STATEMENT: Bangladeshi lawyer, human rights defender and journalist faced intimidation from the civil dressed law enforcing agencies during a fact finding investigation.STATEMENT: Bangladeshi lawyer, human rights defender and journalist faced intimidation from the civil dressed law enforcing agencies during a fact finding investigation.

On August 21, 2011, Advocate Shahanur Islam (Saikot) Global Human Rights Defence Country Observer for Bangladesh, Executive Director of Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights, Founding Secretary General of JusticeMakers Bangladesh, Legal and Human Rights Editor of Monthly Doyel and also member of Dhaka Bar association and Bangladesh Bar Council intimidated by civil dressed law enforcing agencies while he along with  a team of four went to Khagrachari to conduct a fact finding investigation into the physical assault and beating of 22 Jumma students by law enforcement agencies during a peaceful demonstration of around 900 students of Khagrachhari College for constitutional recognition of indigenous people in Bangladesh on the 7^th of August 2011. You can read the full report visiting the following link: http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/attachments/article/12880/Fact%20finding%20report%20on%20tweenty%20two%20jumma%20student%20were%20tort.pdf

During the investigation, some civil dressed people (it is assumed by the fact finding team that they were security personnel dressed as civilians) were continuously following the investigation team. When the fact-finding team was leaving the hotel, one of them stopped Advocate Shahanur Islam and asked our purpose for visiting Khagrachhari. At the bus counter another one informally asked him about their reason of visiting Khagrachhari, what was the name of his organization, which incident did they investigate etc creating an scared atmosphere to intimidate Mr. Islam. 

This is not any isolated instance of such kind of intimidation on human rights defenders, lawyer and journalist in Bangladesh. It is a very common phenomenon for the professionals like human rights defenders of Bangladesh facing attacked, harassment, ill treatment, death threats from the terrorist, law-enforcing agencies and security forces. It is well-known that Bangladesh has cultivated one of the best cultures of impunity to alleged perpetrators of human rights abuses despite the nation’s presence in the UN Human Rights Council since May 2006. Instead of improving the country’s human rights records the government of Bangladesh has paved the ways to degrade the rights of the citizens through various means of violations. 

JusticeMakers Bangladesh and Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) deeply concerned over the intimidation faced by human rights defender, lawyer & journalist Mr. Shahanur Islam from the civil dressed member of law enforcement agencies and demanded a full and impartial investigation into the misconduct of relevant official is required and that those responsible are punished.