Custodial torture of Jishan: AI demands unbiased probe
Staff Reporter :
Amnesty International (AI) is deeply concerned to learn about allegations that opposition leader, Mominul Islam Jishan, has been subjected to custodial torture by the police.
Jishan was implicated in cases under the draconian Special Powers Act and Arms Act on Saturday, hours after Amnesty called upon the authorities to disclose his whereabouts along with the five other Chhatra Dal leaders who had gone missing the night before, Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office, tweeted on Monday.
Amnesty has spoken with Jishan’s family members and lawyers, who alleged that the police have tortured Jishan so he “confesses” to the charges brought against him.
They fear that Jishan will be subjected to further torture in police custody, since the judge granted two days remand to the police, despite Jishan bearing visible signs of injuries on his body when he was produced before the court on Sunday, it read.
Amnesty called upon the Bangladeshi government to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into these allegations of custodial torture and ensure that Jishan, along with all those detained under police custody are free from torture and other ill-treatment, in line with Bangladesh’s obligations under the UN Convention against Torture.
The authorities must ensure that the judges do not ignore signs or allegations of torture when police request a prisoner’s remand into custody and must rigorously uphold safeguards against unlawful detention.
Earlier on August 19, Amnesty International tweeted it had spoken to family members of two of the six missing individuals and the lawyer representing them and learned that they were picked up by a group of people in civilian clothing who identified themselves as members of the Detective Branch of the Police from Azimpur area in Dhaka, and that their current whereabouts remains unknown, despite their lawyer and family members seeking information from the DB Office.
At that time the international body urged the police to immediately disclose the whereabouts of these six individuals clarify on what legal grounds they have been picked up and held and also to grant them access to proper legal representation.
