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The
Observatory has been informed about the arbitrary arrest and
incommunicado detention of Messrs Nahid
Islam,
Asif
Mahmud,
Abu
Baker Majumder,
Sarjis
Alam,
Hasnat
Abdullah,
and
Ms Nusrat
Tabassum,
six organisers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. The
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement has been at the forefront of the
ongoing nationwide
protests
demanding a reform of the quota system for government jobs, which
have been violently repressed by security forces, resulting in the
death
of more than 200 people and the injuries to thousands more.
On
July 26, 2024, at approximately 3:30pm, a group of plainclothes
individuals took Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Majumder
from the Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in Dhanmondi District, Dhaka,
where they were undergoing treatment for injuries inflicted upon them
by the police during another detention spell a week earlier. The
individuals transferred the three activists to an unknown location,
against the advice of the doctors who were treating them and without
completing the discharge process. Later on the same day, Home
Minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed the detention of the three
activists citing their “own security” as the reason for their
arrest.
On
July 27, 2024, officers of the Detective Branch of police in Dhaka
took Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah into custody in an unknown
location, allegedly “to give them personal security and to know
some information about the recent incidents.”
On
July 28, 2024, at around 5:00am, 10 to 15 plainclothes armed men
claiming to be from the Detective Branch of police took Nusrat
Tabassum up from her cousin’s house at Rupnagar in Mirpur District,
Dhaka, and took her to an unknown destination. In the afternoon, the
Additional Commissioner of the Detective Branch of police in Dhaka
confirmed that Nusrat Tabassum had been taken into custody “to
ensure her security.”
At
the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Nahid Islam, Asif
Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumder, and Nusrat Tabassum are arbitrarily
detained at the Detective Branch of police headquarters in Dhaka,
without having been produced before a court, and Sarjis Alam and
Hasnat Abdullah are still arbitrarily detained at an unknown
location, without any access to lawyers or relatives.
The
Observatory underlines that Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder were
previously taken into custody on July 19, 2024, and Nahid Islam on
July 20, 2024, before being released. The three activists reported
that they had been tortured during the time they were held.
The
Observatory recalls that the ongoing nationwide protests began on
July 1, 2024, when students groups took the streets to demand a
reform of the quota system reinstated by the
High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on June 5,
2024, which would reserve
56% of the government jobs to certain categories of people, with 30%
of these jobs being allocated to the relatives of “freedom
fighters” in the 1971 Liberation
War.
The protests have been violently
repressed
by law enforcement authorities through the use of unnecessary and
disproportionate force, aided by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL),
a students’ political organisation affiliated with the ruling
party, the Awami League. On July 18, 2024, the authorities in
Bangladesh shut down internet services without warning, and internet
connection has not been fully restored at the time of publication of
this Urgent Appeal.
The
Observatory strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and incommunicado
detention of Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumder, Sarjis
Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum, which seems to be only
aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities
and the exercise of their right to peaceful assembly.
The
Observatory urges the authorities in Bangladesh to immediately and
unconditionally release Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumder,
Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum, and to put an end
to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against
them.
The
Observatory calls on the authorities in Bangladesh to carry out an
immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the alleged
acts of torture and ill-treatment against Nahid Islam,
Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Majumder,
while ensuring their protection, and to bring the perpetrators to
justice in accordance with international standards.
The
Observatory finally urges the Bangladeshi authorities to put an end
to the ongoing police and military crackdown on protesters and to
guarantee, in all circumstances, the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly, as enshrined in international human right law, and
particularly in Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights to which Bangladesh is a State Party.
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