Please - Odhikar

(4) Sumon Tortured to Death by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Gajipur (2004): Plain
clothes police arrested Sumon Ahmed Mojumber (24) from his home in the evening of 16 July,
after he returned home on completing an election campaign in the Gazipur-2 parliamentary bypolls.
Later on, his family received a phone call that he had been taken to Tajgaon hospital.
However, his parents were not allowed to meet him, but were reassured by the police that he was
all right. That same night, his parents were informed that he had died. On examining his body
before his funeral rites, his family allege that it bore marks of torture, like cuts and bruises and it
was swollen. Sumon was the Assistant Secretary of the local Jubo League, the youth front of the
Awami League party.
(5) Two youths beaten to death in Araihajar Police Station in Narayanganj (2004): A police
team had arrested three young men between the ages of 22 and 32 in reference to a robbery case.
They were taken to the police station where two of them died, allegedly due to police torture.
The next day, their bodies were thrown in an abandoned area, in the presence of local Union
Parishod Chairman, from where they were retrieved again by the police, who tried to cover the
matter as an incident of mob killing.
For a long time, Odhikar and other civil society organizations have been involved in police
station monitoring. They have been vocal for formulating and implementation of a Code of
Conduct for Police. In the year 2004, a significant improvement took place in that regard. The
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) finalized and circulated a code of conduct to be followed by
police personnel in all police stations in Dhaka City and allover the country. The Code of
Conduct came into force from July 1, 2004. Odhikar is undoubtedly one of the first
organizations, which played a vital role in advocating for such code of conduct.
Such information regarding police behaviour and the violation of civil and political rights could
not have been collected and disseminated without the whole-hearted support of the AED. The
support of this Agency has helped Odhikar take part in the movement for the preservation of
civil and political rights in Bangladesh.
Conclusion
In 2003, the AED put its faith in and embarked on a journey with Odhikar with the belief that
the organization would be able to act as a catalyst in improving the human rights situation in the
country. The journey has been long and often bumpy, but the partnership lasted for three years.
After three years of continuous work, the results have been significant, even though few in
number. The Government is finally taking steps to improve the behavior of law enforcement
agencies, is planning to revise and amend criminal laws, has taken note of the plight of victims
and witnesses and has taken judicial action against the misuse of the dreaded ’Section 54’.
Odhikar has also been successful in creating a new regional network, SANTI, with
organizational membership growing. SANTI will help create pressure groups in South Asia,
whenever there is a need for policy reform and spreading awareness of human rights abuses. It
will also help member organization implement programmes by sharing success stories among
themselves.
Odhikar thanks the AED for three years of support and trust, without which such achievements
would not have come about.
18
Report 2005