Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying

Last week I received an email from a dear friend. The email came from Sweden, on Valentine’s Day. I have spent the better part of this week trying to craft a response. I have failed. This post is my attempt at a response.

This blog is anti-torture. There is a logo on the sidebar of this blog that declares the unequivocal position of this blog and its author. Being anti-torture seems to me to be a commonsense position to hold. It is however not a position that is universally held. There are torturers in this world and there are those who aid and abet the torturers. Then there are the victims. My friend, Tasneem Khalil, is a torture victim.

On May 10th of last year I received an urgent email from a friend. It was 4:04pm and I was at my mundane day job. Soon many other emails arrived with the same news. Tasneem Khalil, a Bangladeshi journalist and researcher for Human Rights Watch, had been picked just hours earlier by the Bangladesh military. Just before 1am on the morning of May 11 (Bangladesh time) members of Bangladesh military’s intelligence services, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), had taken away Tasneem from his home in Dhaka. Tasneem’s wife, left alone with their 6-month old baby boy, managed to get word out of his abduction.

Via email and SMS Bangladeshi bloggers from all over the world came together within minutes of hearing the news. Soon blog posts were going up everywhere. American and British bloggers joined in and the news spread quickly. Soon Human Rights Watch put out a press release demanding his release, and CNN and the Associated Press put the news out over the wire. After sustained pressure from human rights organizations, foreign diplomats, and the press Tasneem was released 22 hours later. He was alive, but he had been tortured.

After his release, Sweden offered Tasneem, his wife Suchi and his baby boy Tiyash, political asylum. Today they have begun a new life in Sweden, in exile.

On February 14th Human Rights Watch released a 44-page report  (PDF) entitled "The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power Under the State of Emergency". The report, in first person testimony, details how the DGFI brutally beat and threatened Tasneem during his 22 hour ordeal.

Tasneem was taken to one of the DGFI’s torture chambers known as a "black hole". The HRW report explains:

In Dhaka alone, the DGFI maintains at least three unofficial detention centers, known as "black holes." "Black Hole 1" is located in DGFI headquarters inside Dhaka cantonment near BNS Haji Moshin naval base. "Black Hole 2" is near Kachukhet, a civilian residential area inside Dhaka cantonment. "Black Hole 3" is maintained in the Uttara residential district near Zia International Airport.

 Of his ordeal Tasneem writes in the HRW report:

The Forum article made my interrogators furious. They started beating me again mercilessly, from all possible directions with hands and batons and kicks. I pleaded with them to give me one last chance. I said I would not do those things again. But one person said I had already "made the blunder." I think this was a reference to my lunch with the diplomats.

I started begging for mercy. The beating continued for some time. Then another person said, "We will think about giving you a chance, but you have to do as we say." He said I had to write a confession to the AIG [Additional Inspector General] of police, saying what they wanted me to say. Then I had to beg for his mercy.

…

There were two CCTV cameras in the corners attached to the ceiling. There was a fan. I was sitting in front of a table and three batons were on the table along with some stationery. One was a wooden baton, about a meter long. The other two were covered with black plastic. Poking out of the end of these were metal wires which appeared to fill the plastic covers. The plastic and wire batons were a little shorter than the wooden one. I assume these were the batons they tortured me with. When one guy saw that I was looking at them, he put them aside. I’m not sure if they used electricity on me. The pain often came like shocks, but they were hitting me so hard that I’m not sure whether it was just the force that hurt like this or if it was electricity.

They tortured Tasneem because he had dared to write an article critical of the Bangladesh military and he had just recently given an interview to the Washington Post. It was not a ticking bomb scenario. It was pure thuggery, as all torture is.

Tasneem’s torturers barked that he was "anti-state" because his journalism hurt the military’s "image":

And then the second voice said, "Baanchot [an abusive word], you have only reported on negative things. And you have fucked Bangladesh by your bloody anti-state reports. Whatever you have reported for CNN in all these years is all negative news. You shit on the same plate you eat, you are a traitor. You work for a foreign agency, and damage Bangladesh’s image outside."

Someone started punching the side and back of my head. I started crying out in pain. Then someone cried out an order, "Bring in salt and nails!"

Tasneem’s torturer was the military government of Bangladesh. It was the state torturing its own citizen. The most fundamental responsibility of a government is the protection of its own people. When a government not only fails to protect its own citizens but instead actively terrorizes and tortures them it has lost all legitimacy, moral or legal, to govern. It has become anti-state.

Yet there are defenders of Bangladesh’s military government. The defenders include elements of civil society within Bangladesh who see the military as their meal ticket to power and foreign governments such as the Bush administration and the British government who believe only the iron hand of the military can control 150 million people who are perceived to be unfit to govern themselves. To these defenders the minor inconveniences of torture, death in custody, extra-judicial killings, suspension of fundamental rights, and the occasional mass beating are the cost of doing business. Certainly to these defenders the torture of one man, Tasneem Khalil, does not matter.

To me it matters. It matters that my friend was tortured. It matters that, save for the overwhelming response to his detention, he would today be a statistic - a dead body as a result of the uniquely Bangladeshi opera known as "crossfire". It matters that the 150 million citizens of Bangladesh, who earned their freedom through blood and sacrifice, are today ruled by the gun.

So, this is my response to the email you sent me last week Tasneem. I was told over the weekend, in a harshly worded diatribe from a man with little regard for this "Virginia-based blogger", that we bloggers are cowards. That we don’t understand real life. That we hide behind our keyboards. That we are irrelevant.

Perhaps.

But I would not trade a thousand words that I write that fall on deaf ears for the one email that you sent me. I am glad you are here my friend. It is, in the sum total of my life, one of the facts I am most proud of.

In May I wrote about the abduction of Bangladeshi journalist, and fellow blogger, Tasneem Khalil by the Bangladeshi military. Tasneem was picked up in the middle of the night for daring to criticize the military that had taken control of Bangladesh in a coup in January of this year. After a worldwide campaign by bloggers, human rights organizations, diplomats, and news organizations Tasneem was released a day later. According to Human Rights Watch, while in custody Tasneem was tortured and forced to "confess" to "anti-state" activities. Yet Tasneem is one of the lucky ones.

Since taking power in January the military regime in Bangladesh has suspended fundamental rights and has embarked on a systematic campaign of arrest, intimidation and torture under the guise of its so-called "anti-corruption" drive. The military has detained 200,000 citizens and tortured many of them as it tries to decimate the major political parties in what was the second largest democracy in the Muslim world.

Tasneem Khalil is now in Sweden after efforts by Human Rights Watch and western diplomats secured his safe passage out of Bangladesh. Today Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Bangladesh’s military regime protesting its record of human rights violations including its torture of Tasneem Khalil. The letter is a chilling indictment of the lawless regime that now rules Bangladesh with force of arms:

Since your administration took over, torture of persons in the custody of the security forces has continued to be routine. Many people have died in custody in unexplained circumstances. Your government has not put into place the most basic safeguards to ensure proper independent access to places of detention, requiring all persons to be held in official places of detention, and establishing a process whereby independent investigations are routinely undertaken when deaths in custody occur.  
 
The joint forces, led by the army, have shown almost complete disregard for established legal norms conducting arrests and holding people in detention. Instead of being brought immediately before a magistrate, detainees are routinely taken to army barracks and other unofficial places of detention and tortured, both as punishment and to force them to sign confessions. Many people are being picked up in the middle of the night without warrant. Led by Bangladesh’s military intelligence unit, the DGFI, the security forces are often in plainclothes and offer no identification. When asked, they claim they can do anything they want because they are thus empowered under Bangladesh’s emergency laws.  
 
…

We are particularly concerned because the rule of law appears to be breaking down under your administration. Under the emergency laws, the right to bail and the right to appeal are routinely denied. Court decisions are regularly ignored. Bangladesh’s many fine judges and lawyers are not being allowed to play their legitimate roles in the legal and judicial process. When some judges began ordering bail when habeas corpus petitions were filed, public prosecutors have secured contrary rulings from the Appellate Division, even in cases where there is clearly no threat to public security or risk of flight. This is all happening under an administration that claims to be committed to reform.  
 
Illegal acts by the security forces are being enabled by the sweeping emergency rules your administration has put in place, which are being misused on a daily basis by the armed forces. Under emergency rules that ban protests and limit effective legal remedies, the security forces believe they can commit abuses with impunity.

…

We would particularly like to use this opportunity to remind you of the case of journalist Tasneem Khalil, who has worked as a consultant for Human Rights Watch and as a stringer for CNN. On May 11, 2007, Mr. Khalil was taken into custody after midnight by men in plainclothes claiming to be Bangladesh’s “joint task force.” Mr. Khalil was taken from his home in front of his wife and child, blindfolded and driven to an interrogation center, where he was tortured and questioned about his work as a journalist, writings on his blog, as well as his employment with Human Rights Watch and CNN. Many of Mr. Khalil’s possessions, including computers, phones and passport, were confiscated when his home was ransacked. We immediately contacted your government for help, and Mr. Khalil was eventually released after more than 22 hours in custody.  
 
We have since learned that Mr. Khalil had been held and tortured by the DGFI. The interrogation center Mr. Khalil was taken to is an extension of the DGFI headquarters in Dhaka cantonment that houses at least one torture chamber and a detention facility. This is a full-time illegal detention and torture facility. Mr. Khalil saw sophisticated torture equipment and could hear other detainees screaming in pain. At least five DGFI officers took part in the torture sessions that left Mr. Khalil with severe injuries. At one point he was photographed with a revolver and some bullets placed before him, suggesting that he was being set up for a faked “crossfire killing.” Before his release, Mr. Khalil was forced to make false confessions, and asked to sign documents and testify on video admitting to acts that could be considered treasonous. We have received other credible reports of the same type of activities by DGFI.  
 
As you know, Bangladesh’s military forces have become notorious for taking people into custody, torturing them to death or executing them in faked “crossfire killings.” We were concerned that Mr. Khalil would meet a similar fate even after his release. He had to remain in hiding until, after long and unnecessary negotiations, his passport was eventually returned and he and his family were able to leave Bangladesh for safety abroad.  
 
In a sense Mr. Khalil was fortunate. He had the advantage of foreign friends, colleagues, and diplomats who were in a position to appeal to your government for help. However, there are thousands now in custody, unable to secure bail and often subjected to torture, who are not so well connected. We do not know who is being tortured at this very minute by DGFI or others, but we do know that it is happening.  
 
We appreciate your personal intervention and that of other government officials to ensure Mr. Khalil’s release and safe exit from the country. But as his case makes clear, arbitrary arrest and detention and torture are a significant problem in Bangladesh today.  
 
Your government knows who was responsible for Mr. Khalil’s torture – and that of many other victims – where they work, and where the torture centers are located. Your government knows that these are not isolated cases – an untold number of people are being tortured every day. As a matter of basic human decency as well as your obligations under international law, you must act to close down such torture centers without delay. We look forward to public statements from you and members of your government on this subject, as well as action.  

The Bush Administration has offered tacit support to the military regime in Bangladesh. Last week Mr. Bush praised the military regime in Bangladesh by saying "we support your efforts to fight corruption and collect taxes." Mr. Bush also praised the military for its "roadmap" to hold elections at the end of 2008 and return democracy to Bangladesh. The last time the Bangladesh military presented a similar election "roadmap" was in 1975 when they came to power in a bloody coup. In that instance the military ruled for 16 years until finally the people of Bangladesh rose up to force the military back into the barracks and restore democracy.

This military regime in Bangladesh will eventually be driven back to the barracks. In the mean time, it is determined to practice its own special brand of thuggery while it fights "corruption" and collects "taxes".

In the wake of the detention by the Bangladesh military of journalist and blogger Tasneem Khalil, I was interviewed by BBC World Service Radio last night about blogging and the intimidation of bloggers by governments. In addition to talking about Tasneem’s case I cited the case of the Egyptian blogger Monem currently under detention for "anti-state" blogging. Little did I know at the time that the topic would hit close to home the very next day.

Yesterday a commenter calling himself "ABC" posted identical comments on a number of Bangladeshi blogs that were involved in the successful campaign to free Tasneem Khalil. "ABC" posted a similar comment on my blog as well. At the time he posted, the commenter had information about the negotiations to free Tasneem from military custody that was not yet public. He was also posting his comments from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was widely assumed that he was affiliated with elements within the Bangladesh military.

Today the commenter "ABC" is back. He has posted a threatening comment on a number of Bangladeshi blogs. A check of the IP address he was posting from confirmed that he was the same commenter. Below is what he wrote on one of the blogs that participated in the campaign:

This is ABC. Yes, you could be arrested for your blogs here and DP, but you won’t be. Military knows very well who writes what and what has been discussed in the last 3 months. Very open discussions, critical analyses, criticisms, points/counterpoints. Military believes on freedom of speech and individual rights. At times, very objectionable remarks are also made against military. Those are viewed as ‘personal opinions’ and never interfered. May be some of you are thinking that you are indulging in your intellectual efforts sitting in a different country (a safe place)and you are beyond reach. Very wrong. If military wants to get you, it will get you. In fact, you will struggle on your own to catch the next available flight to Dhaka. But military is not interested on you….or any particular blogger. You have 100% freedom of expressing your views and you are already enjoying it uninterruptedly.

Blogging and sending SMS is no crime (as many has asked this question). In fact blogging and SMSs are the wonders of modern science in effective communication. As long as you use your knife to cut potatoes, you are fine. Try this on cutting somebody’s throat, you are in big trouble.

So you don’t know the content of Tasneem’s SMSs. You don’t know what was found in his computer. You don’t know who else were his contacts apart from you guys. It is obvious, you will scream. Ever seen in movie an FBI action ? Ever heard the term counter-terrorism? Think about the entire thing in cool brain. Is it a very difficult puzzle?

Enjoy your blogging. Say whatever you want to. Criticize or advise any way you want. Nobody will tell you or your family members back home anything. You should all be proud that your military has got appreciations and love in over 2 dozens countries for their professional work. They are not aliens from Mars. They are your brothers, uncles and nephews. They are not against you and they have no interest in stopping your right to speak freely.

Would appreciate if this is shared with your other fellow bloggers. [Emphasis added by me.]

We know that newspaper editors and reporters in Bangladesh have been intimidated. The detention of Tasneem Khalil is the most recent example of intimidation of the press by elements of the Bangladesh military. Now the intimidation has crossed outside the borders of Bangladesh. I am not sure where the line is between innuendo and a prosecutable federal offence for making threats over the internet, but I suspect if the current tone of the commenter continues he will soon cross it. However, that is little solace for many expatriate Bangladeshi bloggers who stood together yesterday, along with many bloggers from all over the world, to help a man thousands of miles away whose freedom and life were in great peril. Those selfless and brave Bangladeshi expatriates shouted to the world yesterday when a man’s voice was being silenced in Bangladesh. Today the same bloggers fear for their loved ones.

Fear and intimidation are the weapons of thugs the world over. They aim to achieve silence. They aim to achieve compliance. All things that are antithetical to human freedom and liberty.

 TASNEEM KHALIL HAS BEEN RELEASED (5/11/2007 1:39pm)

From Asif at Drishtipat:

Update 9:11:33 pm BDT
Tasneem is meeting with Mahfuz Anam in his office alone. Staffers in office say he looks physically ok, but badly shaken up. He is being taken home to his wife by DS staff after the meeting with MA.

Update 8:11:15 pm BDT
Tasneem Khalil released by joint forces. 24 hours after being picked up.

Update 7:10:15 pm BDT
Senior Daily Star office are huddled in office, including Mahfuz Anam. MA has released a statement. Excerpts: ” “I contacted the authorities concerned and was informed that him being questioned was not due to his journalistic work and had nothing to do with his functions at The Daily Star….In fact, it was because of the contents of his personal blog and some SMSs he had sent recently….Following my discussions with the authorities and because of the caretaker government’s commitment to the policy of freedom of the media, it was agreed that he would be released tonight.” Full statement is not online on DS website yet.

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR OVERWHELMING RESPONSE. I’ll post more as I know more.

[Courtesy bdnews24.com] Below is the Press Release from Daily Star editor and publisher Mahfuz Anam that was sent out after negotiations with the military to secure Tasneem’s release (click image for larger version):

Update 5/11/2007 7:14pm): Amnesty International and Committee to Protect Journalists have sent out alerts for Tasneem Khalil. The BBC has also reported on his case.

Update (5/11/2007 11:02am): The military has apparently promised to release Tasneem by 11:30am EST (9:30pm Bangladesh time).  I’ll update as soon as I hear anything. Nothing is certain until he is released - the situation is quite fluid. Follow Drishtipat for up-to-the-minute information.

Tasneem Khalil, an editor at the Bangladesh’s leading English language daily, The Daily Star, has been taken away from his home by the military in Bangladesh. He was taken away just a few hours ago in the middle of the night. His whereabouts are currently unknown and his life is most certainly in danger.

Apparently Mr. Khalil’s crime is that he did his job. He spoke truthfully about the current situation in Bangladesh. He was interviewed by Nora Boustany of the Washington Post last month - that interview may have cost him his freedom and now possibly his life.

I have been speaking out over the last month about the military takedown of the democratic system in Bangladesh. One by one the fundamental rights of Bangladeshis have been taken away. But, Bangladeshis have recently started to fight back against the military. The press, the people and the courts have begun speaking out. The military now aims to silence them. Their thuggery is now plain to see.

Do not let Tasneem Khalil be "disappeared" into darkness. He is one of the brightest lights in Bangladeshi journalism and today, this minute, his life is in danger. Other reporters in Bangladesh are currently living in fear.

I urge anyone reading this post to come to the rescue of a man who has in times of need spoken out for freedom. Only sustained pressure and international news coverage will stay the brutal hand of the Bangladesh military.

UPDATE (5/10/2007 7:13 pm):

Human Rights Watch has just released the following statement demanding immediate release of Tasneem Khalil:

Bangladesh: Release Journalist and Rights Activist

Army Arrests Tasneem Khalil of Human Rights Watch

(London, May 11, 2007) – Bangladesh’s military-backed care-taker government should immediately release Tasneem Khalil, an investigative journalist and part-time Human Rights Watch consultant, who was detained by security forces late last night, Human Rights Watch said today.

Khalil, 26, is a journalist for the Dhaka-based Daily Star newspaper who conducts research for Human Rights Watch. According to his wife, four men in plainclothes who identified themselves as from the “joint task force”came to the door after midnight on May 11 in Dhaka, demanding to take Khalil away. They said they were placing Khalil “under arrest” and taking him to the Sangsad Bhavan army camp, outside the parliament building in Dhaka.  
 
“We are extremely concerned about Tasneem Khalil’s safety,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “He has been a prominent voice in Bangladesh for human rights and the rule of law, and has been threatened because of that.”  
 
The men did not offer a warrant or any charges, Khalil’s wife said. Using threatening language, they searched the house and confiscated Khalil’s passport, two computers, documents, and two mobile phones.  
 
“It is an emergency; we can arrest anyone,” one of the men said. Another asked if Khalil suffered from any particular physical ailments. They drove Khalil off in a Pajero jeep.  
 
Khalil is a noted investigative journalist who has published several controversial exposes of official corruption and abuse, particularly by security forces. He assisted Human Rights Watch in research for a 2006 report about torture and extrajudicial killings by Bangladesh security forces.  
 
According to Bangladeshi human rights groups, the army has detained tens of thousands of people since a state of emergency was declared on January 11, 2007. A number of those detained are picked up in the middle of the night, as Khalil was, and then tortured.  
 
In Bangladesh, security forces have long been implicated in torture and extrajudicial killings. The killings have been attributed to members of the army, the police, and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite anti-crime and anti-terrorism force. The Human Rights Watch report Khalil worked on, “Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh’s Elite Security Force,” focused on abuses by the RAB.  
 
Killings in custody remain a persistent problem in Bangladesh. To date, no military personnel are known to have been held criminally responsible for any of the deaths.  
 
Khalil was called in for questioning by military intelligence last week, apparently as part of the military’s campaign to intimidate independent journalists ahead of May 10, 2007, when the army’s three-month legal mandate for ruling under a state of emergency came to an end.  
 
“The Bangladeshi military should be on notice that its actions are being closely watched by the outside world,” Adams said. “Any harm to Tasneem Khalil will seriously undermine the army’s claims to legitimacy and upholding the rule of law.”

 Update 2 (5/10/2007 11:18pm):

CNN Wire is currently carrying the following story of Tasneem Khalil’s arrest:

Bangladeshi journalist arrested

(CNN) — A Bangladeshi journalist was arrested and taken from his home Friday and is believed to be held by the army for unknown reasons, according to his wife.

Tasneem Khalil, who also works part-time for Human Rights Watch and as a stringer for several news organizations, including CNN, writes for the Dhaka-based Daily Star.

Khalil’s wife telephoned CNN to say that men from an army intelligence unit arrested him early Friday.

In a statement, Khalil’s wife said he was arrested by four men in plainclothes who said they were from "the joint task force." They refused to tell Khalil on what charges he was being arrested and cautioned him to be quiet "if you don’t want anything else to happen," she said.

She said the men searched the house, taking Khalil’s passport and cell phones, two desktop computers and "all the documents, notepads, piles of paper, CDs and everything. They took it all away."

The men allegedly took Khalil to the Sangsad Bhavan army camp, outside the parliament building in Dhaka. (Posted 7:33 p.m.)

Update (5/11/2007 1:50am):

According to CNN, CNN and Human Rights Watch are in contact with the Bangladeshi government trying to get information about Tasneem:

The Bangladeshi army has detained thousands of people since declaring a state of emergency on January 11, Human Rights Watch said. Many of them have been tortured, the group said.

"We are extremely concerned about Tasneem Khalil’s safety," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "He has been a prominent voice in Bangladesh for human rights and the rule of law and has been threatened because of that."

Late last year, Khalil worked on an HRW report about the elite Bangladeshi security forces and its alleged participation in torture and extrajudicial killings, said HRW press director Emma Daly.

CNN and HRW have been in contact with Bangladesh’s Special Envoy to the United States, Farook Sobhan, and other officials in attempts to find information about Khalil. Sobhan told CNN it was the first he’d heard about Khalil’s arrest and promised to make inquiries.

Update (5/11/2007 7:30am):

Tasneem is alive. He has been allowed to speak briefly on the telephone with his wife. The Associate Press is now covering his story. Scroll down for previous updates.