Swamped by a culture of impunity

Aziz Rahman
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As you scan through newspaper frontpages every morning before going to work or leisurely watch newscast in national channels every evening after hard day's work, you invariably come across the same episodes - violence, murder, corruption, injustice violation of human rights, and other grave offences, day after day after day. I bet, you are disturbed, horrified.

Anxious about personal and family security and future of your children, you are scared of muggers and murderers, extortionists and oppressors, violators of law and order, and perpetrators of all sorts of innovative crimes, who in any case, you know, will not find it difficult to get away without any punishment, in a fast growing culture of impunity.

Lack of penal action for lawlessness and disorder has emerged as order of the day, not only in national context but also globally under new world (dis)order. Human security has never been in such a quagmire as we find it now. Jungle law prevails, while governance fades out. The inevitable impact: more suffering, more misery for the innocent, and more insult and injury to humanity. Yet, you continue to hear about rule of law from those who govern or wait to govern.

The world watches with shock and awe the destruction of an ancient civilization, massacre of its non-combatant citizenry in the name of war against terrorism using high precision weaponry or helicopter gunship attacks targeting West Bank terrorists with considerable toll of innocent people. Only few voices are heard wondering, "For how long will we permit those who consider themselves to be the most powerful to act with impunity against others, without ourselves trying to put an end to such demented bahaviour?" While in Iraq, the brutal dictator is about to be but in the dock, yet another fugitive from justice in the next-door Jordan is aspiring, encouraged by the neocolonial newcons, to take leadership. In Peru, across opposite surface of the globe, ex-President Alberto Fujimori, fugitive from justice in Japan, prepares to return to and govern Peru, though at the same time we hear that he is on Interpol list for crime against humanity. They and the like, there or elsewhere including here, behave, while they are allowed to behave, as if nothing happened.

At home, we hear of so many cases of corruption by leaders of the former regimes with every change of government that drags on forever, allowing them unlimited time and liberty to continue to play the power game. The shamelessness manifested in their conduct is amazing. For us ordinary citizens there being no hope and efforts for retribution or compensation, it now looks the normal way of our political culture. Have we really ceased to believe that one day a former head of state or government, a minister, a high ranking bureaucrat, or a wealthy corporate giant will ever pay for their misdemeanor? Let us say No. For, even if public memory is said to be short, on which assumption the perpetrators tend to bank, there is history to follow and there they are destined to go only as villains. Better emphasise the last word in maximum font size - bold, italics and underlined. This applies to all perpetrators, but also to those who are responsible for (or for not) bringing them to justice. For those who are compelled to endure injustice with a senseless stoic resilience, it is unbearable. Never mind the special categories who occupy elevated seats in the society; ordinary criminals, bandits, crooks and desperados are going scot-free with any amount of offence. Impunity is the prerogative of the powerful. They are powerful too, since they have muscle or money or political influence or a combination of these assets.

Impunity, meaning lack of punishment or conviction for cognizable offences, thrives in a society where there is no accountability. It creates a vicious cycle where crime follows exemption or exoneration to enable or encourage another spate of crime. Delayed and denied justice results in lack of remorse for crimes committed by the perpetrators and collaborators, enabling, emboldening them for repeated acts of lawlessness, ranging from manipulating election results and misappropriation of public money to armed robbery, extortion, abduction for ransom, trafficking of women and children, rape and other forms of oppression of women, illegal detention, torture, bribing and bribe-taking, rent-seeking, money laundering, smuggling, drug trafficking, hoarding of essential goods, illegal occupation of government or private land, evasion of government taxes, bank robbery, looting, arson, assassination and slaughtering and many of the like in the endless list to petty thefts, pilferages and so-called system loss.

Most of these socio-economic malaises go without punishment or reprimand, often even unnoticed, as if in implicit acceptance, tacit acquiescence and silent acclaim of a submissive society with subdued morality. Ignoring, forgiving and forgetting crimes enhance audacity of the criminals to behave like idols and mentors for the growing generation, fascinated by the awesome success and influence of the covert and declared godfathers. They have not heard about Haji Mohammad Mohsin or Swami Bibekananda. The zeros and sub-zeros are heroes and gurus of the day. Honesty is no longer the best policy. Kerey khawa is now a better option than korey khawa.

Practice of impunity has become pervasive, endemic and intrusive, engulfing all spheres of national life. It denies the people of inherent civil, political and economic rights enshrined in the constitution. It is a real threat to democratic governance. Impunity has its root in inadequate enforcement of laws with inappropriate application of supplementary executive and administrative means. It is cradled and nourished in judiciary, administration and law enforcing agencies through inaction and improper action.

Police, the focal point of law enforcement and guarantor of public security, is now condemned as the most corrupt element in the whole public service delivery system.

Common people have little access to the police. Those having some access spend a lot as grease money to activate the machinery and then more to keep it running. People suspect, perhaps rightly, police maintains an unholy alliance with thieves and thugs. Seminar on Strengthening of Criminal Justice System and Police Reform made Dhaka police chief admit that senior police officers abate when lower ranks indulge in extortion. The debate revealed, it requires some forty thousand Taka for investigating each case. Government allocates no fund for this purpose. So, criminals easily buy impunity and get further dividends from such investment. Police also enjoys impunity for harassment, torture and death in custody. They do not need any indemnity law to protect their unlawful acts. It is a common practice to extort payment from the complainant to register a crime in any police station, followed by regular contributions at subsequent stages. Many offences go unrecorded as poorer victims can not get them recorded, not to speak of redress.

An instance of judicial corruption also came under scrutiny recently apart from proverbial delay in dispensation of justice causing pilling up of inconceivable number of cases. We often hear sermons about legal reforms, which are not forthcoming, and made to believe existing laws are totally archaic. There are, however, enough ingredients for justice available. Only, we do not use them, forgetting that a country can not be governed without law, that human security can not be established without giving the common citizen access to court. A prominent jurist observes, "If the judges of a country are not honest, independent, dutiful and efficient, the people of that country are deprived of the benefits of even good laws of the country." The Chief Justice has rightly indicated that a handful of people with enormous amount of black money are enough to undermine efforts of the law enforcing authorities.

Financial and economic crimes are rampant in the country, causing staggering losses to national economy and impeding development. A substantial amount of GDP is eaten up by corruption, tax evasion, bank loan default and smuggling. Consumers suffer due to hoarding, adulteration and black marketing. Land grabbers gobbled up 90 percent state property worth 80 thousand Taka. In today's administration, government functionaries largely go unpunished for inaction, inefficiency and malpractices, despite existence of well laid down efficiency, discipline and conduct rules. Anti-corruption law is applied to keep political adversaries under constant threat or victimize innocents for not sharing distorted norms, instead of being applied to bring corrupt elements to book.

The situation is untenable for a nascent democracy. People detest endless rhetorics about ombudsman, anti-corruption and human rights commissions, independent judiciary and reforms. They have respect for rule of law, which only can ensure peace, stability and progress. They want action and are in a great hurry to get rid of the sinister culture of impunity, to deny perpetrators opportunity to perpetuate the vicious cycle. It is not too late to reverse the trend, re-establish rule of law, justice and equity, with a clear vision for nation building and development.

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The author, former Additional Secretary, is currently the Executive Director, Centre for Governance Studies.