UA 109/07 Fear of torture/Possible prisoner of conscience
BANGLADESH Tasneem Khalil (m), journalist, human rights defender
Journalist Tasneem Khalil was arrested on 11 May by men from the Joint (army and police) Forces. Amnesty International believes he may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely because of his activities as a journalist and human rights defender and exposing human rights violations by the security forces, and is seriously concerned that he may be at risk of torture.

Tasneem Khalil writes for the Bangladeshi Daily Star newspaper and is a contributor to CNN. He is also a consultant for Human Rights Watch. He was arrested at his home at about 1.30am on 11 May by four men who identified themselves as working with the Joint Forces. The men told his family that Tasneem was under arrest and would be taken to the Sangsad Bhaban army camp, outside the parliament building in the capital, Dhaka. The Joint Forces men reportedly searched the house and confiscated Khalil’s passport, two computers, documents and two mobile phones.

Tasneem Khalil is known to human rights activists in Bangladesh as a committed journalist who has reported on the activities of the Rapid Action Battalion, who are alleged to have carried out extrajudicial executions, and on deaths in army custody.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

People detained by the Joint Forces are usually arrested without a warrant. They are held incommunicado and tortured to extract confessions to crimes such as illegal possession of firearms.

On 11 January President Ijuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency after weeks of violent election-related clashes between supporters of the former ruling coalition and supporters of parties opposing them. Elections scheduled for 22 January were postponed indefinitely and a new civilian caretaker government, backed by the army, sworn in. Under the state of emergency, political rallies and other political activity were banned, and some restrictions were imposed on the right to freedom of expression.

According to reports in the Bangladesh media, more than 100,000 people have been detained, since early January. Arrests, usually conducted by the Joint Forces, are on grounds of alleged corruption or criminal activity. Many of the detainees are believed to have been released but Amnesty International has not been able to establish the total number still in custody. There are serious concerns that many of the detainees may have been held without due process of law. Amnesty International has received credible allegations of torture following such arrests.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
- expressing concern for the safety of Tasneem Khalil, now in custody of the Joint Forces;
- urging the authorities to ensure that he is not subjected to torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;
- asking them to ensure that Tasneem Khalis has access to his family, legal counsel and medical assistance at all times while he is in custody;
- calling on the authorities to either charge him with a recognisably criminal offence, or release him immediately and unconditionally.

APPEALS TO:

Equivalent to prime minister, in caretaker government
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Adviser
Office of the Chief Adviser
Bangladesh
Fax: +880 2 8113243
Email: info@pmo.gov.bd
Salutation: Dear Chief Adviser

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Bangladesh accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 22 June 2007.

CPJ Alert

Committee to Protect Journalists

330 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465‑1004
Fax: (212) 465‑9568 Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail: media@cpj.org

Contact: Kristin Jones or Bob Dietz

e-mail: CPJ_Asia@cpj.org

Telephone: (212) 465-1004

In Bangladesh, a prominent journalist is taken in military raid

New York, May 11, 2007—Plainclothes officers raided the Dhaka home of prominent journalist and human rights advocate Tasneem Khalil early this morning in an action that the Committee to Protect Journalists called “an indication of the fragile state of press freedom in Bangladesh.”

Four men identifying themselves as a “joint task force” came to Khalil’s house after midnight and said they were arresting the journalist and taking him to Sangsad Bhavan army camp in Dhaka, according to Human Rights Watch, which employed Khalil as a part-time consultant. Khalil, 26, is assistant editor for the Dhaka-based English-language newspaper The Daily Star, and has worked as a stringer for CNN.

“The apparent military arrest of such a prominent and well-respected journalist as Tasneem Khalil without any stated cause is an indication of the fragile state of press freedom in Bangladesh,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “We are alarmed by the circumstances of his detention, and we call for his release.”

Efforts to locate Khalil this morning were unsuccessful, his wife told reporters. The men, who did not present a warrant or accuse him of any crime, also took his computers, notebooks, and other documents, she said. “It is an emergency; we can arrest anyone,” one of the men said, according to Human Rights Watch.

Khalil, who also writes regularly for his blog , has been an outspoken critic of military abuses under the state of emergency declared in January. “At first the military-backed civilian government was welcome,” he told The Washington Post in March. “But now there is a vacuum.”

Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam said today that Khalil’s detention was related to blog writings and other electronic messages. “Following my discussions with the authorities and because of the caretaker government’s commitment to the policy of freedom of the media, it was agreed that he would be released tonight,” Anam said, according to the news Web site bdnews24.

Thousands of people have been detained since January, according to human rights groups. Those jailed include Atiqullah Khan Masud , the editor of the popular Bengali-language daily Janakantha, accused by police of corruption, criminal activities, and “tarnishing the country’s image abroad” through his newspaper’s reporting.

CPJ is a New York–based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org.

Bob Dietz bdietz@cpj.org

Asia Program Coordinator

Kristin Jones kjones@cpj.org

Asia Program Senior Researcher

Committee to Protect Journalists

330 Seventh Ave, 11th floor

New York, NY 10001

+1 212 465 1004

www.cpj.org