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For Immediate Release
December, 22 2010, 11:54am EDT
Contact:
AIUSA media office,Email:,media@aiusa.org,Phone: 202-544-0200 x302
Amnesty International Says Bangladeshi Member of Parliament Tortured by Security Forces
WASHINGTON
Amnesty International is calling on the Bangladeshi government to immediately investigate allegations that a member of parliament for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has been tortured while in police custody.
Bangladeshi security forces have tortured Salauddin Quader Chowdhury during interrogations, Amnesty International has learned. This has included applying electrodes to his genitals, beating him, slitting his stomach with razors and twisting his toenails and fingernails with pliers. There are fears that he may face further torture or other ill-treatment.
"The Bangladeshi government must ensure that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is protected and treated properly and that these very serious allegations of torture are investigated," said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International's Bangladesh researcher. "In particular, the authorities must ensure that he has access to the necessary specialist medical attention, including by independent doctors."
Chowdhury was arrested on December 16 in connection with a case in which a private car was set alight in Dhaka on June 26, killing a passenger. On December 19, the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court, issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
According to reports received by Amnesty International, a combined force of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Detective Branch (DB) police, and the Directorate-General Foreign Intelligence (DGFI) arrested Chowdhury in the early hours of December 16 at an apartment in the Banani neighborhood in Dhaka.
Family members, who were allowed to see him earlier today, told Amnesty International that Chowdhury reported that security forces came prepared with torture equipment as well as with a physician, and proceeded to torture him for several hours.
He told his family that he lost consciousness three times during the ordeal, and the doctor present revived him. However, when his condition deteriorated under interrogation, he was taken to the Bangabandhu Medical Hospital for treatment.
Video footage from the hospital grounds show Chowdhury weak, in pain, unable to walk on his own and with an apparent blood stain on his shirt.
After an hour in the hospital, Chowdhury was reportedly taken to headquarters of the Detective Branch of the Police (DBHQ), where he was subjected to further torture, including with electric shocks.
Family members who saw Chowdhury earlier today told Amnesty International that his genitals and nose were still bleeding, there were cut marks on his stomach and bruises all over his body. They said that he was very frightened for his life.
The police have said that he was taken to hospital to be treated for an asthma condition. The Inspector General of Police has denied that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury has been tortured.
Torture is widespread in Bangladesh, particularly during police interrogations.
"Given the detailed information provided by the family and the media, the possibility that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was tortured must be taken seriously and the possibility that he may face further torture or other ill-treatment cannot be ruled out," said Faiz.
Today the Court has ordered him to be placed in Dhaka Central Prison pending proceedings in his trial. According to Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's family, he has not been allowed to meet his lawyers since his arrest, and was not present at the Court during today's hearing. Instead, he was kept in the holding cell downstairs, where six members of his family were allowed to see him, under Court orders.
Chowdhury is 63 years old. He has suffered three heart attacks and has several cardiac stents.
"Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the allegations, and considers the reported torture of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, as of any other human being, wholly unacceptable," said Faiz. "The government of Bangladesh is obligated under international human rights law, to protect all persons under its jurisdiction from torture and other ill-treatment at all times."
Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.
(212) 807-8400LATEST NEWS
Powell Gives Extraordinary Show of Support to Fed Governor Targeted by Trump
The president is trying to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook for alleged mortgage fraud. Critics say he's targeting another one of his political foes.
Jan 19, 2026
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reportedly plans to attend Wednesday's US Supreme Court oral arguments in the case involving President Donald Trump's attempt to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook.
A "person familiar with the matter" told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity that Powell would attend the high court session in the face of Trump's unprecedented effort to oust one of the seven members of the Fed's governing board.
Last August, Trump announced his termination of Cook—an appointee of former President Joe Biden—for alleged fraud, accusing her of signing two primary residence mortgages within weeks of each other. An investigation published last month by ProPublica revealed that Trump did the same thing that he's accusing Cook of doing.
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Trump is trying to install his puppets at the Fed.First by trying to fire Lisa Cook and rushing in his top econ adviser.Now by abusing the law to try to push Jerome Powell out for good.Next he'll nominate a new Chair—and Trump says “anybody that disagrees" with him is out.
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— Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) January 15, 2026 at 7:54 AM
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Officials in both Texas and Minnesota are calling for accountability and a full investigation into conditions at Camp East Montana, the sprawling detention complex at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, following the third reported death at the facility in less than two months.
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Diaz's death comes days after it was reported that a medical examiner in Texas was planning to classify another death reported at Camp East Montana—that of Geraldo Lunas Campos—as a homicide.
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A month prior of Lunas Campos' death, 49-year-old Guatemalan immigrant Francisco Gaspar-Andres died at a nearby hospital; he was a detainee at Camp East Montana. ICE said medical staff attributed his death to "natural liver and kidney failure.”
Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called for a "complete and transparent investigation" into what happened to Diaz after his death was announced Sunday.
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