender said that the school had been receiving various threats from the local leaders to shut it down. She believes that the attack on her and her family is a result of continuing the school’s operations despite the threats. This is not the first time that human rights members associated with Mayadwip Shishu Patshala have come under attack. The school building faces the threat of collapsing due to erosion by the River Meghna, in Sonargaon, Narayanganj, which is directly linked to the sand mining. It has been reported that Mohammad Hashem is involved in illegal sand mining on Mayadwip island, putting the school building at further risk of destruction. Due to the school’s continues operations, it has become very difficult for Mohammad Hashem and his accomplices to carry out illegal mining in the area. From 2010 to 2013, residents of Mayadwip had participated in a movement to save their island against illegal sand mining, led by Shahed Kayes, founder of the school, poet and human rights defender. The movement was successful in obtaining a Supreme Court order against sand mining in the area that threatens the lives of the inhabitants of Mayadwip. Since then, Shahed Kayes has faced multiple threats and attacks by Mohammad Hashem and other local leaders of Awami League who have been engaged in illegal sand mining in the area. In 2013, Front Line Defenders also issued an urgent appeal against the attacks faced by human rights defender Shahed Kayes. Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the attack on woman human rights defender Mariyam Akhter Pakhi and her family, as it believes it to be in response to her legitimate human rights work to provide education to children from low-income households, as well as her work challenging illegal mining. Front Line Defenders is also deeply concerned about the ongoing threats against Mariyam Akhter Pakhi and her family, which have made it extremely difficult for the woman human rights defender to return to her original residence and endangered her, and her familiies, security and well-being.

Bangladesh authorities must conduct a swift and impartial investigation into the abduction and beating of Hossain Baksh and take steps to protect the safety of journalists covering union council elections, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

At approximately 6:45 a.m. on January 5, Hossain Baksh, a camera operator for the privately owned news channel ATN News, was abducted and severely beaten, allegedly upon the order of Asad Ali, the then-ruling Awami League-nominated chairperson candidate for a local union council election, in the Madhabpur upazila, or sub-district, of the Kamalganj upazila in the northeastern Sylhet Division, according to the Dhaka Tribune and Baksh, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. (A union council is a local government unit in Bangladesh.) Ali did not respond to CPJ’s text message requesting comment.

Ali was subsequently elected chairperson of the Madhabpur upazila in the election held on January 5, according to Daily Jugantor. The next phase of local union council elections across the country will be held on January 31, and the final phase will be held on February 7, according to news reports.

“The abduction and beating of Hossain Baksh demonstrate the significant dangers that Bangladeshi journalists can face while covering elections,” said Steven Butler, CPJ Asia’s program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Authorities must conduct an immediate and impartial investigation into the incident, hold the perpetrators accountable, and ensure that journalists can safely and freely report during the upcoming phases of the local union council elections.”

Baksh, who received a pass from the Election Commission to report on the polls, was filming an armed procession led by Ali that was allegedly threatening voters next to a primary school in Madhabpur, when the then-candidate ordered six or seven men to attack Baksh with machetes, sticks, and knives, abduct him, and take him to Ali’s house so “he would be scared of them in the future,” Baksh said, adding that men also stole his camera, smartphones, cash, credit cards, motorcycle key, and national identity card at that time, which they have yet to return.

Baksh told CPJ that the men forced him into a black car and took him to Ali’s house in the Madhabpur upazila. Once at Ali’s house, a group of men, including the then-candidate’s son and nephews, repeatedly and severely beat him with ropes and held him for approximately one and a half hours until around 8:00 a.m., when the Kamalganj police, which were informed by bystanders of Baksh’s abduction, retrieved him, according to Baksh.

Baksh sustained wounds to his head, face, eyes, and legs, and received first aid treatment at the Kamalganj Upazila Health Complex, where he vomited repeatedly and was referred to the Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital for further treatment, according to the Dhaka Tribune and Baksh, who said that he will require further medical treatment for injuries to his eyes.

Baksh told CPJ that he filed a complaint against the perpetrators at the Kamalganj police station today, but an investigating officer did not register a first information report, the first step of a police investigation, against the perpetrators, saying that further investigation would be necessary due to the association of the accused with the Awami League. Baksh added that the officer-in-charge of the station said that he would follow up with Baksh later.

The officer-in-charge of the Kamalganj police station did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.

Mohammad Zakaria, superintendent of the Moulvibazar district police, which encompasses the Madhabpur and Kamalganj upazilas, responded to CPJ’s request for comment via messaging app with a police document recording the incident, which said that Baksh is a supporter of the oppositional Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and was traveling to campaign for an independent candidate running in the Madhabpur union council election when Ali’s supporters stopped his car and slapped him before a police officer rescued him from the area and took him to the Kamalganj Upazila Health Complex for treatment.

Baksh and another local reporter with ATN News, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal, denied the police’s claim, saying that Baksh was on assignment for ATN News at the time of the attack. The area of the assault identified in the police document is the same as where Ali’s house is located, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal.

Munni Saha, news head of ATN News, did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment sent via messaging app.

The Observatory has been informed about the ongoing judicial harassment against Messrs. Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, respectively Secretary and Director of the human rights non-governmental organisation Odhikar, in a further attempt to sanction and silence their human rights activities [1].

On November 9, 2021, the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka resumed its examination of prosecution witnesses in the case brought against Adilur Rahman Khan, who is also a member of OMCT General Assembly and FIDH Secretary-General, and ASM Nasiruddin Elan in Case No. 1 of 2013. The case was filed against the two in relation to a fact-finding report issued by Odhikar documenting extrajudicial killings by security forces and law enforcement agencies during a protest in May 2013.

The Observatory recalls that following the publication of Odhikar’s fact-finding report, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan were arbitrarily detained for 62 and 25 days respectively, before they were both released on bail on October 11 and December 1, 2013. However, instead of dropping the case, the police brought new charges under the notorious Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006 (amended in 2009). If found guilty, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan could each face up to seven years of imprisonment.

On February 14, 2021, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh rejected Odhikar’s appeal to quash the cybercrime case on its legal merits. On September 12, 2021, the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka resumed the trial in the case against the two defenders and on October 5, 2021, it started to examine prosecution witnesses in the case. The next hearing is now set to take place on November 24, 2021.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern over the ongoing harassment of Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, which manifestly aims at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities.

The Observatory is all the more concerned that since the case was transferred to the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka in January 2017, the latter has failed to uphold fair trial principles in this case. There has been notably a lack of transparency regarding the publicity of its decisions. It is also concerning that when Mr. Khan and Mr. Elan’s lawyers sought permission from the court to examine separately the prosecution witness who testified against the two defendants on October 5, namely Detective Branch Police Officer Mr. Mohammad Ashraful Islam (who lodged the General Diary Entry and the First Information Report at Dhaka’s Gulshan police station in August 2013 and was also the investigating officer of the case), the court only replied that the witness could be called at a later date to be cross-examined.

The Observatory further recalls that since 2013, attacks, surveillance, smear campaigns and harassment against Odhikar and its staff and management have been incessant. Odhikar is also facing serious difficulties to implement its activities, since its registration has not been renewed by the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh and is still pending since 2015. All of its bank accounts have been frozen and it has been forbidden from receiving foreign funding, impacting considerably its operations.

The Observatory strongly condemns the ongoing judicial harassment of Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan and reiterates its deepest concern about the authorities of Bangladesh’s systematic crackdown on human rights defenders and journalists who speak out against rampant human rights violations taking place in the country, including through the use of the Digital Security Act - 2018, the Special Powers Act - 1974, and other draconian laws.

The Observatory urges the authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan and to put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against all human rights defenders in Bangladesh.

The Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) and Odhikar strongly condemn the police raid on the house of Hajera Khatun, the founder of Mayer Daak, a network of families and relatives of disappeared persons; and the arrest of people gathered at a prayer session on 31 October 2021. Sanjida Islam, sister of isappeared BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon and an organizer of Mayer Daak, said her mother Hajera Khatun had been hospitalised for a long time. Upon her return from the hospital, her family members organised a prayer session at home in gratitude for her recovery and for the welfare and return of the disappeared. Family members of other victims of enforced disappearances and Sumon's political colleagues from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), joined the prayer meet. During this, Tejgaon police raided the house at around 1:30 pm and arrested about 15 leaders and activists of BNP. Sanjida Islam alleged that during the raid, the police forcibly entered the house and broke open the doors of different rooms and beat family members of the victims of enforced disappearances. Families of the disappeared ought to be treated with much respect. Enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity. The fact is acts of enforced disappearance continue all over Asia, including Bangladesh. According to Odhikar, 605 people have been subjected to enforced disappearances between January 2009 and September 2021. Among them, the whereabouts of 154 people still remain unknown and the bodies of 81 people have been recovered. These are just the reported figures. AFAD and Odhikar observe that apart from commissions of enforced disappearances, the incumbent Awami League government has also taken away the right to freedom of assembly and expression. Police are detaining opposition leaders and activists and filing cases against them even if they gather in indoor meetings or go to attend any meeting. AFAD and Odhikar strongly demand the return of the disappeared and an end to the persecution and harassment of their relatives.

The closing of garment factories without informing the workers, retrenchment of workers and non-payment of wages on time are often causes of dissatisfaction among the workers in the readymade garment industry. In many factories, workers are still deprived of the right to form trade unions.

Workers and employees of Style Craft Garment Factory in Laxmipur area under Gazipur City have been on strike and protest since 6 July 2021, demanding payment of arrears of three years’ salary and allowances. The factory authority announced multiple dates for the payment of workers and employees, but did not pay. Due to this, workers and employees gathered at the factory gate on 18 July and went on strike and protested. As a result, the road in front of the factory was blocked. The protesting workers were outraged as the factory authorities did not take any initiative to resolve the issue and when they marched towards Chandina intersection to block the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways, the police baton charged them and fired tear gas shells and sound grenades. Six people were injured in the incident.

The closing of garment factories without informing the workers, retrenchment of workers and non-payment of wages on time are often causes of dissatisfaction among the workers in the readymade garment industry. In many factories, workers are still deprived of the right to form trade unions. On 14 July 2021, workers of Lakhsma Innerwear Ltd. in Shreepur Municipal area under Gazipur District blocked the road demanding arrears of wages. At that time, some unidentified miscreants attacked the women workers with sticks and chased the workers, trying to make them lift the blockade. Eight workers, including women, were injured in the attack. The injured workers received treatment at different hospitals.

Akhtaruzzaman, Bogura District correspondent of the daily Banijya Protidin, was picked up from his home by members of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police late at night on 17 July 2021, for publishing news about corruption in the distribution of allowances to employees working on a project in the family planning department in Bogura. At that time the family planning officer Dr. Samir Hossain Mishu and his Office Assistant Shamima Akhter were with the DB Police. Twenty hours after Akhtaruzzaman’s arrest, Shamima Akhter filed a case against him under the Digital Security Act, 2018 with Bogura Sadar Police Station.

On 8 February 2021, Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, a Professor of Dhaka University and Chairperson of the Refugee and Migratory Movement Research Unit (RMMRU), an organisation working with migrant workers and expatriates, gave an interview in the daily Prothom Alo entitled “Remittance flow and expatriates do not match reality”. She was summoned before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Finance on 23 September to explain her comments in the interview. In addition, due to the pressure on the media, various incidents and occurrences are not published there, but they have been published on social media. Thus, the government and ruling party leaders and activists have now brought the social media under extensive surveillance.

Bangladesh authorities and United Nations officials should take urgent measures to protect Rohingya refugees facing threats and violence in the Cox’s Bazar camps, Human Rights Watch said today. Rohingya community leaders and volunteer workers told Human Rights Watch that alleged members of armed Islamist groups were increasingly targeting them for extortion and other crimes.

On September 29, 2021, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Mohib Ullah, 46, chair of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), in Kutupalong camp in Cox’s Bazar. His associates said that Mohib Ullah had repeatedly reported threats from armed groups operating in the camps to Bangladesh officials but received insufficient support from the authorities.

“Mohib Ullah’s flight from mass atrocities in Myanmar to then be killed in his place of refuge speaks volumes about the risks that Rohingya activists face every day,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Bangladesh authorities should take urgent measures, with international assistance, to protect Rohingya activists who are defending the rights of refugees.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed nine people, including Rohingya activists and Mohib Ullah’s family members, who said that the authorities did not adequately investigate Mohib Ullah’s concerns or provide protection for him and other vulnerable activists. “The Bangladesh government deployed many security forces in the camps, but they were busy subduing and controlling refugees instead of protecting them,” said one activist.

At least a dozen activists have come forward to seek protection from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, and Bangladesh officials since Mohib Ullah’s killing because of renewed threats from armed groups and other risks of violence. Humanitarian workers said that the environment inside the camps has become increasingly dangerous for Rohingya activists.

Mohib Ullah had served as a leader among the nearly one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. He began receiving death threats in 2019 as his prominence grew, representing the Rohingya at the UN Human Rights Council and with the United States government. His organization said that the threats were from the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and other armed groups that contested his leadership role.

In the months before his death, Mohib Ullah had expressed concern about the growing threats, activists and his family members said. In August, he sent a letter to the Bangladesh government Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, with copies to the camp-in-charge official and Special Branch in Cox’s Bazar, outlining the death threats that he and his colleagues had been receiving and requesting the office take action against the assailants, which the letter identifies as ARSA members.

One member of Mohib Ullah’s group was told in July that he would be killed if he returned to the group’s office, and that “very soon we will kill your leader.” Mohib Ullah’s colleagues said the letter received no reply.

A Bangladesh police official told Reuters they had received no reports from Mohib Ullah about any threats or requests for protection.

ARSA condemned the killing in written and audio statements and demanded authorities bring those responsible to account.

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that Mohib Ullah’s death “is a clear example of the insecurity in the camp, and the apparent attempts to silence moderate civil society voices.”

UNHCR said that, in response to the killing, it “has enhanced its staff presence in the camps to ensure that the Rohingya refugees have direct access to support services and can report their concerns.” However, activists close to Mohib Ullah said that they have not been provided with adequate protection.

On October 3, police reported that they had arrested five men in connection with the killing. Mohib Ullah’s associates, however, have said that those allegedly responsible for the killing are still openly operating in the camp.

An activist with his group said, “Even this morning [October 3] some people visited my shelter and threatened my family saying, ‘Ask your son to be ready because the same fate is awaiting him, like Mohib Ullah. He is on the hit list of 10 people.’ I informed camp-in-charge, who assured me of safety, but I am worried because the police are not there all the time. If they really want to kill me, I’m an easy target for them.” Mohib Ullah’s wife said that she was worried for her daughters since her husband’s killing because of recent threats demanding that they marry members of the armed group.

Some refugees alleged that Bangladesh security forces and camp authorities seemed to underplay threats from armed Islamist groups. “When we complain to the authorities about ARSA’s crimes, they don’t pay any attention,” an activist said.

Another activist alleged collusion between some officers of the Armed Police Battalion deployed in the camps and members of the armed group. He said he went into hiding after receiving threats from ARSA but returned to his shelter when police promised protection, only for them to hand him over to the militants. “I was always being threatened by ARSA members since I started working as an activist, and I finally went into hiding. A few months later, two police officers lured me to come back to the camp and then handed me over to ARSA. I had to go through inhuman torture, until I paid ARSA a heavy ransom.”

ARSA members have attacked Christians and Hindus living in the camps alongside the predominantly Muslim Rohingya. Armed groups have also targeted women working as volunteers with humanitarian agencies. Hasina, a 26-year-old activist who works on women’s empowerment, said she was a victim of extortion by ARSA members.

Bangladesh authorities should fully investigate all those who might be responsible for Mohib Ullah’s killing and work with UNHCR to respond promptly when refugees are reporting imminent threats and provide immediate and effective protection, Human Rights Watch said. Concerned governments should ensure that activists and other refugees at heightened risk are priorities in planning around refugee assistance, protection, and resettlement.

“The Bangladesh government needs to address safety in the Rohingya camps both by developing better security and taking necessary action against groups engaged in illegal activity,” Ganguly said. “These refugees fled horrific abuses and are entitled to support from Bangladesh and other governments to live in the camps without fearing for their lives.”

Very early yesterday morning, officers with the police Rapid Action Battalion raided Raka’s home in Uttara, a suburb of Dhaka, and took her and her three sons to the battalion’s headquarters in Dhaka, according to news reports and Kanak Sarwar, a journalist and Raka’s brother, who spoke to CPJ in a phone interview.

Sarwar, who lives in exile in the United States, told CPJ that he believed that the arrest was in retaliation for his journalism and that Raka, who is a homemaker, had not committed any crime.

Police repeatedly questioned Raka about Sarwar, asking why he opposed the Bangladesh government and calling him “a freedom fighter,” Sarwar told CPJ, saying that he was able to briefly speak on the phone with his sister in detention. He said that authorities released Raka’s sons after about 30 hours, but she remains detained in a cell with no bed.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka ordered Raka to be detained for five days, Sarwar said, adding that she suffers from asthma and has experienced difficulty breathing in custody as she is recovering from COVID-19. He also said that police broke several items inside the house during the raid, including closets and jewelry boxes.

Sarwar told CPJ that he believes all authorities’ accusations against his sister are false.

“Punishing exiled journalist Kanak Sarwar by arresting his sister, Nusrat Shahrin Raka, is a crude and barbaric form of retaliation that should shame the government of Bangladesh,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must immediately release Raka, cease targeting critical journalists or their family members, and allow the media to operate without interference.”

In a press release issued yesterday, which CPJ reviewed, the Rapid Action Battalion alleged that Raka was involved in “destroying peace and order in the country by spreading false, defamatory, and provocative information about the government and important personalities of the state on social media” and accused her of involvement with an unnamed group engaging in “conspiratorial propaganda activities” with Sarwar.

The press release also claimed that authorities seized a mobile phone, passport, methamphetamine, and anti-state content from Raka’s home, and that she revealed during interrogation that she was an active member of an anti-state propaganda and conspiracy ring.

The Rapid Action Battalion filed two complaints at the Uttara West police station under the Digital Security Act and Narcotics Control Act, which CPJ reviewed.

The Digital Security Act complaint alleges that Raka violated three sections of the act: the publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; defamation; and the transmission or publication of content that deteriorates law and order. Each of those offenses can carry a prison sentence of three to seven years and a fine of 300,000 to 500,000 taka (US $3,497 to $5,827), according to that law.

The other complaint alleges that Raka possessed narcotics; under the Narcotics Control Act, Raka could face up to three years in prison if charged and convicted, according to Sarwar, citing her lawyer.

Sarwar told CPJ that a fake Facebook page had been created in recent weeks using Raka’s name, email address, and phone number, and that account published posts criticizing the government. Sarwar said that Raka filed a complaint to the Uttara West police station about that account on October 1, which CPJ reviewed.

The police complaint under the Digital Security Act cited posts made on that Facebook page, and attributed them to Raka.

Sarwar is the former senior correspondent for the privately owned broadcaster Ekushey TV; authorities held him from March 3 to November 16, 2015, on accusations of sedition after Ekushey TV broadcasted a speech by Tarique Rahman, the son of an opposition leader, according to CPJ research and Sarwar. He now operates the YouTube channel Kanak Sarwar News, which covers Bangladesh politics and has been critical of the ruling Awami League.

On December 8, 2020, the Bangladesh High Court directed authorities to block Sarwar’s social media pages after he interviewed a politician in Bangladesh on YouTube, as CPJ documented at the time.

CPJ emailed the Uttara West police station for comment, but did not receive any reply. CPJ called and messaged Ashique Billah, spokesperson of the Rapid Action Battalion, but did not receive any response.

Gunmen shot and killed a prominent Rohingya Muslim leader in a refugee camp in southern Bangladesh on Wednesday, a United Nations spokesperson and a local police official said, following months of worsening violence in the world's largest refugee settlement. Mohib Ullah, who was in his late 40s, led one of the largest of several community groups to emerge since more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar after a military crackdown in August 2017. Invited to the White House and to speak to the UN Human Rights Council, he was one of the most high-profile advocates for the Rohingya, a Muslim minority that has faced persecution for generations.

Rafiqul Islam, a deputy police superintendent in the nearby town of Cox's Bazar, told Reuters by phone that Mohib Ullah had been shot dead but had no additional details.

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the agency was "deeply saddened" by the killing of Mohib Ullah. "We are in continuous contact with law enforcement authorities in charge of maintaining peace and security in the camps," the spokesperson said. Mohib Ullah's group, the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights, made its name documenting atrocities the Rohingya suffered during the Myanmar crackdown, which the UN has said was carried out with genocidal intent. At the Bangladesh refugee camps, Mohib Ullah went from hut to hut to build a tally of killings, rape and arson that was shared with international investigators. His organization worked to give refugees more of a voice inside the camps and internationally. Speaking to the UN Human Rights Council, he said the Rohingya wanted more of a say over their own future. But his high profile made him a target of hardliners and he received death threats, he told Reuters in 2019. "If I die, I'm fine. I will give my life," he said at the time. The sprawling camps in Bangladesh have become increasingly violent, residents say, with armed men vying for power, kidnapping critics, and warning women against breaking conservative Islamic norms.

Aung Kyaw Moe, a Rohingya civil society activist and an adviser to Myanmar's National Unity Government, the parallel civilian government established after February's coup, said Mohib Ullah's death was a "big loss for the Rohingya community." "He was always aware there is a threat, but he thinks that despite the threat if he is not doing the work he is doing, no one else would," he said.

Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop their investigations into the bank accounts of 12 members of the press and commit to allowing the media to operate freely and independently, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On August 11, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit, a government agency responsible for investigating money laundering and terrorist financing, ordered all scheduled banks to provide details of any accounts associated with Rozina Islam, a senior correspondent for the daily newspaper Prothom Alo, according to news reports and a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. Islam is under investigation for allegedly photographing documents at the country’s Health Ministry without permission.

“Scheduled banks” refer to the 61 banks that are controlled and supervised by the government-owned Central Bank of Bangladesh.

Separately, on September 16, the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit ordered banks to provide such information for an additional 11 journalists, according to various news reports and Muhammad Abdullah, city editor of The Daily Amardesh and president of a group within the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, who spoke with CPJ via messaging app. The 11 journalists named in the September 16 order are also all executive members of several different journalist trade organizations, according to those news reports.

Authorities have not disclosed any reason for the order targeting those journalists, according to Abdullah, who said the reason behind the probe remains unclear.

“The Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit’s investigation of the bank accounts belonging to a dozen prominent journalists looks suspiciously like selective law enforcement aimed at intimidating the independent press,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities should immediately drop these investigations, cease harassing journalists, and commit to allowing the media to operate openly and freely.”

According to the news reports and Abdullah, the 11 journalists are:

Farida Yasmin, senior subeditor of the privately owned Bengali-language newspaper The Daily Ittefaq and president of the National Press Club of Bangladesh
Elias Khan, special correspondent with the privately owned news outlet The Daily Amardesh—which has been prevented from publishing a print edition since 2013 and whose website was blocked domestically in 2020—and general secretary of the National Press Club of Bangladesh
Kader Gani Chowdhury, senior reporter with The Daily Amardesh and president of a group within the Dhaka Union of Journalists
Muhammad Abdullah, city editor of The Daily Amardesh and president of a group within the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists
Mohammad Shahidul Islam, subeditor of the privately owned Bengali-language daily newspaper The Daily Sangram and general secretary of a group within the Dhaka Union of Journalists
Sajjad Alam Khan Tapu, business editor of the privately owned news channel Jamuna TV and president of a group within the Dhaka Union of Journalists
Nurul Amin Rokon, news editor of the privately owned Bengali-language daily newspaper Daily Asia Bani and secretary general of a group within the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists
Molla Jalal, editor of the privately owned Bengali-language news website NNB and president of a group within the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists
Abdul Majid, special correspondent of the privately owned Bengali-language daily newspaper The Daily Samakal and secretary general of a group within the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists
Mursalin Nomani, senior reporter with the state-owned news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha and president of Dhaka Reporters Unity, a local journalist training and press freedom group
Mosiur Rahman Khan, senior reporter with The Daily Samakal and general secretary of Dhaka Reporters Unity

Hasan Mahmud, the minister of information and broadcasting, told reporters at his office that the government can ask anyone for their bank details, and “if someone is transparent, there’s no reason to be worried about it,” according to The Dhaka Tribune.

The person familiar with Islam’s case said the August 11 order stemmed from an ongoing investigation by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police into a complaint filed by the country’s Health Ministry. On May 17, authorities arrested Islam for allegedly taking pictures of official documents at its Dhaka office, as CPJ documented at the time. She was released on bail on May 23, according to reports.

Islam has frequently reported on alleged corruption and mismanagement of the health sector’s COVID-19 response.

The ministry accused Islam of violating Sections 3 and 5 of the Official Secrets Act and Sections 379 and 411 of the penal code; if charged and convicted, she could face up to 14 years in prison or the death penalty, according to those laws.

On September 19, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka rejected Islam’s request for the return of her two mobile phones and press identification card, which were seized during her arrest, and her passport, which was seized as a condition of her release on bail, according to news reports and the person familiar with the case.

Health Minister Zahid Malek did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment regarding Islam’s case sent via email.

CPJ emailed Md. Masud Biswas, executive director of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit; Md. Shafiqul Islam, commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police; and Ferdousi Shahriar, the deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington, D.C., for comment on the 12 investigations, but did not receive any replies.

Bangladesh authorities must immediately drop all charges against journalists Kabir Kishore, Tasneem Khalil, and Shafiqul Islam Kajol, and cease harassing members of the press under the draconian Digital Security Act, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On September 8 and 12, the Dhaka Cyber Tribunal accepted Digital Security Act charges against Kishore, a cartoonist; Khalil, editor of the Sweden-based news website Netra News; and Kajol, a photographer and editor with the Daily Pakkhakal magazine, according to multiple news reports and a person familiar with the cases, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal by Bangladesh authorities.

Kishore and Kajol are currently free on bail, according to those sources. Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Khalil, who lives in Sweden, the journalist told CPJ in a phone interview.

Khalil said that the Bangladesh government did not inform him of the warrant, and he heard about it in the news. Bangladesh authorities have blocked domestic connections to Netra News since December 2019, according to Khalil and CPJ’s documentation from the time.

“The Bangladesh government must immediately cease its legal harassment of journalists Kabir Kishore, Tasneem Khalil, and Shafiqul Islam Kajol, who are being persecuted for their political commentary,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Authorities must drop all charges against them, stop harassing journalists in retaliation for their work, and repeal the draconian Digital Security Act, which enables these legal abuses.”

The Dhaka Cyber Tribunal accepted a charge sheet against Kajol on September 8, stemming from a criminal defamation complaint filed against him and dozens of others in March 2020 by Saifuzzaman Shikhor, a member of parliament with the ruling Awami League political party, according to various news reports, the person familiar with the case, and CPJ research, which said that two other people affiliated with the Awami League also filed two additional complaints against Kajol at that time.

The complaints cited Kajol’s critical writing on Facebook about local political leaders, and accused him of “publishing false news and circulating it on social media,” according to those sources. CPJ was unable to review Kajol’s Facebook posts, which have been taken down or set to private.

Kajol was charged under sections of the Digital Security Act pertaining to transmission or publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; unauthorized collection of identity information without lawful authority; publication or transmission of defamatory information; and publication or transmission of information that creates enmity, hatred, or hostility between different classes or communities of society, according to person familiar with the case and the charge sheet, which CPJ reviewed.

If convicted, each of those charges can carry a prison sentence between three and seven years, and a fine from 300,000 to 500,000 taka (US $3,517 to $5,861), according to the law. The next hearing in his case is scheduled for October 20, according to news reports and the person familiar with the case.

CPJ emailed and texted Shikhor at the address and phone number listed on his website, but received error messages in response. CPJ emailed the office of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who also serves as president of the Awami League, for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply.

Separately, on September 12, the cyber tribunal accepted charges submitted by the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of the detective branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police against Kishore, Khalil, and five others, according to various news reports and the person familiar with the cases.

The charges stem from a police report alleging that Kishore and five others ran a Facebook page that criticized the government; that Khalil made derogatory comments about government officials on his Facebook page; and that Khalil also “instigated” Kishore to “make anti-state rumours go viral on social media,” according to CPJ research and a report by Netra News.

In March, Kishore told CPJ that, during his previous detention as part of this case, unidentified men beat, abused, and tortured him while asking about his cartoons. CPJ has called on the Bangladesh government to conduct an independent investigation into the allegations of torture.

Kishore and Khalil were charged under sections of the Digital Security Act pertaining to the publication of propaganda against the liberation war of Bangladesh or national symbols; transmission or publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; publication of content that creates enmity, hatred, or hostility among different classes or communities; and abetment of an offense, according to the person familiar with their cases, who reviewed the charge sheet.

Those charges can carry prison sentences between three and ten years and fines of 300,000 to 10,000,000 taka (US $3,517 to $117,207), according to the law.

The next hearing in Kishore and Khalil’s cases is scheduled for September 30, according to the person familiar with the case.

CPJ contacted Khandaker Al Moyeen, the director of the legal and media wing of the Rapid Action Battalion, which opened the investigation into Kishore and Khalil in May 2020, via messaging app for comment, but did not receive any response. CPJ also contacted Mohammad Rassell Mollah, the investigating officer who submitted the charge sheet against Kajol, via messaging app for comment, but did not receive any response.

CPJ also emailed Md. Shafiqul Islam, commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, for comment on all three cases, but did not receive any reply.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled to learn that the Bangladeshi government agency that combats money-laundering and the financing of terrorism has ordered an investigation into a well-known newspaper reporter. In the absence of relevant legislation, RSF calls for an immediate end to this probe and all other attempts to intimidate this journalist.

The investigation ordered by the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) is the latest form of governmental harassment of Rozina Islam, an investigative reporter for the country’s leading daily Prothom Alo.

RSF has learned that, on 11 August, the BFIU asked Bangladeshi banks to provide detailed statements of all transactions in any accounts held by Islam. The order is astonishing, to say the least, given that the BRIU’s own website says that the agency’s main objective is to “establish an effective system for prevention of money laundering, combating financing of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

“In the light of all the circumstances, the requests from the BFIU concerning Rozina Islam go far beyond the scope of the agency's competence and it is therefore, clear that they are part of a new attempt to harass this journalist,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk. “We call for the immediate withdrawal of the requests made by the BFIU and, more broadly, for an end to the growing harassment of this journalist by various government agencies.”

Islam was arbitrarily arrested and tortured by the police on 17 May as a result of an espionage accusation by the health ministry. As RSF reported at the time, everything indicates that the accusation was a reprisal for a series of investigative reports she had written about corruption within the Bangladeshi health system.

Since then, Islam has been subjected to repeated harassment – including the confiscation of her press card and passport – that prevents her from working freely as a journalist.

Bangladesh is ranked 152nd out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Bangladesh authorities should immediately cease harassing brothers and colleagues Sayful Arkane, a reporter, and Mohammad Aziz Arkane, a camera operator, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

On August 2, the brothers, who cover Rohingya refugees for the YouTube channel of Rohingya news website The Arakan Times, participated in a meeting between Rohingya refugees, U.N. officials, and officials with the office of Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner in Nayapara refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh, to discuss changes to food ration cards following protests over the issue, according to Mohammad Aziz Arkane and video of the meeting, which CPJ reviewed.

Immediately following the meeting, an officer with the office of Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner ordered police to arrest Mohammad Aziz Arkane, the journalist told CPJ via phone. He said that a police officer grabbed him, put a hand over his mouth to prevent him from screaming, and pulled him backward but that he was able to struggle free.

Since then, he said that he and his brother have fled to separate hiding places to avoid police detection. He told CPJ that police have repeatedly called him since August 2 and demanded his location.

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on August 2, officers with the Armed Police Battalion raided the brothers’ family home in Nayapara refugee camp, interrogated their parents as to their whereabouts, and said that they were searching for them due to their journalistic activities, according to Mohammad Aziz Arkane. He told CPJ that officers referenced videos the brothers produce for The Arakan Times, though did not name specific reports.

Since August 2, officers with the same unit have visited the brothers’ home multiple times a day searching for the two journalists, Mohammad Aziz Arkane said. When they visited today, they demanded from the brothers’ parents a bribe of 100,000 taka (US$1,179) in order not to file a criminal case against the brothers in retaliation for their journalistic activities, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal by authorities.

“Sayful Arkane and Mohammad Aziz Arkane’s reporting on the living conditions of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh is critical work that must be allowed to continue unhindered,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Bangladesh authorities should immediately cease harassing the brothers and their family, and make clear that they will not be subject to arbitrary arrest.”

Shaifur Rahman, a U.K.-based freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker, who is familiar with the journalists’ case, confirmed the entirety of Mohammad Aziz Arkane’s account with CPJ via phone.

The Arakan Times covers human rights and the Rohingya community in Myanmar and across Asia, including news and videos about the impact of coronavirus, floods, and fire incidents in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, according to CPJ’s review.

Shah Rezwan Hayat, Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, did not respond to CPJ’s calls or text requesting comment via messaging app.

Tariqul Islam Tariq, commander of the Armed Police Battalion in Cox’s Bazaar, told CPJ via messaging app that his team in Nayapara refugee camp did not know Sayful Arkane and Mohammad Aziz Arkane, but that he was investigating the claim of the bribe offer.

A journalist was arrested in Bogura early yesterday in a case filed under the Digital Security Act over a Facebook post on corruption allegations against a health official and his office assistant.

The arrestee, Md Akhtaruzzaman, is Bogura district correspondent for daily Banijjo Pratidin. He has also been working as a multipurpose health volunteer at a community clinic in Bogura Sadar Upazila since last year.

On Saturday, a Facebook post was uploaded from an ID named Aftab Ahmed, bringing allegations of financial corruption against Bogura Sadar Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer Md Samir Hossain Mishu, and his office's Head Assistant and Accountant Shamima Akter.

It alleged that Mishu and Shamima embezzled money without paying due honorarium to multipurpose health volunteers.

Shamima filed a complaint with Bogura Sadar Police Station on Saturday night over the post. Police carried out an investigation and found that the Facebook ID was operated by Akhtaruzzaman, said Emran Mahmud Tuhin, inspector of Detective Branch (DB) of Police in Bogura.

Asked, Md Selim Raza, officer-in-charge of Bogura Sadar Police Station, said, "A team of DB police arrested Akhtaruzzaman from his house around 3:00am today. Hours later, a case was filed against him under the Digital Security Act.

"In primary interrogation, he [Akhtaruzzaman] admitted that he uploaded the post from a fake ID on provocation from some multipurpose health volunteers."

Contacted, both Mishu and Shamima refuted the corruption allegations and claimed that the volunteers were given proper honorarium as per rules.

Talking to this correspondent, Akhtaruzzaman's father Md Rafiqul Islam said, "A team of police along with Samir Hossain Mishu came to our Sabgram house around 3:00am and took away my son and his electronic devices."

On July 10, police in the northeast district of Thakurgaon opened Digital Security Act investigations into the three journalists, according to news reports and a police report, which CPJ reviewed.

Authorities are investigating Tanu, the Thakurgaon district correspondent for the news websites Jago News and Daily Ittefaq and the privately owned broadcaster Independent Television; Shuvo, a correspondent for the news website NewsBangla24.com; and Litu, a correspondent for the news websites Jugantor and Bangladesh Pratidin and the privately owned broadcaster News 24, according to those sources.

On the night of July 10, police arrested Tanu when he went to the local Sadar police station to inquire about the investigation; they then transferred him to the Sadar Hospital yesterday morning for treatment for respiratory issues, and released him on bail later that day, those reports said. Police handcuffed Tanu to a hospital bed while he received treatment, according to those reports.

Shuvo told CPJ via messaging app that he and Litu have not been arrested as of today.

“Bangladesh authorities should drop their Digital Security Act investigations into journalists Tanvir Hasan Tanu, Rahim Shuvo, and Abdul Latif Litu immediately,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “The Bangladesh government must repeal the act, cease harassing journalists, and allow them to do their jobs, which are a public service, not a crime.”

The investigations stem from a complaint filed by Nadirul Aziz Chapal, the superintendent of the Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital, who alleged that the journalists published reports about the hospital intended to defame and spread enmity and hatred, according to a copy of his complaint, which CPJ reviewed. CPJ called and texted Chapal for comment, but he did not reply.

The complaint referenced a July 5 article by Tanu in Jago News; a July 8 article by Shuvo in NewsBangla24.com; and a July 7 article in Jugantor, published anonymously, which Chapal alleges Litu authored. All three articles detailed allegations that Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital provided sub-standard food to COVID-19 patients.

Police are investigating the three journalists under sections of the Digital Security Act pertaining to the publication of offensive, false, or threatening information; propaganda; defamatory information; information that creates enmity, hatred, or hostility among different classes or communities; and abetment of an offense, according to the police report.

Each of those counts can carry maximum prison sentences ranging from three years to five years and maximum fines ranging from 300,000 taka ($3,540) to 500,000 taka ($5,900).

Shahadat Hossain, a journalist for the Bengali language daily newspaper, Prothom Alo, was attacked on June 1 while reporting on a protest in Brahmanbaria railway station demanding the reopening of the railway. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the attack against Hossain.

According to news reports, Hossain was attacked at the railway station protest organized by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL). The railway was closed following the nationwide anti-Modi protest against the killing and attack of Hefazat-e-Islam's activists by police and members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the youth wing of the ruling Awami League political party.

Hossain told dainiksarod.com, “Bangaldesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader named Roman Mia (26), and his brother attacked me after knowing that I informed a Juba League leader about BCL’s attack on Muradul Islam, the gate keeper of the station.” Other journalists at the protest assisted Hossain and took him to Brahmanbaria General Hospital for treatment.

The incident was condemned by Brahmanbaria Press Club. District political leaders including BCL president, Rabiul Hossain Rubel, also expressed grief over the incident.

Hossain filed a case against Roman Mia at Sadar Model Police Station on the same day. In response to the complaint, Mia was arrested and appeared at court on June 2. According to Sadar Model Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Emranul Islam, police arrested, Zahirul Islam Jumman, another person accused of attacking Hossain

On March 25 and 26, more than 17 journalists covering anti-Modi demonstrations were assaulted by Bangladesh police as well as members of the Chhatra League.