Different international and local rights organisations on Wednesday observed the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture with a call to Bangladesh government to comply with its obligations to uphold the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill treatment, end impunity and ensure access to justice for victims.
They made the call in separate statements and different events marking the 鈥楿nited Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture鈥� that is observed under the theme 鈥楩reedom from torture is our right鈥� this year.
Human Rights Defenders Network of Odhikar organised protest rallies, meeting and human chain in different districts including Chattogram, Feni, Barishal and Bhola demanding an end to torture.
The Human Rights Development Centre, Local Education and Economic Development Organisation and UNITY jointly organised a human chain at Rayer Bazar Badhya Bhumi and called on the states to defend the progress made in the last decades in upholding human dignity by showing a greater commitment to ending torture worldwide, said a press release.
HRDC secretary general Mahbubul Haque said that torture was not an agenda of development around the world. 鈥業 support for development agenda without torture. As a result of torture, thousands of innocent peoples lost their everything and now they are traumatised in Bangladesh.鈥�
LEEDO executive director Forhad Hossain called for urgent action to combat the torture and abuse of children across Bangladesh. He highlighted the plight of thousands of children living on the streets without homes, safety, or basic necessities.
Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust in a separate statement also demanded adequate compensation from state funds and legal protection for victims and families of victims of torture.
Authorities in Bangladesh must end impunity for torture and other ill-treatment by police and security forces, hold perpetrators to account and ensure reparations are given to victims, said Amnesty International on Wednesday in a press release marking the day.
Despite ratifying the UN Convention Against Torture in 1998 and enacting the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013, there has only been one conviction under the torture law in more than a decade as impunity continues to prevail for police and security forces in Bangladesh, it said.
In September 2023, the Bangladesh government reported to the UN Human Rights Council that 24 cases had been filed under the 2013 torture law so far.
Between January 2013 and May 2024, rights group Ain O Salish Kendra has documented 138 deaths which were allegedly caused due to physical torture by law enforcement agencies. It also documented 923 deaths in jail custody which were reported in the media in the same period.
Earlier on Tuesday, eleven international and a local rights bodies called to Bangladesh government to end impunity for security forces and ensure access to justice for victims.
鈥榃e, the undersigned organisations, are gravely concerned over the continuing acts of torture and other ill-treatment committed by law-enforcement agencies and security forces in Bangladesh, and the lack of access to comprehensive rehabilitation services including medical, psychological, legal, and social support for torture victims,鈥� they said in a joint statement.
Organisations signatory to the statement included Amnesty International, Asia Alliance Against Torture, Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Capital Punishment Justice Project, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Eleos Justice, Monash University, International Federation for Human Rights, Odhikar, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and World Organisation Against Torture.
