Bangladesh: Getting Police Reform on Track
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BANGLADESH: GETTING POLICE REFORM ON TRACK Asia Report N°182 – 11 December 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. i I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. THE LEGAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT................................................................ 3 A. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................3 B. THE POLITICAL MILIEU: OBSTACLES TO REFORM ........................................................................5 1. The bureaucracy...........................................................................................................................5 2. The military..................................................................................................................................6 3. The ruling elite.............................................................................................................................7 III. THE STATE OF THE POLICE ...................................................................................... 8 A. STRUCTURE AND ORGANISATION.................................................................................................8 B. THE BUDGET ...............................................................................................................................9 C. RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING ...................................................................................................10 D. SALARIES AND WORKING CONDITIONS ......................................................................................11 E. THE CRISES OF CONSTABLES .....................................................................................................12 IV. POLICING BANGLADESHI STYLE .......................................................................... 14 A. POLITICISING THE POLICE ..........................................................................................................14 B. CORRUPTION..............................................................................................................................15 C. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND ACCOUNTABILITY .......................................................................16 D. CONSEQUENCES OF CORRUPTION AND ABUSE............................................................................18 1. Vigilantism and militancy..........................................................................................................18 2. Militarisation of internal security...............................................................................................18 V. RELUCTANT REFORMS............................................................................................. 19 A. POLICE REFORM PROGRAMME (PRP) ........................................................................................19 B. PRP: REFORM OR REGRESSION? ................................................................................................20 1. New units at headquarters..........................................................................................................20 2. Community-based policing........................................................................................................21 VI. MOVING BEYOND THE PRP ..................................................................................... 24 A. POLICE MODERNISATION ...........................................................................................................24 B. SALARIES AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION....................................................................................24 C. PROMOTIONS, TRANSFERS AND EVALUATIONS ..........................................................................25 D. COORDINATION..........................................................................................................................25 E. IMPROVE COMMUNITY POLICING...............................................................................................26 F. FEMALE POLICING .....................................................................................................................26 G. LOOKING BEYOND THE POLICE..................................................................................................26 VII. CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................... 27 APPENDICES A. MAP OF BANGLADESH .....................................................................................................................29 B. POLICE NUMBERS BY RANK.............................................................................................................30 C. MONTHLY SALARY AND ADJUSTMENTS BY POLICE RANK ...............................................................31 D. SMALLER REFORM INITIATIVES .......................................................................................................32 E. ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP ....................................................................................36 F. CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON ASIA SINCE 2006.........................................................37 G. CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES................................................................................................40 Asia Report N°182 11 December 2009 BANGLADESH: GETTING POLICE REFORM ON TRACK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS After decades of misuse and neglect, Bangladesh’s police than empowering the police as a sustainable solution. Not are a source of instability and fear rather than a key only have half measures diverted necessary resources component of a democratic society. Human rights abuses away from the police but they have also expanded the are endemic and almost all Bangladeshis who interact role of the military into what are normally civilian matters. with the police complain of corruption. With an elected government in place again, there are now opportunities Ironically it was the military-backed caretaker govern- to reform this dysfunctional force. But there are also ment (CTG) that resuscitated the UN-sponsored Police significant obstacles. If the government fails to move Reform Programme (PRP) scuttled by the last Bangla- beyond the current modest reform process, the democ- desh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led government. During the ratic transition could falter should deteriorating security two-year state of emergency between January 2007 and give the military another chance to intervene, using, as December 2008 the military clamped down on politici- it has in the past, the pretext of upholding law and order sation and temporarily allowed the CTG to make pro- to justify derailing democracy. Deep structural reforms gress on a number of reforms stalled under the previous – including a new police law – and major additional government, including police reform. As police reform resources are necessary to create an effective and ac- was more a donor priority than a Bangladeshi one, it countable service. Above all, it will take political will – has made little progress. Despite consolidating support which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League- for reform within the police and updating infrastructure, led government is sorely lacking – and a vision of the its flagship community policing initiative has faltered. police as something other than a tool of political control Poor management and undefined goals have prevented and a source of patronage. the PRP from having more impact. Mostly due to the government’s lack of political will, the PRP does not Life in the police force is difficult and unrewarding for address the most dire structural problems that enable most officers. Working conditions are deplorable. Many human rights abuses, corruption, vigilantism and extrem- officers are overworked, the transfer system has become ism. Without parliament passing a new police law, any a major source of corruption within and out of the police, progress on reform, however marginal, is subject to rapid and salaries are abysmal, even by local standards. Pay reversal. raises and promotions are infrequent and do almost noth- ing to improve the lives of officers or promote compe- The police need resources to tackle internal threats and tency in the force. Without improved salaries and work- crime. They remain far better placed to handle counter- ing conditions, no amount of oversight will help curb the insurgency and terrorism threats than a military trained corruption and malaise that is rife in the police. to fight external enemies. The international community should realise that helping the police rank and file, not The dire state of the force reflects failures by successive just military and elite paramilitary forces, with training governments to grasp the centrality of a functional civil- and technical assistance would pay counter-terrorism ian police service to their legitimacy. While most have dividends. However, the Bangladesh government should acknowledged the fundamental flaws in the antiquated not just improve training, increase financial support and system of policing, none – including the current one – eventually police numbers but also enact concrete organ- has seen reform as a priority. Rather a weak, corrupt and isational and political reforms. Political appointments politicised force has allowed government agents to use must end; merit alone