Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi
The title of this article is taken from a recent New York Times editorial which states: “The use of unlawful detention and disappearance has become the tactic of choice in Bangladesh for dealing with anyone deemed a threat, including political enemies of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. These practices are a violation of due process and are a mockery of Bangladesh’s laws.”
According to the New York Times, unlawful detentions and disappearances have become routine in the country. There are at least three cases of person who have disappeared whose fathers were subjected to political trials that lacked the most basic elements of due process. Of these fathers, the first died in prison, the second was executed while the third is still in prison as the death sentence has not been endorsed by the Supreme Court. We hope that he will be released from prison.
In a statement issued by the family of former Brigadier General Aman Al-Azmi, 30 people in plain clothes showed up in front of Al-Azmi’s home at 8:00 pm on 22 August 2016 and claimed that they were police investigators. They broke open the front door, knocked the guard unconscious and took Al-Azmi away without producing any arrest warrant, the statement said. Al-Azmi’s mother, aged 83, and his children were terrified while his wife was threatened with arrest. Al-Azmi served 30 years in the Bangladeshi army and was awarded the Sword of Honor - the highest military medal. He has an unblemished reputation, has not committed any violations and does not have any political activities.
The family called for Al-Azmi’s immediate release because he has not committed any crime or violation. It appears that his only mistake is that he is the son of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s former leader Professor Ghulam Azam, who died in prison while serving a 90-year sentence handed down by a mock trial which was criticized by local and global human rights organizations.
Eyewitnesses said large crowds gathered and marched in his funeral to pay respect to him. Professor Salman Al-Azmi, the brother of the former brigadier general, expressed his anger over the arrest of his brother and voiced his concerns about what would happen to him. He also said the arrest was a blatant violation of human rights.
Two weeks before abducting the former brigadier general, another two men were taken away, one of them is a Supreme Court barrister named Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem and a member of the team of barristers defending his father who was given a death sentence following a mock trial similar to the one that sentenced Professor Ghulam Azam to death. The Supreme Court is still reviewing the death sentence and has not endorsed it.
The second man is Hummam Qader Chowdhury, a businessman and the son of late Salaudin Qader Chowdhury, a former minister, well-known member of parliament and one of the leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He was executed following a trial that lacked the basic elements of due process.
Hummam Chowdhury was taken from his car. His mother said that a group of men in plain clothes opened the back door of the car and asked him if he was Hummam Chowdhury. When he answered yes, they forced him out of the car and told him they were intelligence officers. They did not produce any arrest warrant or order and were carrying weapons.
A few days later, Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem was taken away from his home late at night by the same people who abducted Hummam. No arrest warrant or order was shown and no reasons were given for the abduction.
Observers have expressed astonishment at the way the government of Bangladesh treats members of the political opposition. The government does not only eliminate its political opponents but also considers their sons to be opponents by birth. With regard to the three opposition members who had trials that were criticized locally and globally because they lacked the basic elements of international law, the sons of those three persons have been arrested illegally and nobody knows anything about their whereabouts or why they were taken away. It appears that they are facing the same fate as their fathers.
Observers wonder where the Bangladeshi government is heading and what it is going to do next in light of what appears to be an overwhelming desire to get rid of all members of the political opposition. There are scores of opposition leaders who have been plucked from their homes or who have vanished all of a sudden. Some were killed while some are still in prison.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com
