[Reader-list] BANGLADESH: Army Officers In Civillian Administration

[Shambhu Rahmat]

BANGLADESH: Military must not dominate civil administration
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission
BANGLADESH: Military must not dominate civil administration

The government of Bangladesh has directed its civil administration to
work in collaboration with the officers of the "Joint Forces"
stationed across the country.

The government made the decision on August 25, after having reshuffled
its administration by appointing 35 new Deputy Commissioners (DCs),
the apex bureaucratic authorities in the district administrations. The
government briefed the media on its policies on the proposed local and
general elections, implementation and monitoring mechanisms and
emphasized the need for friendly relations with the local people.
Cabinet Division Secretary Mr. Ali Imam Mazumdar chairing the meeting
on 25 August directed the officers to work together with the SPs
(Superintendents of Police) and the commanders of the Join Forces
across the country.

The direction to the administrators asserting collaboration with the
Joint Forces which comprises of officers of the armed forces and which
is dominated by the army, practically renders the civil administration
officials subordinate to the army. It also generates multiple
suspicions regarding the government motives behind such controversial
directives. This adds to the already adopted government policy of
placing the armed forces over the civil administration. This is a
small picture of the ongoing disaster in the governance in Bangladesh.
Here are some facts:

The Ministry of Home Affairs is headed by Major General (Retired) M A
Matin. Major General (retired) Ghulam Quader, former director general
of National Security Intelligence, has been made adviser to the
Ministry of Communications. Brigadier General (Retired) M A Malek is
the Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Ministries of Social
Welfare and Telecommunications

Founding Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion, allegedly the
arbiter of hundreds of extra judicial killings, and former head of the
Bangladesh Police Mr. Anwarul Iqbal has grabbed the position of the
adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and
Cooperatives. Another Major General (retired), ASM Matiur Rahman
previously occupying the Ministry of Health was later asked to resign
from his position for poor performance.

Immediate past army chief Lt. Gen. (Retired) Hassan Mashud Chowdhury
is the chairperson of the Anti Corruption Commission while Colonel Mr.
Hanif Iqbal occupies the position of Director General
(Administration).

Brigadier General (Retired) Muhammad Sakhawat Hussain is in the
constitutional position of Commissioner of the Election Commission.
Bangladesh Army has been given official responsibility to prepare the
voter list for the whole country. The army deputed its Principal Staff
Officer (PSO) of Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General Masud Uddin
Chowdhury to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when he had been serving
as the Chief Coordinator of the National Coordination Committee for
deciding the corruption cases.

Major General (retd) Manzurul Alam chairs Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission while Colonel Md. Saiful Islam takes the
position of the Director General and Lieutenant Colonel Shahidul Alam
is the Director of its Spectrum Management Department. Lieutenant
Colonel Shahidul Alam is the Project Director of a World Bank funded
project while Major Rakibul Hassan is a Deputy Director of its Systems
& Services Department.

Captain of Bangladesh Navy Mr. A.K.M Shafiqullah is occupying the
position of the Director General of the Department of Shipping while
Commodore Mr. A K M Alauddin occupying the position of the Chief
Engineer and Ship Supervisor.

Navy Captain Mr. Yeaheya Sayeed is a Director of Chittagong Dry Dock
Limited, an enterprise of the Bangladesh Steel & Engineering
Corporation and also a Member of the Chittagong Port Authority.
Captain Mr. SY Kamal is Member (operations), Captain Mr. Ramjan Ali is
Deputy Conservator of the Chittagong Port Authority, and Captain Mr.
Zahir Mahmood is Deputy Conservator of the Port of Chalna Authority in
Khulna.

Brigadier General Md. Rafiqul Islam is the Director (signals) of the
Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd.

Major Gen (retd) Manzur Rashid Chowdhury has been made the newly
formed Truth and Accountability Commission's member.

Even the sports sector is not safe from their interference. The
current army chief General Moeen U Ahmed grabs the positions of the
Chairman of the National Sports Council and the President of
Bangladesh Olympic Association. The chief of air force Vice Marshal
Ziaur Rahman Khan heads Bangladesh Hockey Federation while the naval
chief Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam heads the Swimming Federation. Major
General Ahsab Uddin, the General Officer Commanding of the 9th
Infantry Division, is the President of the National Shooting
Federation. The chief of general staff of the army Major General Seena
Ibn Jamali is the President of Bangladesh Cricket Board with
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Md. Abdul Latif Khan as Vice President.
Lieutenant Commodore A K Sirker is occupying the post of General
Secretary of the Basketball Federation.

These are very few out of the numerous positions occupied by the
officers of the armed forces in the civil administration and
autonomous institutions of Bangladesh. All information on such events
is not available as the authorities suppress information to skip
criticism.

Moreover, the armed forces have been deployed in all the district
headquarters of the 64 districts of Bangladesh since the state of
emergency besides the decades' long full-fledged militarization of
three districts in the hill tracks of Chittagong region. Initially,
the government deployed armed forces in all the upazillas
(sub-district units) as soon as the emergency was imposed.

The DCs have been severely humiliate because army Majors being much
junior to them have been placed in the districts levels. These Majors
hurl abusive and exert illegal influences before the DCs, making the
district heads embarrassed and frustrated. "People should no longer
have patience and resist the audacity of these uncivilized Majors",
commented a DC, who did not wish to be identified.

All the national level policy decisions are made, changed and
influenced by the top officials of the armed forces.  The "National
Coordinating Committee", which oversees the corruption issues staying
atop all administrative setups, recommends the Anti Corruption
Commission as to who will be charged and who will not be. The top
officers of the armed forces occupy the coordinating body.
The Rapid Action Battalion, also drenched with the officers of the
armed forces on deputation, is extended to the district and upazilla
levels with their own setups besides the regular police force.

The police who are supposed to be responsible for maintaining law and
order in the country have excessively been supported by the Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB) and the armed forces during the state of
emergency. So, in reality, all the forces arrest people. The common
people have access only to the police stations for enquiring on the
whereabouts of the arrested and detained persons, and none of the
law-enforcing agencies explain to anyone whenever arrests are made.
When the armed forces and RAB arrest, detain and torture people the
police remain out of the picture and none of the police stations
record any case regarding such incidents. Even the lawyers rarely
agree to assist the victims by drafting and lodging a complaint with
the Magistrate's Court, which is last resort for the vulnerable people
to seek redress following a denial by the police.

According to reports, the armed force officers frequently make phone
calls to the Magistrates and Judges regarding pending cases to address
the issues meeting the interest of the officers. Magistrates also
cannot ignore fearing the security of themselves, their families and
relatives. However, none of these magistrates agreed to disclose it
officially other than "off the record". The condition of the
prosecutors is worse than that of the judges and magistrates. The
offices of the prosecutors and attorneys are filled up with members of
the intelligence agencies and in special cases the officers of the
armed forces, who insist and direct them to lead the proceedings as
the agencies wish.

Surprisingly enough, under the coverage of emergency provisions,
officers of the armed forces remain present in the courtrooms and
relevant offices of the courts during, before and after the trials as
members of "Task Force". They visit the courts and the relevant
offices to monitor, dictate and insist the staffs for the cases they
are more interested.

The military remains far away from any mechanism of accountability
unlike any other organizations of Bangladesh. Thus, the armed forces
enjoy absolute impunity for their unlawful actions supported by the
laws made by the government during the state of emergency.

The existing situation evidently shows the silent but gradual, and
eventually complete, militarization in Bangladesh. The joint forces
deployed across the country frequently intervene into many local and
private institutions including the activities of the media, NGO, and
human right activisms though they are not eligible and competent to do
so. These unlawful attempts have already demoralized the concerned
professionals. As a consequence of regular interventions by the armed
forces into their work, they cannot contribute to the society and to
their respective fields by accomplishing their official
responsibilities.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is highly concerned about the
all out militarization in Bangladesh.  The military cannot be capable
or substitute of the civil administration in any place of the world
because of their training with arbitrariness. The armed forces are
accustomed to command rather than being accountable to any civil
authority. The ongoing huge militarization has been destroying the
fabrics of democracy and rule of law in the country. AHRC urges the
civil society and human rights groups in the country and the
international community to insist the authorities of Bangladesh to
immediately demilitarize all institutions the armed forces have been
occupying illegibly.

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Posted on 2008-09-01

http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1671/