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July 23, 2006

Bangladesh: Convicted Islamist Terror Dons Are Not Held In Secure Jail

We reported when Bangla Bhai and Abdur Rahman (pictured) were sentenced to death on May 29. Both were senior commanders of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and had ordered countless bombings and murders throughout Bangladesh. Bangla Bhai also headed his own terrorist group, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) or Vigilant Muslim Citizens of Bangladesh.

The pair, along with three others from the decision-making council of JMB, its Majlish-e-Shura, and two others were sentenced to death for ordering the bombing which killed two judges in Jhalakathi in the southwest of the country on November 14 last year.

Now, the Bangladesh Daily Star reports that the two terror kingpins are not being held in a secure house, but are being held in a "sub-jail", a house in Mirpur, Dhaka district, not far from the capital.

The house is in a residential area, and authorities are claiming that prison rules apply. Sources dispute this, and claim that meals are brought into this "sub-jail" from outside. Prison codes state that food should be supplied by the jail authorities, and should conform to a diet menu and diet register.

All foods should also be tested and approved by a jail doctor, yet there is no doctor on hand. The prisoners are being treated with more flexibility than former president H.M. Ershad who was kept in a similar sub-jail in the early 1990s. His food was provided by Dhaka jail, and later food became cooked on the premises.

The authorities have claimed that the sub-jail is in an isolated district, and this is untrue. The one storey house at Paikpara in Mirpur is situated beside two larger buildings which are used by government officials, and civilians were seen wandering around outside.

State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar today defended this bizarre situation: "The number of detainees and prisoners at our jails is about eight to 10 times than the capacity and we do not have the manpower to properly manage this huge number of inmates."

Babar actually denied JMB existed as late as January 26 last year, after the group had been bombing for several years. He had said, according to Asia Times that: "We don't know officially about the existence of the JMB. Only some so-called newspapers are publishing reports on it. We don't have their constitution in our record." JMB only became "illegal" in February last year. It had been formed in Jamalpur in 1998.

In its four and a half years of being in power, the coalition government has made no effort to increase construction of condemned cells. And there is no precedence for keeping condemned prisoners in substitute jails.

Brigadier General Zakir Hossain, the Inspector General of prisons said: "Abdur Rahman and Bangla Bhai cannot be compared with others - they are convicted for totally different crimes. The government feels the need for ensuring special security for these two."

"Since the cells in prisons are overcrowded, the possibility of their communicating with others cannot be totally brushed aside....Rab men have been deployed as they are more skilled than the jail guards. But the jail authorities are looking after the administration."

Rab is the Rapid Action Battalion, the paramilitary security force, whose officers had captured the pair, with Bangla Bhai arrested on March 2 and Bangla Bhai arrested on March 6.

The Prisons Directorate protested against reports that the prisoners were being given a luxurious time in prison. Hossain argued that their rooms are smaller than a usual jail and there is poor ventilation. He said no-one was allowed to meet photograph or communicate with the pair, other than prison staff.

The Daily Star has a neat cartoon to illustrate its article.

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We wrote on December 4 of Dr Muhammad Asadullah Al Galib, who had been arrested on February 23, 2005. A leader of the group Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (AHAB), the Islamist was also a member of JMB. AHAB had control over numerous mosques and seminaries, which became centers of JMB activity.

The South Asian Terror Portal states that "with assistance from Galib, JMB cadres used the facilities of some 700 mosques built across Bangladesh by the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, which is based in Kuwait."

On Friday (21 July), the Daily Star reported that Galib's request for bail was denied. Galib is officially charged with a quadruple bombing which happened at Takier Bazar open stage drama under Palashbari upazila in Gaibandha district on the night of December 25, 2004. This four-bomb assault injured 15 people.

Galib, professor of the Arabic department at Rajshahi University, had also been charged in March last year with a bombing at Mohimaganj in the same district on February 10, 2005, which injured three people. This took place at the offices of the poverty alleviation group BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee). However, he had been acquitted on this charge in October last year due to insufficient witnesses.

Galib, and the others also charge-sheeted, will be re-appearing in court on August 20, 2006.

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Yesterday, the Bangladesh Financial Express reported that a protest was held on Friday (21 July) at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.

A group of combined organisations protested against the situation in Israel, but turned the protest into a demonstration calling for Muslims in the Ummah to oppose "Zionists and Christians".

Flags of the US, UK, Israel and UN were burned. Amongst the groups on show were Galib's AHAB, and Hizb ut-Tahrir Bangladesh. All the groups, though calling themselves "Islamic", are Islamist in nature.

They included: Bangladesh Nizam-e-Islam Party, Bangladesh National Awami Party (Bhashani), Ahle Hadith Movement Bangladesh, Islamic Parishad, Khelafat Andolan Bangladesh, Islamic Unity Movement, Bangladesh Muslim League, Jatiya Ganomukti Andolan, Quran Prochar Sangstha, Ganotantrik Sarbahara Party and Nadwatul Olema Bangladesh.

They also condemned Bangladesh's four-party coalition government.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at July 23, 2006 8:16 PM

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