Her Excellency Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Prime Minister, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Via
facsimile: 88-02-811-3244
Your
Excellency:
The
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is
deeply concerned about several recent attacks
against the press in Sitakunda, an industrial
town in Chittagong District, in southeastern
Bangladesh. We are particularly worried
about the fate of journalist Mahmudul Haq,
who was arrested on May 6, and journalist
Atahar Siddik Khasru, who disappeared on
April 30 after protesting the mistreatment
of Haq.
On
April 29, activists associated with your
ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
accompanied Sitakunda police in a raid on
the home of Mahmudul Haq, a veteran journalist
who is the editor and publisher of the local
magazine Upanagar. Nurul Islam, general
secretary of the Sitakunda branch of the
BNP, had filed a case against Haq accusing
the journalist of extortion. Haq, who was
not at home at the time of the raid, has
written critically about corruption committed
by politicians and police in Sitakunda.
The
next day, April 30, Atahar Siddik Khasru,
president of the Sitakunda Press Club and
local correspondent for the national daily
Ittefaq, visited the editor's home. According
to family members and colleagues who spoke
to Khasru later that day, the journalist
received a call on his mobile phone from
Nurul Islam while at Haq's home. Khasru
said Islam threatened to "teach him
a lesson" if he continued to support
Haq.
Several
sources told CPJ that Islam warned Khasru,
who had been kidnapped and tortured for
his reporting in June 2001 during the rule
of the Awami League party, which is now
in the opposition, that, "You escaped
last time during the Awami League period.
This time we won't make that mistake."
That
same evening, Khasru disappeared, and his
family fears that he has been kidnapped
for protesting the harassment of Mahmudul
Haq. Khasru was last seen in the busy Dewanhut
area of Chittagong, where a friend dropped
him off at around 9:30 p.m.
On
May 6, police in the capital, Dhaka, arrested
Haq, who had gone there to seek pre-arrest
bail and to meet with officials about Khasru's
possible abduction. Police took Haq back
to Chittagong this morning, and a magistrate
ordered him to be held in police custody
for three days pending an investigation
into the extortion charges filed against
him.
Also
on May 6, Khasru's brother filed a case
with Sitakunda police accusing Nurul Islam
and his followers of kidnapping the journalist.
This afternoon, May 7, Osman Ghani Mansur,
the Chittagong bureau chief for Ittefaq
and a relative of Khasru's, received a threatening
call on his mobile phone. The caller, who
refused to identify himself, told Mansur
that if the family does not drop the case
against Nurul Islam, they will find Khasru's
dead body. Mansur immediately alerted local
police, reporting that the call came shortly
after 3 p.m. from a Dhaka-based phone.
Local
journalists in Sitakunda have also received
anonymous calls threatening them not to
report on this case. In addition, on May
6, a group of men assaulted about 15 journalists
in Sitakunda after they had delivered a
petition to the town's chief administrative
officer protesting Khasru's disappearance.
As
a nonpartisan organization of journalists
dedicated to defending our colleagues worldwide,
CPJ is gravely disturbed by the persecution
of the press in Sitakunda and throughout
Chittagong District. Evidence that journalists
may have been kidnapped, arrested, and threatened
with death at the behest of powerful local
officials is alarming and warrants an immediate
investigation at the highest levels.
We
urge Your Excellency to order a prompt and
impartial inquiry into the disappearance
of Atahar Siddik Khasru and the arrest of
Mahmudul Haq. Because local officials have
been accused of involvement in these incidents,
we request that a team of investigators
from outside Chittagong District conducts
the probe.
CPJ
greatly appreciates your government's efforts
to prosecute the assailants of Tipu Sultan,
a reporter who was nearly killed in January
2001 by supporters of an Awami League politician
in Feni District. While attacks against
journalists in Bangladesh are regularly
committed with impunity, members of your
administration have pledged to hold Sultan's
assailants accountable for their crime.
Last month, a court in Feni issued arrest
warrants for 13 suspects, including Joynal
Hazari, the Awami League politician who
is believed to be responsible for the attack.
As you are aware, Tipu Sultan received CPJ's
International Press Freedom Award in November
2002 for his remarkable courage and dedication
to independent reporting.
We
respectfully ask Your Excellency to pledge
publicly that your administration will do
everything in its power to ensure that those
who attempt to silence and intimidate the
press will be brought to justice, regardless
of their political affiliation. As the leader
of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Your
Excellency must guarantee that the party
does not tolerate abuses committed by its
members.
We
thank you for your attention to these urgent
matters and await your response.
Sincerely,
Joel Simon
Acting Director
CC:
Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Minister of Home
Affairs
Tariqul Islam, Minister of Information
Syed Hasan Ahmad, Bangladeshi Ambassador
to the United States
Mary Ann Peters, U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh
Commonwealth Journalists Association
South Asian Journalists Association
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant
Secretary for Democracy, Human
Rights, and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
==
Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue -- 12th floor
New York, NY 10001
phone: 212-465-1004, fax: 212-465-9568
e-mail: info@cpj.org
http://www.cpj.org
