Drop politically motivated charges against Odhikar leaders: 18 rights orgs, including HRW

A group of 18 human rights organisations, including the Human Rights Watch, have called on the government to cease the continued criminalisation and harassment of Bangladesh human rights group, Odhikar.

Authorities should drop politically motivated charges against Odhikar's leaders, Adilur Rahman Khan and ASM Nasiruddin Elan, the human rights groups said on Thursday (10 August), according to a joint statement published on HRW's website.

"We remind the government that those working to document and expose human rights violations should be able to conduct their important work without fear of harassment, intimidation, and reprisals," the rights groups said.

According to the statement, on 10 August 2013, Khan, secretary of Odhikar and a prominent human rights activist, was arbitrarily detained after the group published a fact-finding report on extrajudicial killings and excessive use of force to disperse a protest in Bangladesh.

Khan's whereabouts remained unknown for several hours until the police filed a case against him under the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2006, a law considered so draconian that certain provisions of it were replaced by the government in 2018, when the Digital Security Act was adopted, it continued.

The HRW stated that Khan was held in custody for 62 days, while Elan, who was detained later, was held in custody for 25 days. Both were released on bail.

The statement said, "Ten years later, Khan and Elan continue to be prosecuted for trumped-up allegations of publishing 'fake, distorted and defamatory' material.

"Their lawyers have alleged judicial harassment at the Cyber Tribunal of Dhaka, saying it has unduly favoured the prosecution. Government officials, including senior members of the cabinet, have repeatedly and publicly criticised Odhikar for its human rights work."

The rights groups went on to note that the government accelerated hearings in their case after a stalling for a long time, especially following the designation of US sanctions against the country's abusive Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and its officials in December 2021, "which Bangladesh authorities blame on human rights groups like Odhikar."

Khan and Elan have appeared for all scheduled hearings at the Cyber Tribunal, sometimes being forced to stand in cages, it said.

Detailing the court process in the case, the statement stated that the judge finally closed the examination of witnesses on April 5, 2023, but then permitted the prosecution to submit an application for further investigation without specifying what component of the case would be subject to further investigation.

It continued that the judge overruled the objections of Odhikar's lawyers against the further investigation after closure of examination of witnesses and wrote in his order that the decision was made with the consent of both parties. On this occasion, the judge also ordered three international observers from the missions of Switzerland, the UN, and the US to leave the court without explanation.

"The assignment to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to conduct a 'further investigation' after the announcement of closure of the examination of prosecution witnesses without a valid reason raises concerns about fair due process," it notes.

The further investigation report of the CID was submitted to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court on June 22. Khan and Elan appeared in court as scheduled on July 9, but were told that the Cyber Tribunal had not yet received the updated case docket.

The next day, they learned that the Cyber Tribunal had set 17 July as the next hearing to examine the new witnesses identified in the CID's further investigations. Khan and Elan only received a copy of the further investigation report on July 16, and new prosecution witnesses were presented in court on July 17 and 20 without providing enough time for the defence to prepare for cross examination. These decisions have put in question the fairness of the trial as they have, among other things, particularly hindered the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence.

Ten years after Khan's abduction, closing arguments will be heard in Khan and Elan's case, and their sentencing of up to ten years of imprisonment if convicted is imminent.

Throughout this case that has served to continuously criticise their human rights work, they have been denied their right to fair trial and have been demonised by the government, the rights groups said.