Abducted in 2016.Mir Ahmad Bin Quasen was snatched from his home in front of his family on 9 August 2016. The son of a prominent prominent politician, he is believed to be held by the government of Bangladesh.
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Who is Arman?
Mr Ahmad Bin Quasem, or Arman as he is known to his friends and family, is a Bangladeshi barrister, who has also been called to the Bar of England and Wales. He was representing his father before the International Crimes Tribunal, a tribunal set up by the ruling party in Bangladesh to try crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The ICT has been widely criticised internationally including by groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, as well as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and in the independent report prepared by Geoffrey Robertson QC.
The Abduction
Late on 5 August 2016, a group of around 8 men came to the apartment where Mr Bin Quasem was living with his wife and two young daughters. The family had moved to this apartment in Dhaka from Mr Bin Quasem’s family home in Mirpur because of the harassment that they had been facing there. Four of the men were wearing RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) uniforms. They introduced themselves as members of the RAB and sat with Mr Bin Quasem in the living room where they asked him basic questions about the living arrangements at the apartment and from whom it had been rented.
The abduction occurred at around 11pm on the 9th of August 2016 when a group of 8 or 9 men attended the apartment and demanded that his wife and sister tell them Mr Bin Quasem’s location. Mr Bin Quasem then went to the door, and the men told him that he had to come with them. They then gave Mr Bin Quasem 5 minutes with his family then began banging on the door again. The man who was in charge of the group gave a hand signal and the other men stormed into the apartment. Despite Mr Bin Quasem’s wife and sister trying to shield him from the men and prevent them from taking him, the men pulled them away and grabbed him, dragging him to the stairs and out of the house. Mr Bin Quasem was placed in a mini-bus which was driven away. This abduction followed the exact modus operandi of other abductions by the security forces in Bangladesh.
Straight after Mr Bin Quasem was taken away, his wife and sister attended Pallabi Police station to report the incident. The Police refused to accept a criminal complaint telling his wife and sister that it was a sensitive issue and that they did not want to get involved. After two days and numerous visits, the Police finally agreed to accept a complaint. Since this time there has been no update from the Police about this case.
Mr Bin Quasem is currently being held by the Bangladeshi government without access to the courts or legal assistance. There are grave concerns for Mr Bin Quasem’s physical and psychological wellbeing.
The abduction occurred at around 11pm on the 9th of August 2016 when a group of 8 or 9 men attended the apartment and demanded that his wife and sister tell them Mr Bin Quasem’s location. Mr Bin Quasem then went to the door, and the men told him that he had to come with them. They then gave Mr Bin Quasem 5 minutes with his family then began banging on the door again. The man who was in charge of the group gave a hand signal and the other men stormed into the apartment. Despite Mr Bin Quasem’s wife and sister trying to shield him from the men and prevent them from taking him, the men pulled them away and grabbed him, dragging him to the stairs and out of the house. Mr Bin Quasem was placed in a mini-bus which was driven away. This abduction followed the exact modus operandi of other abductions by the security forces in Bangladesh.
Straight after Mr Bin Quasem was taken away, his wife and sister attended Pallabi Police station to report the incident. The Police refused to accept a criminal complaint telling his wife and sister that it was a sensitive issue and that they did not want to get involved. After two days and numerous visits, the Police finally agreed to accept a complaint. Since this time there has been no update from the Police about this case.
Mr Bin Quasem is currently being held by the Bangladeshi government without access to the courts or legal assistance. There are grave concerns for Mr Bin Quasem’s physical and psychological wellbeing.
A Breach of Domestic International Law
Mr Bin Quasem has not been charged with any offence and his abduction and continued detention by the Bangladeshi government is contrary to the Bangladeshi Constitution and Bangladesh’s obligations under international law. Unfortunately, forced disappearances are common in Bangladesh under the current Government and hundreds have been disappeared since 2009. Human Rights Watch’s report, ‘We Don’t Have Him’: Secret Detentions and Enforced Disappearances in Bangladesh, found that at least 90 people were victims of enforced disappearance in 2016 alone and Bangladeshi human rights group Odhikar, reports that between January 2009 and October 2017, at least 402 persons became victims of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.
Mr Bin Quasem is one of three sons of former politicians who were abducted at around the same time, one of whom has been released. The way that forced disappearances operate and that the fact that the fate of those seized is decided by those ‘high up’ is explained in a secret recording of a high ranking RAB officer obtained by Sveriges Radio.
Mr Bin Quasem is one of three sons of former politicians who were abducted at around the same time, one of whom has been released. The way that forced disappearances operate and that the fact that the fate of those seized is decided by those ‘high up’ is explained in a secret recording of a high ranking RAB officer obtained by Sveriges Radio.
Actions
The British legal community have raised their concerns about Mr Bin Quasem’s situation and the international press has reported Mr Bin Quasem’s case and the problems with enforced disappearances in Bangladesh. The European Union’s EEAS has also raised the issue of enforced disappearances with Bangladesh and Mr Bin Quasem’s situation has also been the subject of an official UK Parliamentary question by Shabana Mahmood MP answered on 30 January 2017 by Alok Sharma MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
On 24 February 2017, the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances called on Bangladesh to ‘act now to halt an increasing number of enforced disappearances in the country’ and to immediately reveal the whereabouts of Mr Bin Quasem. The Working Group’s message was endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
On 24 February 2017, the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances called on Bangladesh to ‘act now to halt an increasing number of enforced disappearances in the country’ and to immediately reveal the whereabouts of Mr Bin Quasem. The Working Group’s message was endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.
Featured on Channel 4 News
Channel 4 has featured Arman’s case during its news broadcast on 28 and 29 November 2017 and 13 December 2017. The broadcast of 28 November 2017 showed the Channel 4 reporter asking questions at a public rally on 25 November 2017 to Ms Siddiq MP, the niece of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Labour Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Kilburn, which Ms Siddiq chose not to answer. Before the show was aired on 28 November 2017 Bangladeshi police attended the family property in Dhaka where Arman’s elderly mother, sister, wife, and two young daughters were residing. This was seen as an attempt to intimidate them into calling for the news segment not to be broadcast.
On the day following the first broadcast around 20 heavily armed police officers attended the property. After this fact was reported on Twitter they left around an hour later but not before an ominous warning was given by the Officer in Charge: ‘This time we are going and leaving you. But we will make sure if there is any such news come next time we will not be good like this time and our face you will not get to see like today.’ Ms Siddiq and her team have refused to comment about this intimidation to Channel 4 or do anything to ensure that Arman’s elderly mother, sister, wife, and two young daughters are not intimidated by the Bangladeshi security services or prevent them from facing enforced disappearance themselves.
On the day following the first broadcast around 20 heavily armed police officers attended the property. After this fact was reported on Twitter they left around an hour later but not before an ominous warning was given by the Officer in Charge: ‘This time we are going and leaving you. But we will make sure if there is any such news come next time we will not be good like this time and our face you will not get to see like today.’ Ms Siddiq and her team have refused to comment about this intimidation to Channel 4 or do anything to ensure that Arman’s elderly mother, sister, wife, and two young daughters are not intimidated by the Bangladeshi security services or prevent them from facing enforced disappearance themselves.
