Political leaders and right activists on Sunday said that death and torture in custody and incidents of disappearance of persons allegedly picked by the law enforcers were on the rise as the government continued to use state machinery for repressing alleged criminals and dissidents.
They made the observation at a discussion meeting at the National Press Club organised by rights organisation Odhikar marking the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Addressing the meeting, Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the present government continued with repressing people in general and opposition leaders and activists in particular, although the ruling Awami League in its election manifesto had pledged to stop torture by state machinery.
Mentioning the case of Limon, a college student whose left leg had been amputated after being shot by the Rapid Action Battalion, Fakhrul said the government was out to criminalise Limon's family to save the battalion.
Although the BNP-led alliance government had formed the battalion, they never used it for political vendetta, he said.
AL leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, also a former vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students Union, however, said that successive governments had been using law enforcer and different state agencies against the opposition.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia expressed the hope that people would resist the government's torture on people as the situation could not be allowed to continue for long.
Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman said the present government has resorted to repression on dissidents and urged people to say 'no' to torture.
Biplabi Workers Party's general secretary Saiful Haque said the present government also tortured different left leaders like Moshrefa Mishu.
Jatiya Mukti Council general secretary Fayzul Hakim Lala said the AL-led government was torturing people as they have no other way to stay in power.
Odhikar advisor Farhad Mazhar said if a country failed to establish human dignity then the country could not expect to have a democratic environment.
He also said the government did not sign the optional protocol of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as it said that if anyone is tortured by the government then the affected person should be given compensation.
Hill Women's Federation general secretary Konika Dewan said if someone tried to protest against the incidents of torturing on the indigenous people, they become victims of harassment by the government.
Jatiya Mukti Council general secretary Fayzul Hakim Lala, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia, Moniruzzaman Rubel's brother Iqbal Hossain, who was allegedly killed at Tangail thana on April 21, 2011, and Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan,among others, addressed meeting.
Odhikar also held rallies in different district headquarters including Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Bogra demanding enactment of a law criminalising torture.
Source : New Age
