Mushtaq’s custodial death: CPJ, HRW seek swift, transparent investigation

Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government of Bangladesh to conduct a swift, transparent, and independent investigation into the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was kept behind the bars in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.

The organisation has also called the government to unconditionally release interned political cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, implicated in the same case, and investigate claims that he was subjected to physical abuse in custody.

The same calls were also made by rights organisations, Human Rights Watch, and New York-based PEN America, a non-profit organisation that works to defend and celebrate free expression in the US and worldwide.

“Mushtaq Ahmed’s death in a Bangladeshi prison, where he never should have been detained in the first place, is a devastating and unconscionable loss,” said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ’s senior Asia researcher. “The Bangladeshi government must allow an independent inquiry into how Mushtaq Ahmed died and move immediately to repeal the Digital Security Act, which it has used repeatedly and unjustly against journalists.”

Quoting news media and lawyer, CPJ said, “At the hearing, Kishore passed a note to his brother stating that he had been subjected to severe physical abuse while in police custody, sustaining a serious leg injury and ear injuries that have led to infections due to lack of adequate medical care.”

In a media release on Thursday, PEN America “demands that authorities launch a full and transparent investigation into Ahmed’s death, as well as drop charges against cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, his co-defendant who remains in jail and must be released from jail.”

Asia affairs director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Brad Adams in a statement on Friday said, Mushtaq Ahmed was kept in pre-trial detention for nine months. His bail pleas were turned down for six times. His “crime” is he criticised about the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on Facebook.

Brad Adams also said Mushtaq Ahmed should not have been detained in the first place. HRW also demanded transparent and independent investigation into the death of the writer.

US-based Cartoonists’ Rights Network International also demanded release of cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore.

Amnesty International’s South Asia campaigner Saad Hammadi thought Mushtaq Ahmed’s death in prison is the effect of the authority’s cruel practice of prolonging detention of people without trial or conviction.

“We are witnessing the worst form of repression that a law like the Digital Security Act can bring on a person,” he tweeted.