Extra judicial killing is one kind of offense. Any peaceful man does not expect extra judicial killing. In our country extra judicial killing is occurred by our law enforcing agencies.
That is legalized by our government. But this is not right because every person have some fundamental rights. One of fundamental right is to get proper judgment by law.
Article 31 is the famous provision of the Constitution of Bangladesh and occupies a unique place as a fundamental right. It guarantees right to life and personal liberty to citizens and aliens and is enforceable against the State.
Our country’s constitution is a written constitution. It is not easily changeable. If we want to change our constitution, we must need 2/3 vote of our parliament members.
The constitution proclaims nationalism, democracy, socialism and secularity as the fundamental principles of the Bangladeshi republic.
It is one of the most liberal constitutions.
Constitution provides all kind of facilities which we need for well living.
Extra judicial killing is not good for any country. Because it destroys our international relation. Foreign country does not want to help this particular country.
Rights are legal, social or moral values of freedom or right. Rights are the fundamental normative rules. Rights are of many types like natural and legal rights, claim and liberty rights, negative and positive rights, individual and group rights. Every right is unique.
Politics play an important role in developing or recognizing the above rights, and the discussion about which behavior are included as “rights” is an ongoing political topic of importance. The concepts of rights vary with political orientation.
Bangladeshi people have 23 fundamental rights under the Constitution of Bangladesh. The Fundamental Rights in Bangladesh under below:
- Laws inconsistent with fundamental rights to be void (Article-26)
- Equality be fore law (Article-27)
- Discrimination on grounds of religion, etc. (Article-28)
- Equality of opportunity in public employment (Article-29)
- Prohibition of foreign titles, etc. (Article-30)
- Right to protection of law (Article-31)
- Protection of right to life and personal liberty (Article-32)
- Safeguards as to arrest and detention (Article-33)
- Prohibition of forced labor (Article-34)
- Protection in respect of trial and punishment (Article-35)
- Freedom of movement (Article-36)
- Freedom of assembly (Article-37)
- Freedom of association (Article-38)
- Freedom of thought and conscience, and of speech (Article-39)
- Freedom of profession or occupation (Article-40)
- Freedom of religion (Article-41)
- Rights of property (Article-42)
- Protection of home and correspondence (Article-43)
- Enforcement of fundamental rights (Article-44)
- Modification of rights in respect of disciplinary law (Article-45)
- Power to provide indemnity (Article-46)
- Saving for certain laws (Article-47)
- Inapplicability of certain articles (Article-47A)
Extra judicial killing is unethical. Because every person have right to get proper judgment.
Although extra judicial killing reduce crime but it is not acceptable.
Because many general people are killed for this type of killing. Another name of extrajudicial killings is Crossfire. Killings by law enforcement agencies are common in Bangladesh.
In 1972, the paramilitary group Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini came into force and had become renowned for its extrajudicial executions until it was engaged into the army in 1975.
Now, since the formation of the selected Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in March 2004, such killings are again on the rise and are being categorized under a new terms of “crossfire,” “extrajudicial killings,” “encounters,” etc.
The government tries to justify the killings by using the term “crossfire,” which it refers to as gunfights between any suspected criminal group or “unsentimental” criminals and the RAB or police.
The term “death in an encounter” is worn in other countries to mean the same thing, but the term “crossfire” is favored by law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh. The evil suggestion associated with the word demonstrates the total weakness of the people facing extra judicial killings that are taking place in Bangladesh.
Though there is no legal definition of an extrajudicial killing, if a death is caused by a law enforcement official without following the legal rules or due judicial process, it can be measured extrajudicial.
“Crossfire” is an extrajudicial execution that is in deliberate defiance of Bangladesh’s constitution and the international human rights conventions of which the country is a party. Although some people believe that extrajudicial killing of cynical criminals helps ease the problem of “terrorism,” in reality, it encourages lack of control and aggravates “state terrorism.”
In different countries across the world, people in power have created a feeling that killing “terrorists” without bringing them to justice can help curb “terrorism,” but such extra judicial killings, in fact, can neither bring peace nor eradicate “terrorism.”
In Bangladesh, the law says minimum force should be useful to arrests and every person has the right to seek a trial. In the cases of “crossfire” and “encounters,” however, we find that these legal requirements are being totally ignored.
Article 31 of the constitution of Bangladesh states: “To enjoy the protection of law, and to be treated in accordance with law, is the absolute right of every citizen, wherever he may be, and of every other person for the time being within Bangladesh, and in particular no action unfavorable to the life, liberty, body, reputation or property of any person shall be taken except in accordance with law.”
The constitution’s Article 32 ensures the protection of the right to life and personal liberty in accordance with the law. Because of the consequences of such dispossession, the drafters of the constitution made this specific stipulation of safety even though these rights were already covered by Article 31.
What is inherent in Articles 31 and 32 is the right to access to justice, and it cannot be said that this right has been dealt with in accordance with the law unless a person has a reasonable opportunity to approach the court in proof of their right or grumble.
Even a deserter is entitled to a legal defense when the death penalty is involved.
The government of Bangladesh has been violating the constitution and Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 2004. According to Article 35(5) of the constitution of Bangladesh and Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” And according to Article 3 of the constitution of Bangladesh, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
But, in practice, Bangladesh does not ensure the right to life and has not complied with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the constitution of Bangladesh.
A few human rights organizations have long been asking the government to stop the killings, terming them “extra judicial”. Moreover, the High Court of Bangladesh, on June 29, 2009, asked the government to clarify why killing people without a trial, in the form of extrajudicial killings, is not being declared as illegal, and why measures are not being taken against the perpetrators. After this ruling, we still haven’t seen anything happened.
From above discussion we see that constitution provides our fundamental right but above these reasons people can not get their fundamental rights. Many unethical killing is occurred for extra judicial killing.
Extra judicial killing is violation of fundamental right provided in constitution of Bangladesh. Because our constitution ensures our fundamental rights but extra judicial killing is against our fundamental right.
Bangladeshi people have 23 fundamental rights under the constitution. One of the most important rights is to get proper judgment.
Our constitution does not support extra judicial killing. But in our country extra judicial killing is occurred continuously. Government must stop extra judicial killing.
For getting proper judgment we all of us should stand against this type of killing.
The writer is a publisher and editor of law related newspaper the weekly ‘Shomoyer Digonto’, and is M.Phil researcher and Criminal Law practitioner in Kushtia judge’s court. E-mail: [email protected]
