Law campaign
Ratify the Optional Protocol of CAT
Saira Rahman Khan
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blogger |
Governance in Bangladesh has its own culture of “power politics”, that most leaders do not know how to exercise in a democratic framework. 'Power' in Bangladesh society and mindset is linked to 'control' and its demonstration in all relationships; as heads of family, organisations, and institutions and in the 'controlling power' of ministers and prime minister etc. It is this misuse of 'power' that creates corruption and impunity within the government system, regardless of what kind of government. Bangladesh has been ruled by martial law, elected governments and caretaker governments human rights violations by the state have never stopped. In a country known for the torture of accused persons in police remand and for oppressive laws, that will need very, very long and consistent campaign and a significant amount of pressure from all corners for any government to accede to such a process.
The UN Convention against Torture (CAT) was ratified by the Bangladesh government in October 1998 with a declaration regarding article 14 paragraph 1. In this regard, Bangladesh declared that it “will apply article 14 para 1 in consonance with the existing laws and legislation in the country.” Bangladesh still does not have any legislation protecting victims/witnesses and criminal laws that offer compensation to the victim directly are rare. Furthermore, a state-appointed public prosecutor represents the victim and he/she conducts the case, assisted by the investigating police. The prosecutor's interaction with the victim is minimum and there are no reported cases where he/she has asked the court to award compensation directly to the victim (unless the law specifically says so).
The reservation on article 14 paragraph 1 of the Convention, still in place 10 years after ratification, shows that the government does not want to do anything to ensure compensation and adequate medical treatment for victims. To date, no police officer or any one belonging to any law enforcement agency in Bangladesh has been prosecuted for torture in Bangladesh and there is yet to be any legislation criminalising torture in compliance with the CAT. Instead, act of impunity have only been encouraged with the passing of 'bad laws' such as the Special Powers Act of 1974, the Indemnity Act-2003, which was made to ensure impunity to the armed forces and the police for killing, torture, arbitrary arrests and detention during the Operation Clean Heart in the late 2002 and early 2003, and the Emergency Powers Ordinance of 2007.
In order to initiate a campaign for the OP-CAT, the tools used in the present ICC campaign by the BCICC is not enough. “Power” does not mean misuse of authority or unlimited authority. Unfortunately, this way of thinking is prevalent in Bangladesh at all levels and spheres. In Bangladesh, even petty thieves are given a mass beating before being handed over to authorities (in whose hands they will suffer more). Torture is commonly considered a 'just dessert' for committing a crime. It will be a preliminary and difficult task for campaigners to alter this thought process, but this has to be tackled as a prerequisite to the OP-CAT campaign.
Therefore, in relation to the OP CAT campaign in Bangladesh, the campaign has to be more pro-active in doing all activities, like analysing laws, producing draft quality legislations in consultation with all stakeholders so that government officials can use it, work more at policy level as well as at grassroots, developing good working relationships with security forces through dialogues, education and trainings, working with the local government, etc. The campaign has to work on many areas at the same time. It should also be full time campaign, not occasional and not contingent on availability of funds.
This is the abridged version of the report "Why Bangladesh needs to ratify the Optional Protocol of Convention Against Torture".
The author is member, Odhikar.
