Rafique al Islam, ICBL campaigner in Bangladesh remains in custody without charge. At an arraignment hearing today, a district judge remanded Rafique into the custody of the Cox's Bazar jail. A hearing of the charges against him will take place on Thurs 26 August, at which point it is feared that counter-terrorism legislation may be requested by the military unit which siezed him to extend his custody without charges. His family and colleagues remain uninformed of the cause of his arrest, or of any pending charges. His family, with the help of international support, will attempt to obtain a lawyer to argue for bail against unsubstantiated terrorism charges.
The situation in Bangladesh is deteriorating rapidly, and Rafique's arrest must be viewed as a serious threat to his personal security. His detention is overshadowed in Bangladesh by an increase in political violence. In the past few weeks, the political opposition to the ruling party has suffered from both targeted and indiscriminant acts of violence, leaving scores dead and injured. Beginning tomorrow, the country will be shutdown by nationwide strikes, which are currently projected to last 2 days, but may lead to yet broader social conflict. This political drama is being played out while the country is suffering from some of the worst flooding in a decade which has left millions homeless. The Rapid Action Battalion which siezed Rafique, is an inter-service entity, created for combatting serious crime and terrorism. It has broad discretionary powers, and little oversight. A web search finds that several prominent political figures and activists have been detained by this unit for long periods of time without formal charges, this unit commonly uses torture in its interrogations, and have several deaths in custody attributed to them.
ICBL activists are requested to make all efforts to visit missions of Bangladesh in person, and request the immediate release of ICBL's Bangladesh campaigner who is continuing to be held without charge.
Please inform us of the visits you undertake or attempt to have with any of the missions of Bangladesh, at: mbanSPAMFLTER@SPATMFLTERnonviolenceinternational.net
