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CPJ
Report - Bangladesh
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| FACING
ROUTINE THREATS, HARASSMENT, AND OTHER ATTACKS,
Bangladeshi journalists continued to work at
great risk as political and criminal violence
went unchecked. Two journalists were assassinated:
Mir Illias Hossain, editor of the newspaper
Dainik Bir Darpan, and Shamsur Rahman, a senior
correspondent for the national daily Janakantha
and a frequent contributor to the BBC's Bengali-language
service. |
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| The
most dangerous region in the country for journalists
remained the southwest, where criminal smuggling
syndicates and militant groups are active. Both
Hossain and Rahman were murdered there, as was
a prominent editor assassinated in 1998. Hossain,
who was killed in the town of Jhenaidah on January
15, had been outspoken against left-wing militant
activity in the area. Local journalists believed
that local militants shot him because they were
unhappy with his newspaper's political stance.
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| When
Rahman was shot in the nearby city of Jessore
on July 16, his case received unusual national
attention, and police launched a high-profile
investigation. However, despite evidence that
a local organized crime syndicate arranged for
the journalist's murder, none of the suspects
were in jail by year's end, according to CPJ
sources. |
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| The
government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina failed
to prosecute violent attacks against journalists,
and in some cases encouraged them actively.
In October, for example, a government minister
exhorted members of the ruling Awami League
to attack the press: "Wherever you will find
journalists, break their bones," he said, addressing
a party meeting in Satkhira. The minister's
comments followed press reports that Awami League
members had embezzled money intended to help
the victims of severe flooding in southwestern
Bangladesh. |
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| Even
before these provocative remarks, the local
press had complained of threats and intimidation.
Awami League activists brutally assaulted two
journalists in the space of a week, and several
journalists went into hiding for fear of attack.
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| Awami
League leaders were also behind a series of
attacks against the Islamist newspaper Inqilab,
which the government accused of treason for
publishing a parody of the national anthem.
In November, while legal cases against the daily
were crawling through the courts, party activists
tried forcibly to ban the paper, attacking Inqilab
offices and transport vehicles, harassing distributors
and vendors, and destroying thousands of copies
of the newspaper. |
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| The
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party also
did nothing to curb the abuses of its members,
who regularly attacked journalists assigned
to cover the party's frequent nationwide strikes. |
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| In
March, journalists were targeted during a protest
organized by Islamic fundamentalist groups in
the northeastern city of Sylhet. Ahmed Abed
Rumi, a reporter for the daily Banglar Bani,
had both his arms broken and sustained multiple
stab wounds when he was attacked by a group
of demonstrators who accused Rumi and other
journalists of being anti-Islam. |
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| Extremists
were also blamed for the August stabbing of
Shahriar Kabir, a free-lance journalist who
has been outspoken against the religious right
in Bangladesh. Kabir, who was stabbed in the
face and in his right hand, said he had received
many threats in the past, and blamed the Harkatul
Jihad, a fundamentalist group said to have links
with the Taliban movement in Afghanistan. |
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| Journalists
were also subject to legal harassment. Criminal
defamation laws remain on the books, and are
routinely used to intimidate journalists. Politicians
and businessmen often file frivolous defamation
suits, knowing that even if the journalist is
never convicted, he or she will have to post
bail to avoid waiting out the interminable court
proceedings in prison, and will spend years
saddled with a pending criminal charge. |
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| The
government already had broad powers of arrest
on national security grounds under the Special
Powers Act, which was used this year to arbitrarily
arrest M. Mainuddin, director of the Inqilab
Group of Publications.The new Public Safety
Act gave the government an additional weapon
against its press critics. The law enables authorities
to detain anyone accused of being an "enemy
of the state" for 90 days without trial or bail.
Journalists and civil-liberties groups bitterly
protested the law, arguing that it dispensed
with due process protections guaranteed by the
Constitution and could be used to suppress dissent.
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| January
15 |
Mir
Illias
Hossain
Dainik Bir Darpan ( Killed )
00000
Hossain, 43, editor of the newspaper Dainik
Bir Darpan, was assassinated in the southwestern
town of Jhenaidah. According to the English-language
daily The Independent, published from Dhaka,
three unidentified assailants riding a motorcycle
fired on Hossain and a friend as they were talking
outside a store. The assailants reportedly fired
at close range. Hossain was killed instantly,
while his friend, Alfaj Uddin, died on his way
to the hospital.
00000
Dainik Bir Darpan had been outspoken against
left-wing militant activity in the area, arguing
that the leftist underground should abandon
violence and engage in the democratic process.
Hossain himself wrote numerous articles criticizing
local militants for ignoring the needs of the
rural population. Although both Hossain and
Alfaj Uddin had been active in the Sramajibi
Mukti Andolan, a radical leftist organization
working for more equitable land distribution,
CPJ sources believe Hossain was targeted for
his journalistic work. |
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March
26
Ahmed Abed Rumi, Dainik Banglar Bani ( Attacked
)
Kamal Mehdi, Prothom Alo ( Attacked )
On the 29th anniversary of Bangladeshi independence,
Islamist political groups led a demonstration
outside the Shahjalal Science and Technology
University in the northeastern city of Sylhet.
The university had been closed since February
after a dispute arose between religious and
secular groups over the naming of the school's
new dormitories. Demonstrators accused journalists
covering the protests of being anti-Islam. Rumi,
a reporter for the newspaper Dainik Banglar
Bani, had both his arms broken and sustained
multiple stab wounds when he was attacked by
a group of demonstrators. Protesters also attacked
Mehdi, a photographer for the daily Prothom
Alo. Mehdi escaped with minor injuries, but
said his assailants seized his camera and smashed
it. |
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May
02
Tariqul Haq Tariq, Dainik Prothom Alo ( Harassed
)
Some 20 police officers ransacked the home of
Tariq, correspondent for the Bengali-language
daily Dainik Prothom Alo in the western town
of Kushtia. Tariq was out when police arrived;
according to local press reports, the raid lasted
from 2:00 until 5:00 a.m. The police were apparently
irritated by Tariq's recent reporting on the
deteriorating law-and-order situation in Kushtia.
Tariq received anonymous threats after the police
attack was reported in the local press. The
police conducted the raid under a May 1999 search
warrant that had been issued in connection with
an unrelated criminal defamation case. |
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July
16
Shamsur Rahman, Janakantha ( Killed )
At around 8:20 p.m., two armed men entered the
office of journalist Shamsur Rahman, special
correspondent for the Bengali-language national
daily Janakantha, and shot him in the head and
chest at point-blank range. Rahman, 43, was
working alone in his office on Jail Road in
central Jessore when the assailants arrived.
The gunmen reportedly fled the scene immediately.
Rahman was pronounced dead on arrival at Jessore
General Hospital.
Jessore, which is close to the Indian border
with southwestern Bangladesh, is an international
smuggling center. Rahman regularly covered the
activities of criminal gangs and armed political
groups in the region. Sources at Janakantha
told CPJ that Rahman had periodically received
death threats in retaliation for his reporting.
Home Minister Mohammed Nasim traveled to Jessore
on July 17 and spoke at Rahman's funeral, urging
police to conduct a thorough investigation into
the journalist's murder. That day, CPJ sent
a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, asking
her to ensure that Rahman's killers were brought
to justice. A high-profile investigation into
the journalist's death led to a series of arrests,
but all of the suspects had been released by
year's end, according to CPJ sources. Based
on confessions obtained in September, police
claimed that Rahman's murder had been plotted
by a smuggler's gang based in nearby Khulna.
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August
28
Shahriar Kabir, free-lancer ( Attacked )
Kabir, a free-lance journalist and outspoken
critic of Islamic fundamentalism, was returning
home from a meeting at Dhaka University when
he was approached by a group of four young men,
who asked the journalist to accompany them.
When Kabir refused, the youths stabbed him in
the face and right hand. When he cried out for
help, his assailants fled the scene. Aside from
his journalistic work Kabir heads the country's
main anti-fundamentalist group, the Ekkaturer
Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee. He told local
reporters that his attackers were members of
the Harkatul Jihad, a radical organization said
to have links with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. |
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October
25
All journalists in Satkhira ( Threatened )
Sohrab Hossain, Loksamaj ( Attacked )
Anisur Rahim, Satkhirar Chitro ( Attacked )
"Wherever you will find journalists, break their
bones," a federal official in charge of relief
efforts in the flood-ravaged town of Satkhira,
southwestern Bangladesh, said in a closed-door
meeting with Awami League activists and local
officials. The official, Minister for Social
Welfare Mozammel Hossain, was reacting to news
reports that ruling party members had siphoned
off money intended for flood victims. But even
before he made his remarks, local journalists
had complained of threats and intimidation by
activists from the Awami Jubo League, the youth
wing of the ruling party. On October 20, a group
of Jubo League activists assaulted Hossain,
a reporter with the regional Bengali-language
daily Loksamaj, after he published an article
critical of the government's flood relief efforts.
In response to a complaint filed by the journalist,
police arrested Jubo League leader Nurul Islam.
He was released after Awami League activists
besieged the police station to protest his detention.
On October 26 at around 7:30 p.m., a group led
by local Awami League leader Asadul Haq ransacked
the office of the local daily Satkhirar Chitro
and assaulted Rahim, the newspaper's editor.
The attack came in response to articles in the
newspaper about alleged misappropriation of
disaster relief funds. Rahim was taken to the
Satkhira General Hospital with injuries to his
face, hands, and legs. CPJ sent a letter to
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on October 30,
urging her to order an investigation into the
attacks and to publicly guarantee the security
of journalists in Satkhira. |
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November
06
A.M.M. Bahauddin, Inqilab ( Legal Action )
A.S.M. Baki Billah, Inqilab ( Legal Action )
A.S. Mosharraf, Inqilab ( Legal Action )
M. Mainuddin, Inqilab Group of Publications
( Imprisoned )
Inqilab ( Attacked, Censored )
00000
On November 6, the Awami League Working Committee
met at the residence of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina and decided to take action against the
Bengali-language daily Inqilab for publishing
a parody of Bangladesh's national anthem. Within
days, various Awami League leaders had filed
treason charges against Inqilab in districts
around the country.
00000
On November 13, the Home Ministry filed its
own complaint with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's
Court in Dhaka, accusing editor Bahauddin, publisher
Baki Billah, and writer Mosharraf, who authored
the parody, of sedition under Section 124A of
the Penal Code. Arrest warrants were issued
that same day. Under the Penal Code, people
found guilty of sedition can be sentenced to
life in prison, or even death. Shortly before
midnight, police raided the Dhaka offices of
Inqilab, as well as the residences of Bahauddin
and Baki Billah, who are brothers, but failed
to find the journalists. However, the next morning,
on November 14, police arrested a third brother,
Inqilab Group head Mainuddin, under the broad
provisions of the Special Powers Act (SPA),
which allows for the arbitrary arrest and detention
of any citizen suspected of engaging in activities
that threaten national security.
00000
Bahauddin, fearing imminent arrest, applied
for anticipatory bail that evening. At 11:40
p.m. on November 14, a High Court Division of
the Supreme Court granted bail to Bahauddin
until November 20, when a second hearing was
scheduled for the government to defend its argument
that the bail application should be denied.
Senior administration officials vehemently criticized
the High Court's action and publicly questioned
the propriety of the unprecedented late-night
session. Meanwhile, leaders from the ruling
Awami League encouraged party activists to block
distribution of Inqilab throughout the country,
and sanctioned the use of violence to achieve
this end. On November 20, Abdul Hasnat Abdullah,
an Awami League official, announced at a meeting
organized by party leaders in the southern town
of Barisal that Inqilab was banned in the southern
region. The next day, 900 copies of the newspaper
were burned by Awami League activists in Barisal,
according to local news reports. Local distributors
of the newspaper were also threatened and harassed.
00000
On November 22, Awami League activists stopped
a delivery van at the Shikarpur ferry landing,
on the Dhaka-Barisal highway, and burned 4000
copies of Inqilab, as well as 400 copies of
the weekly Purnima, which is also published
by the Inqilab Group. On November 28, a mob
attacked the Inqilab office in Khulna, damaged
a company vehicle parked outside, and harassed
a local newspaper agent who distributed the
paper.
00000
On November 30, CPJ sent a letter to Prime Minister
Hasina condemning the government's persecution
of Inqilab and urging her to order the immediate
release of Mainuddin. CPJ also asked Hasina
to instruct the Home Ministry to drop its sedition
cases against Bahauddin, Baki Billah, and Mosharraf.
Mainuddin was released on December 1. Hearings
in the sedition case were scheduled to resume
in February 2001. 00000
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(source:
CPJ Report)
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Photo
: Altaf Hossain/ Drik
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