National Human Rights Commission Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star on Thursday touched upon the human rights situation in Bangladesh and discussed the much-talked about probe report by a committee of the commission on the recent Subarnachar gang-rape incident in Noakhali.

The Daily Star (TDS): Different local and foreign agencies have expressed concerns over Bangladesh's human rights situation on various occasions.  As NHRC chairman, what is your opinion on this?

Kazi Reazul Hoque: The term “human rights” is used in a broad sense. It includes economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights, as well as women empowerment. It also deals with violence against women. If seen from the country's overall development perspective, I think Bangladesh's image is more or less good in the world.

However, from the country's political and civil rights perspective, some unacceptable incidents took place. For example, many people became victims of extra-judicial killings. Many murders took place. These incidents do not go with our other progress and image. So considering everything, it can be said Bangladesh's human rights situation is in a mixed position. Progress has been made in some areas while there have been questionable incidents in some areas.

TDS: The 11th parliamentary polls have recently been held.  Many incidents occurred during pre- and post-polls days. What is the commission's take on this?

Reazul: The whole administration worked under the Election Commission during the election. We tried to ensure that every voter could go to the polling centre and cast vote...We opened a control room for 60 hours starting from the day before the polls, on the day of the polls and to the day after the polls. We had a hotline…We received some complaints. Some complaints were serious like armed men vandalising houses and obstructing voters from going to polling centres…We had been given a directive to inform the EC secretary and the returning officer concerned about specific complaints and our control room did so accordingly.

TDS: The commission is empowered to work on suo moto?

Reazul: Yes.

TDS: What step did you take on suo moto during the polls?

Reazul: Not only during the election, we always take into cognisance serious human rights violations on suo moto basis. We come to know about these incidents from the media. If anybody complains, we address it with due importance.

You must remember that in every country in the world there is a different body for different kinds of matters. For example, if someone commits a crime then there is the police or the courts to deal with them…

Where human rights are violated, we investigate those instances. This way we increase pressure. We tell relevant bodies of what we have found in cases of such violations. Afterwards it is up to them to investigate the details and take action.

TDS: As we are talking about the matter of investigations, let us talk about the incident of gang rape which took place in Subarnachar of Noakhali. The Daily Star published a report headlined “AL workers gang rape mother of 4 for voting for 'sheaf of paddy' ”. You took the incident into cognizance and investigated it.

Reazul: As soon as I came across your report on January 1, I immediately wrote to the commission's director (complaint and investigation) that the issue was serious and it should be investigated. I asked to take measure on a priority basis.

I formed a three-member committee to probe the incident. They went to Noakhali the next day. There, they talked with the victim, her husband, doctors and others concerned. On their return to Dhaka, they submitted a probe report. We discussed it in the commission's meeting… I asked the perpetrators be brought to justice in the quickest time and ensure their exemplary punishment.  We have made a strong recommendation to the government in this regard.  We sent letters to the secretaries of the home and law ministries.

TDS: In your investigation what came out to be the cause of the 'gang rape'?

Reazul: We did not investigate thoroughly. The committee submitted a “primary” probe report. Now it is up to those responsible whether they will do a thorough investigation.

TDS: The victim told the NHRC probe committee about 'threat and rape' centring the election and casting vote. It is mentioned in the report. Then on what basis did the NHRC report write that there was no correlation between the election and the rape incident?

Reazul: The opinion is not of the commission but of the probe committee. 

TDS: The report is of the commission?

Reazul: It is the report of the investigation committee of the commission.

TDS: When the commission says “There is no relation between the election and the rape”, what happens then?

Reazul: The commission did not say there was no relation with the polls. We said, “This committee, after the end of fact finding, gives opinion in the fact-finding report submitted to the commission chairman...”

They gave the opinion. We have informed the government that they have given this opinion.  We did not justify anything. We thought justification should be done by those who were supposed to justify it. We did not want to take this responsibility.

TDS: But by saying “there is no relation of the incident with the 11th JS election” in the report, you have already taken responsibility.

Reazul: It is the committee's statement, not the commission's.

TDS: Then what is the opinion of the commission in this regard?

Reazul: We cannot say anything about this. We did not want to make any “sweeping comment” on whether it was politically-motivated. The commission's observation is that human rights have been seriously violated in the incident. Those involved in the crime have to be punished. We did not investigate in the way which is required for knowing who committed the crime.

TDS: When the report was published, we took it to be the report of the NHRC.

Reazul: The probe committee said, “We said what the victim told us”.

TDS: Does the responsibility of the report not fall on the commission?

Reazul: You can explain it whichever way you want. We do not think so.

TDS: So, as the NHRC chairman, you do not agree with the report of the committee formed by you?

Reazul:  No… No. Here we did not say whether we agreed or not. Here, we identified severe violations of human rights and asked to punish the perpetrators… Those who are responsible to deal with the voting issue will deal with it… Actually, it is not the commission's report.

[See The Daily Star Bangla for the full interview. Visit: www.thedailystar.net/bangla/]

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today called upon the people of the country to stand against the violence spree centering the December 30 election.

"We call upon the countrymen as well as the Election Commission to bring an end to this violence," Mirza Fakhrul said at a press brief at a Cumilla restaurant, on his way to Noakhali today.

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Rape in Noakhali: Nine sued except 'who ordered it'

He is going to Noakhali to visit the woman who was raped at midnight of December 31.

The BNP leader condemned the rape incident and said this is an example of the pre and post-polls violence spree all across the country.

Awami League and the country's administration turned into public enemies through stealing votes in this election yet again, he further said.

What happened in Noakhali?

A mother of four was gang-raped in Noakhali's Subarnachar area on December 31 allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League activists.

The 35-year-old woman, who was being treated at Noakhali General Hospital with severe injuries, claimed that she was raped for voting for "sheaf of paddy", the electoral symbol of the BNP, during Sunday's national polls. 

The woman alleged the rapists were accomplices of Ruhul Amin, a former member of Char Jubilee Union Parishad. "They had repeatedly insisted that I should vote for boat [the AL's symbol] but I cast my ballot for 'sheaf of paddy'," she said.

The High Court yesterday withdrew its order for a one year bail to former Awami League leader Ruhul Amin who allegedly instructed the rape of a woman at Subarnachar upazila in Noakhali on December 30.

The bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice SM Kuddus Zaman withdrew the order of the bail as Ruhul suppressed the fact that some other accused in the case had given confessional statements to the lower court against him.

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Subarnachar Rape: The man 'who ordered it' gets 1-yr bail

In the confessional statements, the other accused said the incident of rape took place as per the instruction of Ruhul. But this information was not mentioned in the bail petition filed by Ruhul, former publicity affairs secretary of Subarnachar AL unit.

The judges yesterday sat in their private chamber and passed the withdrawal order after Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Biswojit Roy informed them about the suppression of the fact on Thursday.

DAG Roy and DAG Amit Talukdar were present at the chamber when the bench withdrew the bail order but Ruhul's lawyer Asheke Rasul was not present there.

Advocate Rasul could not be reached over phone after repeated attempts.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters at his office that the way Ruhul secured bail from the HC was tantamount to a fraud upon the court.

“We will bring this issue to the chief justice's notice,” he added.

He also said his office would pray to the HC bench concerned to issue a contempt of court rule against Ruhul's lawyer and would submit an application to the Bangladesh Bar Council for taking action against Rasul if it was necessary.

On March 18, the same HC bench granted a one-year bail to Ruhul. But he is yet to get release from jail, Supreme Court Special Officer Mohammad Saifur Rahman said.

He also said the HC bench would pass further order on March 25.

On December 30 last year, a mother of four was gang-raped allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League leaders for casting ballot for “sheaf of paddy”, electoral symbol of the BNP, according to the victim.

The victim's husband filed a case accusing nine with Charjabbar Police Station under Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Ruhul, however, was not made an accused in it. Police held Ruhul four days after the incident.

Later, the husband claimed to the National Human Rights Commission that the First Information Report of the criminal case was not written by him as he is illiterate and his complaint was altered by those who wrote it for him. 

Left Democratic Alliance (LDA), a coalition of eight left-leaning political parties, yesterday demanded exemplary punishment, under a speedy trial, for all culprits involved with the Noakhali gang-rape.

Speaking at a press briefing at Mukti Bhaban in Dhaka, the alliance leaders also demanded that the authorities concerned provide adequate security and treatment to the victim and her family members.

LDA organised the briefing after an alliance team visited the victim at Noakhali General Hospital and went to her house in Subarnachar upazila on Friday.

Early December 31, hours after the 11th parliamentary election, the mother of four was gang-raped allegedly by 10 to 12 Awami League men.

Quoting the victim's neighbours, the coalition, in a written statement, said the rape accused were locally known as “miscreants” for their involvement in various crimes.

LDA said a sense of insecurity was prevailing among locals as the accused are involved with the ruling party. They [accused], through their cohorts, have also threatened the victim and her family, it added.

“The rape in Noakhali isn't an isolated incident. It is a direct reflection of bankruptcy of the country's social and economic system…,” said Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) President Mujahidul Islam Selim at the briefing.

It is the result of the ruling party's effort to remain in power through intimidation, he added.

About the role of Jatiya Party as opposition in the new parliament, he alleged that it has been staged by AL to create a “fake” opposition in the “fake” parliament.

“Ershad said he is the opposition party leader [in the parliament]. It's ridiculous… They [JP] participated in the election as part of the AL-led grand alliance,” he said.

In the afternoon, Nari Samhati, a pro-women body of Ganosamhati Andolan, formed a human chain in front of Jatiya Press Club, demanding justice for the victim.

“We cannot find any hope for justice from this illegal government that assumed power through a farcical election… a woman was also raped by activists of the ruling party,” said Shamoli Shil, president of Nari Samhati.

She urged the countrymen to launch a tougher movement so that no one dares to commit such atrocity in the future.

Taslima Akhter, vice-president of Nari Samhati, alleged that AL activists raped the woman in Noakhali to establish their dominance so that people, out of fear, remain silent.

She also alleged that the incidents of rape, abduction, killing and attack on minorities are increasing as political parties are failing to uphold democratic values properly.

Three more accused have been arrested in connection with the latest “gang rape” incident of a mother of six in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila on Sunday.

The arrestees were identified as Arman, Ramnobel and Raihan, our local correspondent reports quoting Dipak Jyoti Khisha, additional superintendent of police in Noakhali.

With the latest, so far five accused of the case have been arrested.

Meanwhile, police sought seven-day remand for two of the accused who were held earlier. Judge Masfiqul Haque of Noakhali Cognisance Court-2 ordered that the accused Abul Basher and Yousuf Majhi to be sent to jail and the court will hold hearing on the remand plea on Wednesday.

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'Gang rape' again at Subarnachar

Elsewhere, the medical tests of the victim, aged about 48, have been completed, said Syed Mohiuddin Abdul Azim, resident medical officer of Noakhali General Hospital.

But the preparation of the final report may take some time, he added.

A mother of six, aged about 48, was allegedly gang-raped in Noakhali's Subarnachar upazila on Sunday evening over “campaigning for an upazila vice chairman candidate”.

The incident happened barely three months after a mother of four was gang-raped by 10-12 people in the same area allegedly for voting for “sheaf of paddy” in the December 30 national election.

Police arrested two people on Sunday after the victim's husband had filed a case with Char Jabbar Police Station, accusing 12 people, including four unnamed. The arrestees are Abul Basher and Yousuf Majhi, both accused in the case.