BANGLADESH: Government cannot protect anyone

| A Statement from the Asian Human Rights Commission

( May 29, 2012, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) Once again journalists have been physically attacked in Bangladesh. The attack happened on Monday night, 28 May 2012, at the office of BD News24.Com, an online bilingual national news portal of the country. This time the journalists and their associate staff were stabbed by a gang. Three victims including Sub-editor Newaz Mohammed Rifaat, Correspondent Salahuddin Wahed Pritom and office staff Ruhul Amin are currently receiving treatment at a private hospital in Dhaka for their wounds in their thighs and heads (Pictorial reports can be found at the website of BDNews24.Com). Only one suspect has been arrested by the police by now while the rest are still at large.

This is the second attack on journalists in the last three days. On Saturday, 26 May, three journalists including two photojournalists of the Prothom Alo, one of the largest circulated vernacular daily newspapers of Bangladesh, were tortured by the police on a Dhaka street and also in custody of the Sher-E-Bangla Nagar police station. The victims are Zahidul Karim, Sajid Hossain and Khaled Sarker who have fractured legs and hands along with numerous injuries sustained all over their bodies (Photos of police torture can be found at Prothom Alo's website). The authorities have suspended nine police personnel including an Assistant Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, a Sub Inspector, two Assistant Sub Inspectors and six Constables. Needless to mention that 'suspending' temporarily is not considered a punishment in the Bangladesh Police, who are institutionally known to the people as 'an industry of torture', rather is an attempt of diverting the concentration of the public from the main focus at a particular period of time.

Physical attacks on journalists, either by the state-agents or non-state-agents, are not isolated incidents in Bangladesh nowadays. Almost regularly there are allegations of attacking on journalists across the country. For example, Panna Bala, a correspondent of Daily Prothom Alo, was beaten and abused by the ruling party's leaders at Faridpur on 4 May for publishing reports on political affairs; A B M Fazlur Rahman, a correspondent of Daily Shamokal and NTV, was stabbed at Pabna on 19 May; Mizanur Rahman and Jitendra Nath, correspondents of Daily Prothom Alo and Daily Shamokal were attacked by the ruling party activists at Baufall in Patuakhali on 16 May for exposing malpractices in a by-election of a local municipality. These are just a few examples out of many such incidents just during the current month.

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Three arrested over bdnews24.com attack

 Police on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with an attack on bdnews24.com journalists on Monday.

All the arrestees -- Jahidul Islam Sourov, 20, 'Hossain', and 'Ilias' -- are residents of the capital's Mohakhali area, DMP's Additional Deputy Commissioner for Media and Community Service Masudur Rahaman told bdnews24.com.

Banani police detained them from different areas in Mohakhali in separate raids since morning, he said.

Officer-in-Charge of Banani Police Station Mamun-ur-Rashid said bdnews24.com's Human Resources Officer Shahidul Islam filed a case against 15-20 unidentified people over the attack.

"We have accepted the case. The investigation is underway," he said.

On Monday night, unidentified assailants stabbed bdnews24.com Sub-Editor Newaz Mohammad Rifaat and Correspondent Salahuddin Wahed Pritom with sharp weapons. Several others, including office staff Ruhul Amin, suffered injuries in the attack apparently by a group of local goons.

They are being treated at the United Hospital at Gulshan.

Journalists across the country have condemned the attack and demonstrated demanding arrest of the attackers. - bdnews24.com

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These consecutive attacks on journalists reflect the situation of extreme form of vulnerability of the journalism as a profession in Bangladesh. These attacks are not isolated. Rather, it is recurrently orchestrated as a result of ensured impunity to the perpetrators. There are hardly instances of a proper investigation let alone a credible prosecution against the perpetrators of attacking or murdering the journalists in the country, in recent years or decades. At the same time, the top-ranking officials of the government, unfortunately, make irresponsible speeches in public that may inspire the potential perpetrators in the country.

For example, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently came down heavily on the country's journalists for protesting against the murder of a journalist-couple and exposing the uselessness of her government by saying that "the government cannot guard anyone's bedroom". She was cited in the media on February 23 while referring to the murder of Ms. Meherun Runi and her husband Mr. Sagar Sarwar, who were chief reporter and news editor respectively in two private television channels based in Dhaka. They were murdered in their bedroom of a rented flat in the capital city on 11 February 2012. It is evident that the government is unable to protect anyone anywhere – regardless whether it is a bedroom or a public place – in Bangladesh. The situation requires constant discourse among the citizens.

The continuous physical attacks on journalists amount to serious blow against the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. The journalists' federations have been protesting against the incidents of attacks on their colleagues and demanding punishment of the perpetrators. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) extends solidarity to the movements of the journalists. The AHRC demands credible investigations into all the cases of attacks on journalists. There should be prosecution of the alleged perpetrators immediately.