Violation of Constitution, International Norms and Obligations

Extrajudicial killings, even when these are described as ‘crossfire’, ‘encounter’, ‘gunfight’ and ‘shootout’, are violations of the rights of the citizens provided by the Bangladesh constitution, particularly Article 27, 31, 32, 33 (1), and 35 (1, 3, 4, 5). These articles of the constitution have clearly laid out the right to life and due process. It is worth recalling those provisions:

27. All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.

31. Enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with law, and only in accordance with law, is the inalienable right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action detrimental to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.

32. No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty save in accordance with law.

33 (1). No person who is arrested shall be detained in custody without being informed, as soon as may be of the grounds for such arrest, nor shall he be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice.

35 (1). No person shall be convicted to any offence except for violation of law in force at the time of the commission of the act charged as an offence, nor be subjected to a penalty greater than, or different from that which might have been inflicted under the law in force at the time of the commission of the offence.

(3). Every person accused of a criminal offence shall have the right to a speedy and public trial by an independent and impartial court or tribunal established by law.

(4). No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.

(5). No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment or treatment.

The blatant violations have been noted by citizens and they have reached out to the higher court for remedy. Consequently, between 2006 and 2014, the court has issued three rules but none of these writs has been resolved as the government didn’t respond.

Extrajudicial killings are not only violations of the Bangladesh Constitution but also a violation of Bangladesh’s commitment to the international treaties which the country is a signatory. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which acts as the fountainhead of all human rights, clearly stated in Article 3 that ‘Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.’ Besides, Bangladesh is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Article 6 of the ICCPR states that ‘every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life’. Repeated instances of extrajudicial killings and the government’s denial are evidence of the state’s disregard to the international norms and its obligations under the treaties it has signed. Such disregard was on display at the meeting of the Committee Against Torture (CAT) in 2019. Although Bangladesh has acceded to the convention in 1998, it failed to provide annual reports until 2019. The report (CAT 2019) and the presentation by the law minister Anisul Huq (UN Geneva 2019) deliberately avoided the question of extrajudicial killings although the Civil Society Joint Alternative Report to the UN Committee Against Torture noted a series of violations of treaty obligation and instances of extrajudicial killings.