CAT/C/BGD/CO/1
20.
Further, the Committee is concerned at reports that the State party’s officials
frequently fail to record all instances in which a person is deprived of his or her liberty in a
register at the place of detention and in a central register of all persons deprived of their
liberty. It is also concerned at reports that persons deprived of their liberty are frequently
not brought before a judge within the time frame prescribed by law.
21.
The Committee is particularly concerned at reports that the law enforcement
authorities frequently request, and magistrates routinely authorize, the detention of criminal
suspects in interrogative custody, known as remand detention, for up to 15 days without
access to a lawyer, a procedure which is permitted under sections 54 and 167 of the
Criminal Procedure Code. The Committee notes reports that more than 80 per cent of all
persons detained in the State party are in remand custody. The Committee is further
concerned at reports that despite the fact that the High Court Division of the Supreme Court
of Bangladesh provided guidelines for law enforcement authorities and magistrates in the
form of 15 directives in the case of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust v. Bangladesh,
the directives are not followed in practice. Furthermore, although the court called for the
Government to amend the relevant sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898, the
Penal Code of 1860 and the Evidence Act of 1872 to ensure compliance with its ruling,
those changes have not been made (arts. 2, 4, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16).
22.
The State party should:
(a)
Amend sections 54 and 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Penal
Code, and the Evidence Act to reflect the ruling in the case of Bangladesh Legal Aid
and Services Trust v. Bangladesh and to ensure compliance with international human
rights obligations;
(b)
Ensure prompt and full implementation by law enforcement authorities
and magistrates of the directives issued by the High Court and affirmed by the Court
of Appeal in the case of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust v. Bangladesh,
including through providing training and greater oversight;
(c)
Take effective measures to guarantee that all detained persons, including
arrested persons and those in pretrial or remand detention, are afforded in practice
all the fundamental legal safeguards from the outset of their deprivation of liberty, in
accordance with international standards, as set out above. In particular, the State
party should ensure adherence to the right of arrested persons to be brought before a
magistrate within 24 hours; ensure respect for the right to have access to counsel
immediately after arrest and thereafter; and ensure that family members are
promptly informed about the time and place of a person’s arrest and detention;
(d)
Ensure the regular monitoring of the provision of fundamental legal
safeguards to persons deprived of their liberty and ensure that any official who fails to
provide them to persons deprived of their liberty in practice is subjected to
disciplinary or other appropriate punishment;
(e)
Ensure that pretrial detention is regulated by means of legal criteria
compliant with international standards and is subject to judicial supervision at all
times in order to guarantee fundamental legal and procedural safeguards;
(f)
Regularly review the legality of all persons held in pretrial detention and
release anyone who has been held in pretrial detention for a time period exceeding the
maximum penalty for the offence;
(g)
Take measures to decrease resort by the authorities to pretrial detention
and increase the use of non-custodial measures, in accordance with the United Nations
Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules).
Violence against indigenous, ethnic and religious minorities and other vulnerable
groups
23.
The Committee is concerned at reports of intimidation, harassment and physical
violence, including sexual violence, committed against members of indigenous, ethnic and
religious minority communities, including by or with the cooperation of State officials. This
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