IPU eBulletin header Issue No.6, 20 March 2007   

eBULLETIN --> ISSUE No.6 --> ARTICLE 5   

IPU WORKS TOWARDS ELUCIDATING THE ASSASSINATION
OF A PROMINENT MP IN BANGLADESH

On 13 March 2007, Dr. Reza Kibria of Bangladesh paid a visit to the House of Parliaments in Geneva, to inform the IPU of important developments regarding the investigation into his father's assassination, and in particular the re-opening, on 7 March, of that investigation. Sha Ams Kibria, an opposition member of parliament, former Finance Minister of Bangladesh and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, was targeted in a grenade attack on 27 January 2005 as he was leaving a meeting in his constituency in north-eastern Bangladesh.

The attack instantly killed three persons and severely injured Mr. Kibria and others. Despite appeals to the Government and to the Speaker of Parliament to send a helicopter to take Mr. Kibria to Dhaka for medical treatment, no such assistance was provided. Mr. Kibria died after a four-hour journey in an ill-equipped ambulance on the road to Dhaka.

Street graffiti in Dhaka (Photo: Corey Wise)
An investigation into the grenade attack was instituted and closed about three months later, after 10 persons had been charged and eight of them arrested. However, the investigation has raised serious concerns since it has failed to examine crucial questions such as, for example, the origins of the grenades used in the attack. Also, several of the accused retracted their statements affirming that they had been obtained under duress.

The case was referred to the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. The Committee has consistently held that an investigation which has omitted to look into essential questions cannot serve the ends of justice and has urged the authorities - including the present Caretaker Government - to ensure that thorough and independent investigations are carried out so as to identify both the perpetrators and the instigators of this crime and bring them to justice.

The re-opening of the investigation goes a long way to address this particular concern. The Committee will continue to follow developments in this case until justice has been done.

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