A member of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) swings a baton at a Jamaat-e-Islam activist on February 5, 2013, during a day-long strike in Dhaka.
© 2013 Reuters
Fri 09 August 2019:
A U.N. human rights body called on Bangladeshi authorities on Friday to investigate credible allegations that police and security forces routinely torture detainees and to prosecute any perpetrators.
It was the first time that the independent experts examined the record of Bangladesh, which ratified an international ban on torture in 1999 but had failed to submit any compliance reports until last month.
“Bangladesh presented us with no report for 20 years, came a week beforehand and gave us a report which was solely about the law,” panel member Felice Gaer told a briefing.
“We did not come out with a happy conclusion. We have a 16-page report which begins with the discussion of widespread torture, widespread and routine torture,” she said.
It had initiated prison reform and had a “zero-tolerance policy” for deaths in custody due to torture, he said.
The government delegation said 17 claims of torture had been brought, but it was unable to provide any details, Gaer added.
It cited reports that “police officers frequently refuse to register claims of torture or disappearance brought by victims or family members”.
Source: Reuters
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