The High Court on Sunday asked the government and the army to explain the legality of the indemnity given to the army-led joint forces involved in Operation Clean Heart conducted between October 16, 2002 and January 9, 2003. The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo also asked the authorities to explain why they should not be directed to create a fund of Tk 100 crore for compensation to the victims of the operation led by the joint forces.
Secretaries to the ministries of the law, the home and the defence, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and the inspector general of police were asked to reply to the rule in six weeks.
The court passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna, also the Bangladesh Bar Council’s human rights and legal aid committee chairman, challenging the constitutionality of the Joint Forces Operation Indemnity Act 2003.
Section 3 of the act bars any court from initiating any legal proceedings for any damage to life, liberty or property of any person caused by action taken by the disciplined forces in pursuant to the operation.
The section also stipulates that any proceedings filed with any court relating to the action of the joint forces will be void.
The petitioners’ counsel Shahdeen Malik told the court that the act had indemnified all acts done by the joint forces in the operation which was totally against the rule of law and the fundamental right to life, liberty and property and equal protection of law.
The act has also breached the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ratified by Bangladesh in 1998, Shahdeen said.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat-e-Bangladesh alliance government on October 16, 2002 formed the joint forces led by Armed Forces members.
Shahdeen cited newspaper reports on the drives of the joint forces and
mentioned the allegation of harassment of people, illegal arrests, trespass, illegal seizure of property and killings of people in custody.
He submitted that at least 50 people had been killed and hundreds of citizens had suffered financial losses being injured, maimed and killed by the joint forces operation, and families of the victims were deprived of earnings.
A fund of Tk 100 crore should be set up for distribution to the families of the deceased and victims by competent authorities in keeping with the law, Shahdeen added.
According to rights organisations, the joint forces reportedly arrested more than 11,000 people and tortured to death 58 in 2002 and the act gives a blanket impunity to all action performed by the army and other security forces between October 2002 and January 2003.
-With New Age input
