[Reader-list] Random Rule of Law in Bangladesh

[Shambhu Rahmat]

By Rater Zonaki
Column: Humanity or Humor?

http://upiasiaonline.com/Human_Rights/2008/09/02/random_rule_of_law_in_bangladesh/8404/

Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender based in Hong
Kong working at the Asian Human Rights Commission.

The High Court finally compelled the military-controlled government of
Bangladesh to release an imprisoned businessman on Aug. 28, after the
authorities ignored the court’s order for more than a week.

The army-led Joint Forces arrested Salman F. Rahman, a top businessman
and former president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industries, on Feb. 4, 2007, under the Emergency Powers Rules-2007. He
was subsequently charged in seven cases of corruption and
land-grabbing. Salman managed to receive bail in six of the cases
during his prolonged detention, none of which has yet come to trial.

On Aug. 20 the High Court granted bail to Salman in the last case
against him, in which he is accused of corruption in connection with
the International Finance Investment and Commerce Bank. The prison
authorities received the court order but took no action.

Salman's counsel, Barrister Rafique-ul Haque, a former attorney
general of Bangladesh, had been contacting the prison authorities
every day until Aug. 25, while the concerned officials kept assuring
him that his client would be released on the following day. However,
eight days passed and Salman was not released. Haque brought the issue
to the notice of the court, which summoned the attorney general and
held him accountable for failing to release the prisoner.

On Aug. 28 Salman's counsel attempted to lodge a contempt-of-court
complaint against the responsible officials. The court asked the
attorney general to produce Salman before it within one hour, unless
the top public servant wished to be summoned for contempt of court.
The authorities soon released Salman from the Kashimpur jail after
this strict intervention.

The day Salman was arrested, and at one point detained in the
cantonment police station in Dhaka, this writer witnessed him moving
around in the office of the police station, which was surrounded by
police and other forces. In contrast, the poor who are regularly
arrested by members of the same forces face radically different
treatment.

A person like Salman F. Rahman, who could afford to pay for attention
at the Supreme Court level, was able to manage bail for the cases
against him lodged by the military-controlled government. He had
access to a high-profile lawyer, a former attorney general, and enough
money to spend on arranging his bail. Still it took around
one-and-a-half years for him to be freed.

Similar intervention from the High Court does not happen to the poor
like Mohammad Ripon, a hosiery worker who earned only 3,000 takas
(about US$44) per month, despite working hard from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00
p.m. every day at a tiny factory in Dhaka. He lived in a dormitory in
a slum adjacent to the Turag River.

One day before the state of emergency was imposed, when Ripon was
walking home late in the evening, the Shah Ali police arrested him. He
was detained in police custody overnight and was sent to jail via a
Magistrate's Court that implicated him in a case of petty theft.

Mosharaf Hossain, owner of the factory where Ripon was employed, told
this writer in front of the Dhaka Central Jail that he had been
waiting for Ripon's release. Mosharaf reasoned that Ripon, the only
hosiery producer of his factory, had no relatives except his elderly
mother, who lived in a shelter in Pabna district, around 300
kilometers from the capital. Due to Ripon's detention Mosharaf's
factory was closed, and there was no trusted substitute for him.

Mosharaf spent more than 4,000 takas (US$58) on a lawyer for five
days, excluding his transportation and other expenditures, such as
bribes to court staff so they would allow him to stand in the queue to
present a petition for bail. Every day the lawyer assured him that
Ripon would be released, and suggested that Mosharaf wait in front of
the jail's gate to receive him. But Ripon did not come out.

Mosharaf was counting the money he spent, planning to deduct it from
Ripon's salary once he was released. He needed his employee back for
the survival of his hosiery factory. The 4,000 takas he had spent was
more than one month’s salary for Ripon; but it was not enough to
secure his release or get the attention of the High Court.

Around 500,000 people were arrested as part of the government’s
crackdown under the state of emergency. Among them, about 200 are very
rich, like Salman. Perhaps 1,000 could afford the cost of legal
proceedings in the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the huge majority
of those who were arrested cannot afford even the minimum expenses for
justice at a district level court.

The victims of arbitrary arrest and detention have been facing
unimaginable suffering while large amounts of money are wasted in the
process of trying to obtain justice, apparently for nothing. It may
require special research to expose the whole situation concerning
economic losses incurred in the futile attempt to secure due legal
process.

The courts of Bangladesh, especially the Supreme Court, seem unable to
remedy this situation. The courts should be competent enough to
address the serious problems the nation is now facing. It is not
debatable that courts exist to ensure effective and prompt compliance
with the law. They should ensure that no one, including legal
professionals, is allowed to avoid or ignore their responsibilities.
The century-old habits, attitudes and mindset of the judiciary must be
changed if the nation is to be saved from the dirty ditch of arbitrary
behavior and survive with dignity.

–

(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender based in
Hong Kong working at the Asian Human Rights Commission. He is a
Bangladeshi national with a degree in literature from a university in
Dhaka. He began his career as a journalist in 1990 and engaged in
human rights activism at the grassroots level in his country for more
than a decade. He also worked as an editor for publications on human
rights and socio-cultural issues and contributed to other similar
publications.)