Bangladeshi authorities should release a human rights activist detained in connection with his work, a coalition of human rights groups said today in a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
Adilur Rahman Khan, one of Bangladesh's most prominent human rights defenders and secretary of the group Odhikar, was arrested on August 10, 2013.
"Odhikar and Mr. Khan have long campaigned against extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and violations of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, including when members of your party, the Awami League, were being persecuted under the previous caretaker government," the letter said.
The letter further added: "It is sad and ironic that your government is now prosecuting Mr. Khan for his work in documenting human rights violations."
Khan's arrest and subsequent detention under the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 appears to be aimed at intimidating and silencing critics of your government.
The recent move by the government to amend the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006 to increase sentences, make certain offenses non-bailable, and authorize the police to arrest without obtaining a warrant deepens our concerns that Mr. Khan's arrest is designed to silence him, Odhikar, and other critics.
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According to the police, Khan was arrested pursuant to Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006.
On August 11, the day following his arrest, Khan was presented before the magistrate's court and was remanded to five days policy custody for alleged offenses under Section 54 involving Clauses 1 and 2 of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT) 2006 for publishing in an Odhikar fact-finding report allegedly false images and information about human rights abuses by government security forces during mass demonstrations by the Hefazat-e-Islami movement in Dhaka on May 5 and 6, 2013.
Odhikar's report stated that 61 persons had been killed in operations by security forces between May 5-6, a figure that is strongly contested by your government.
Khan was not given access to lawyers until he was produced before the Magistrate on the afternoon of August 11.
The August 11 remand order was subsequently overturned by the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court on August 12.
Khan was sent to the Dhaka Central Jail on August 13, and later transferred to the Kashimpur Jail number 1.
The charges against Khan and his Odhikar colleague, A S M Nasiruddin Elan, submitted through a charge sheet by the D B Police on September 4, 2013, are a serious encroachment on their and other members of Odhikar's right to freedom of expression, and will have a chilling effect on other human rights defenders and other critical voices throughout Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said in their letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The case was transferred to the newly-formed Cyber Crimes Tribunal. We are disturbed that the second bail petition submitted by Khan's lawyers was rejected by the court on September 9.