Dhaka, Aug 7 (IANS) Bangladesh’s Awami League has expressed grave concern over allegations of serious human rights abuses at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur district.
Citing accounts from families and former inmates, the party claimed that political detainees linked to the Awami League were deliberately denied food and access to safe drinking water following a virtual address by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Mentioning prison sources and former detainees, the party alleged that punitive measures are imposed whenever Hasina delivers a public statement, with political prisoners subjected to collective punishment, including the suspension of regular meal distribution and restrictions on access to essential services.
Referring to accounts from relatives of detainees, the Awami League alleged that inmates were left without food for much of the day following Hasina’s virtual address on Wednesday. It also cited former inmates who claimed that prisoners who attempted to buy food from the prison canteen using their own money repeatedly faced obstacles.
One former detainee also alleged that prisoners were, at times, forced to drink water from washroom facilities instead of being provided with safe drinking water, describing the practice as “degrading and incompatible with basic standards of humane treatment.”
“If verified, such allegations could amount to violations of internationally recognised human rights standards, including the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), which require that prisoners receive adequate food, clean drinking water, and be treated with dignity, without discrimination or collective punishment,” the Awami League stated.
“Human rights advocates have long maintained that all detainees, regardless of their political affiliation or the charges they face, are entitled to fundamental protections under both domestic law and international human rights norms,” it added.
The Awami League said that families of those detained have called for an independent investigation into the allegations and urged the Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that all prisoners are provided with adequate food, safe drinking water, medical care, and protection from abuse.
On Wednesday, addressing a press conference in New Delhi via an audio link, Hasina said that Bangladesh’s situation has worsened over the last two years with people continuing to live in an atmosphere of fear, insecurity and economic distress despite the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) assuming office following what she described as a “rigged election”.
Hasina, who has been living in exile in India for the past two years, also said that she would return to her home country by the year-end.
“Even after a rigged election brought the BNP to power, the situation did not change. Bangladesh remains in the grip of fear, terror, depression, economic hardship and deep insecurity,” said Hasina in her address to the media in New Delhi.
–IANS
scor/rs
