Policymakers must focus on extrajudicial killings during pandemic
Allegations of human rights violations by members of law enforcement agencies in the country are nothing new. The ongoing pandemic had brought no change in it. Ain Salish Kendra (ASK) and the Center for Genocide reported that 67 people have been killed in so-called gunfights in the past three months since the coronavirus outbreak began in the country.
These figures, however, are based solely on the data published by 18 media outlets. Between 2004 and 2019, 1,725 people were killed before arrest and 963 in custody. The killing of 67 people during such a catastrophe proves once again that the country has no respect for rule of law. The law enforcement seems to have been given a licence for systematic killing and are not emerging from this.
It is high time we identify the root causes of why people are violating health care rules in such a careless manner. As we see, just like extrajudicial killings in the name of controlling crime, a culture of violating rules and regulations has gradually spread and deepened at all levels of society.
We have seen with a heavy heart how our policymakers turned a blind eye to the matter. The deterioration of the situation went to such an extreme that there had even been discussion in favour of such killings in the Jatiya Sangsad.
It is true that the government has not adopted crossfire, gunfights or extrajudicial killings as an official policy. But the unconstitutional statement in favour of it was not even expunged from the proceedings of the parliament.
Today, policy makers can look at their own weaknesses as the experience of the last three months has shown that people are suffering from the consequences of not abiding by the rules. Many countries, such as Vietnam, Nepal, and Bhutan, have had success in preventing coronavirus, mainly because of their discipline.
The rule of law must be the most important and reliable tool to deal with the calamities. The biggest obstacle in this case is the system that has been used to intimidate people by violating human rights.
Not having stocks of materials like PPE or test kits alone is not the only reason for our failure. It must be acknowledged that there is a crisis in the management of the health sector and relief distribution in the country. We must realise that in order to get out of this vicious circle, we must respect the law. People violate law because they have lost respect for it.
In the first five months of the year (January-May), more than 2500 cases of child abuse, over a hundred abductions, about 250 rapes, about 75 gang rapes were reported. This indicates that that the coronavirus outbreak has brought many significant changes in many parts of the world but not the desired changes in Bangladesh society.
The main reason for this is that there has been no change in the mindset of the ruling politicians and the bureaucracy. They should understand that this calamity may be prolonged. Even bigger disasters may come. The rule of law must be the most important and reliable tool to deal with the calamities. The biggest obstacle in this case is the system that has been used to intimidate people by violating human rights.
Police are also fighting bravely along with others in tackling coronavirus. BRAC's survey also found that people have a positive attitude towards the police now. But the unpleasant truth is that most of the 67 people killed in the last three months have died in alleged gunfights with police. Now is the time to make the necessary changes in our policies.