New Delhi: A research wing of Dhaka University’s law department, Civitas Legum, has been collecting information on students killed in the July Bangladesh violence so as to help their parents with legal aid and filing police complaints.
Volunteers have set up booths at the university campus where families can come and register the names of their children who lost their lives in the anti-government protests which ultimately turned into a mass movement that led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government. All those who register are provided legal aid, consultations on how they can get an FIR registered or move court, according to the volunteers.
The protests began in July and spilled over to August. Many are alleged to have been killed in firing by security forces and police. Last month, ThePrint had reported how over a thousand students were admitted with pellet injuries at the National Institute of Ophthalmology, Dhaka, during the peak of the protests.
According to data provided by Civitas Legum—a ‘research, program and response wing’ of Dhaka University—1,581 incidents of casualties have been reported until 25 September.
Civitas also contacted each of the victims’ families individually to collect necessary information to file a lawsuit (individual lawsuits against suspects). They have so far provided legal aid to over 43 deceased’s families and have lawyers in both the country’s Supreme Court and district courts working with them.
“We collected details like names, addresses, place of occurrence, force responsible, time of attack, the hospital that provided primary medical support or where he or she he was first brought dead, any eye witness accounts etc. We also collected relevant documents like photographs of the incidents, legal documents, hospital documents, post-mortem reports, statements of family members and witnesses etc. for reserving the legal evidence. Based on that information we provide them legal suggestions,” Civitas said in an emailed response to ThePrint.
“Our legal researchers are working hard every day to assist the filing of cases and in some cases when required documentations and drafting is being done,” they added.
The wing further said that many families also do not wish to file complaints out of fear. “Many of the families are not ready to file cases out of fear of consequences. We are trying to convince them. That’s why we are now communicating with the prosecutors of the International Crime Tribunal set up by the Government of Bangladesh on how they can use the data and information we have collected to ensure speedy justice.”
The wing said they are also making sure that families of victims do not face any pressure or threats by any parties involved, and that all families get financial support from the government.
ThePrint sent a list of questions to Civitas Legum about their work:
How is Civitas Legum collecting data of those killed in protests by police?
First there was a mass gathering of the martyrs’ families at Central Shaheed Minar on 14 August demanding justice for their deceased family members during the July revolution.
We set up a booth to collect further information in order to contact them later and provide legal aid like helping with legal consultation on how they can take legal actions like filing FIR and the court process.
However, later that day, we contacted each of the victims’ families individually over the phone and in person (wherever possible) to collect necessary information to file a proper lawsuit.
For example, we collected details like name, permanent and present address, place of occurrence, responsible force, time of attack, hospital that provided primary medical support or where they were first brought dead, any eye witness and their details etc.
We also collected relevant documents like any photographs of the incidents, legal documents, hospital documents, post-mortem reports, statements of the family members and witnesses etc. for the purpose of reserving legal evidence. Based on that information we provide them legal suggestions on what they can do now to take steps to get justice.
How many such cases have come to light till now?
There were 1,581 casualties according to unofficial records, whereas according to HRSS (Human Rights Support Society, a rights organisation based in Dhaka) the number confirmed is 875 (up to 13 September), which is confirmed by multiple verifications.
However, we talked to them recently and they are still working on that list and according to their assumption, it may cross 1,200. According to government officials, 708 persons were confirmed by 25 September. The list is going through updates every day. So the number is changing. Civitas Legum has provided legal aid to 43 deceased families till now and hopes to work with others as well.
Do you have a lawyer? How do you plan to get cases of murder registered against police who killed students?
Yes, we do have lawyers in both the Supreme Court and district courts. If requested by the victims’ families, we will consult those lawyers to provide legal aid in the court process.
Generally, in every case we draft, there is a list of common culprits who actually ordered to open fire on the protesters or support the decision. We identify the place of occurrence to determine the police station there and also include the names of the higher commending officials and other police staff who were directly involved in the massacre.
Moreover, we keep space for other culprits as well under the ‘unidentified’ section. We initiate the process in a general way, like identifying, arresting the criminals and moving them to the court for further judgment.
But in some cases, the police don’t help in filing the FIR against the accused police personnel who were involved in the killing of the students and other criminal activities. The real problem from our side is that we are not able to find the exact police personnel who actually opened fire and killed a particular victim. It’s the task of the investigating officers to find that out. We are just helping the families of the victims to start the legal process.
The problem is that most of the families of the victims are not ready to file cases because of fear. We are consulting with them and in very minimal numbers are moving ahead but most are still not taking any legal steps. That’s why we are now communicating with the prosecutors of the International Crime Tribunal set up by the Government of Bangladesh on how they can use the data and information we have collected and will collect. So that it is also convenient for us to share the details of the case to ICT for making the process speedy and ensuring fast justice.
What efforts are being made to ensure families get justice?
We are helping the victims’ families by providing legal consultation on what they can do now to get justice, for instance on how to file FIR (including drafting, collecting info and interviews).
We are making sure that they do not face any pressure or threats from parties involved in the case list by regularly following up with them. We make sure that the victims’ families we are working with must get the names and identities of their deceased members into the official list prepared by the government for providing financial support.
Our lawyers are helping them by giving legal advice and supervising the status of the cases in courts. Now we are planning to help the victims’ families by providing the information collected to the tribunal directly on behalf of the families. We will also monitor all the updates of the processes and provide assistance to the families in that process as and when they need.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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