Extra-Judicial Killings by Law Enforcement Agencies: Causes and Consequences in a Case of Bangladesh

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

We explore the underlying causes and consequences of Extra-Judicial Killing (EJK) by Law Enforcement Agents (LEA) in Bangladesh and their subsequent impacts on victims’ family members. We used a qualitative method of in-depth interviews with victims’ family members and human rights activists. We found five factors influencing the EJK by LEA: (1) political interest (2) personal interest (3) interpersonal conflict (4) job promotion and personal glory and (5) lack of press freedom. The LEAs execute these kinds of brutal practices by using legal loopholes, total impunity and the lack of accountability by LEAs. We identified some consequences of EJKs like victims’ family members being harassed and threatened by law enforcer after the incidents. In most cases, LEAs pressurize the victim's family to make false statements on an unnatural death and the victim's family has no scope to get justice. Furthermore, the family of EJKs victims faces financial difficulties, losing a family’s main breadwinner and the family suffers from trauma; especially victims’ children become traumatized. In addition, the study identified that the development of a culture of impunity is the most dangerous consequence of EJKs. Though this is a long-term effect, the sufferings of the victim’s families are direct consequences. Finally, we proposed a specific approach to prevent EJKs.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Human Rights Watch, "“Crossfire”: Continued Human Rights Abuses by Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion"

2 Braun, V., "Using thematic analysis in psychology" 3 (3): 77-101, 2006

3 Muneer, K. I., "Use of extrajudicial excessive force in Bangladesh"

4 Donnelly, Jack, "Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice" Cornell University

5 UDHR, "Universal Declaration of Human Rights"

6 Islam, Rafiqul, "Torture under police remand in Bangladesh: A culture of impunity for gross violations of human rights" 4 (4): 1-27, 2003

7 Rodley, N. S., "The Treatment of Prisoners under International Law"

8 Government of Bangladesh, "The Police Regulation Bengal. 1943" Police Headquarter 1999

9 Government of Bangladesh, "The Constitution of People's Republic Bangladesh. 1972" Ministry of Law and Human Rights 31-47, 1999

10 Government of Bangladesh, "Section 302 of Bangladesh Penal Code, 1860" Ministry of Law 1860

11 Cuijpers P, "Screening for mood and anxiety disorders with the five-item, the three-item, and the two-item mental health inventory" 168 (168): 250-255, 2009

12 Belur, Jyoti, "Police Use of Deadly Force: Analysing Police ‘Encounters’in Mumbai" London School of Economics and Political Science 2007

13 Tania, Lutfunnessa, "Legitimizing EJK: A Discursive Study on the LEAs and the Violations of Human Rights in Bangladesh" Lund University 2018

14 Amnesty Internationa, "Killed in “crossfire” allegations of extrajudicial executions in Bangladesh in the guise of a war on drugs"

15 Hasan, M.S., "Job satisfaction and Training for Organizational Effectiveness: An Empirical Study on Bangladesh Civil Service Officers" Bangladesh Public Administration Training Center 2011

16 David, Steven R, "Israel’s Policy of Targeted Killing" 17 (17): 111-126, 2003

17 United Nation General Assembly (UNGA), "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, (resolution 2200A /XXI)"

18 Begum, Najnin, "Implementation Mechanism of Human Rights Treaties in Bangladesh. A Critical Analysis" 17 (17): 337-354, 2016

19 HRSS, "Human Rights situation of Bangladesh 2020"

20 HRSS (Human Right Support Society), "Human Rights situation of Bangladesh 2018"

21 HRSS, "Human Rights situation of Bangladesh 2016"

22 Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK), "Human Rights situation in Bangladesh 2018" The University Press Limited 2018

23 Momtaz, Suraya, "Human Rights Violations in Bangladesh: A study of the violations by the Law Enforcing Agencies" 4 (4): 101-117, 2013

24 Uddin, M. K, "Human Rights Abuses in Bangladeshi Policing: The Protection Capacity of National Human Rights Commission" 18 (18): 209-226, 2017

25 Caulfield, J., "How do Do Thematic Analysis"

26 Kaufman, E., "Extrajudicial executions: an insight into the global dimensions of a human rights violation" 3 (3): 81-100, 1981

27 Kamruzzaman, M., "Extrajudicial Killings:The Violation of Human Rights in Bangladesh" 2 (2): 20-27, 2016

28 Malik, K. M. A., "Extrajudicial Killings & Custodial Torture"

29 Aziz, Moonmoon Binta, "Extra-Judicial Killing: An overview of Bangladesh" 3 : 133-137, 2015

30 US Department of State, "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Bangladesh Human Rights Report" 2017

31 Odhikar, "Bangladesh Annual Human Rights Report 2019-"

32 Odhikar, "Bangladesh Annual Human Rights Report 2015-. Dhaka : Odhikar. http : //odhikar. org(Accessed on August 2021)"

33 Odhikar, "Annual Human Rights situation 2020"

34 Farok, Omar, "A Study of Extra-Judicial Killings by Law Enforcement Agencies: A Case of Bangladesh" Chonnam National University 2022