Operation Clean Heart

Last updated
Operation Clean Heart
Part of Crime in Bangladesh and Maoist insurgency in Bangladesh
Date16 October 2002 – 9 January 2003
Location
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh
Result Government victory
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.svg Khaleda Zia No centralized leadership
Units involved

Flag of the Bangladesh Army.svg  Bangladesh Army
Naval Ensign of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh Navy
brddaar gaardd baaNlaadesher ptaakaa.svg Bangladesh Rifles
Bangladesh Police Flag.svg Bangladesh Police
Bangladesh Ansar-VDP Flag.svg Bangladesh Ansar

Contents

Flag of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence.svg Directorate General of Forces Intelligence 		Various criminals
Strength
40,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Negligible Hundreds injured
11,245 arrested
40 died in custody
Unknown civilian casualties

Operation Clean Heart was an anti-crime operation jointly carried out by Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Rifles, Bangladesh Police and Bangladesh Ansar members in Bangladesh. [1] [2] The operation was carried by the government of Bangladesh headed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. [3]

Operation

The operation took place from 16 October 2002 to 9 January 2003 led by Bangladesh Army. [4] Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch criticised the shoot at sight order given by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ashraful Huda to the police during the operation phrase. [5] More than 40,000 security personnel participated in the operation. [6] The security forces included 24,023 army personnel and 339 navy personnel along with personnel from Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Ansar, and Bangladesh Rifles. [1] [7] The joint forces arrested 11,245 suspects during the course of the operation. [8] It seized 2,028 firearms and nearly 30,000 bullets. [1]

Hundreds were injured and 44 died in custody. [1] Human Rights Watch had claimed 60 people were killed in the operation. [4] The Government of Bangladesh claimed 12 of those deaths in custody were from heart attacks. [4] Awami League leader Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, cousin of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were detained during the operation. [9] The Army also raided the Awami League office and seized documents. [9]

On 9 January 2003, Bangladesh government created an indemnity law, that provided legal protection to security personnel who participated in the operation. [1] It was approved in the parliament of Bangladesh on 24 February 2003. [1] Sultana Kamal, activist, criticized the indemnity ordinance. [7] Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik criticized the drive and indemnity ordinance. [10] After the operation ended, Rapid Action Battalion was created in 2004 with personnel from Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Ansar, Bangladesh Rifles, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Air Force, and Bangladesh Navy. [11]

Legacy

Z I Khan Panna, a lawyer of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, had filed a petition against the indemnity ordinance on 14 June 2012. [4] He was represented by Shahdeen Malik. [12] On 29 July 2012, justices Mirza Hussain Haider and Kazi Md. Ejarul Haque Akondo asked the government of Bangladesh to explain why it should not declare the ordinance illegal and order it pay 1 billion taka compensation to the victims. [4] In November 2015, the Bangladesh High Court declared the indemnity ordinance illegal and scrapped it. [4] The verdict was given by Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashraful Kamal of the High Court Division. [4]

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina referred to Operation Clean Heart when defending her administrations record on human rights on 16 August 2020 following criticism by Bangladesh Nationalist Party which was in power when the operation was launched. [13]

Deaths in the operation

NameAgeProfessionDate DetainedDate diedRemarksLocationRef
Shafiqul Islam1617 October 200317 October 2003Killed in firing on protestors Bogra [14]
Md. Yakub Ali40Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist17 October 200317 October 2003Died in custodyDhaka [14]
Jahangir Hossain38Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist17 October 200317 October 2003Died in custody Dhaka [14]
Abul Khayer Molla50Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist19 October 200319 October 2003Died in Gopalganj Sadar Hospital after detention Gopalganj [14]
Afzal Hossain25 Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist21 October 200321 October 2003Died in Savar Combined Military Hospital after detention Savar [14]
Amirul Islam Rocket35 Awami League Bhola District GS22 October 200322 October 2003Died in Bhola Sadar Hospital after detention Bhola [14]
Saifuzzaman21 October 200322 October 2003 Gaibandha [14]
Nazmul Islam Milan40 Awami Jubo League activist23 October 200323 October 2003Died in Rajshahi Medical College hours after detention Rajshahi [14]
Abdul Aziz Sardar47Bangladesh Nationalist Party activist23 October 200325 October 2003 Pangsha [14]
Khorshed35labourer26 October 200326 October 2003Beaten while sleeping by army soldiers Ramgati [14]
Masum Biswas38Awami Jubo League activist27 October 200327 October 2003Cousin of Sheikh Helal, member of parliament Dhaka [14]
Kala Chand Tripurapolice constable28 October 200328 October 2003Died in Chittagong Medical College Hospital Chitttagong [14]
Abul Hossain Litu27Farmer28 October 200328 October 2003Army claimed died while trying to escapeSavar [14]
Jamir Uddin29 October 200329 October 2003Died in Gopalganj Thana Health Complex Golapganj [14]
Abu Syed Delu2229 October 200329 October 2003Died in Chest Disease HospitalDhaka [14]
Jennifer Syed King25 Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activist29 October 200330 October 2003 Panchagar [14]
Tota Mia37Awami Jubo League activist30 October 200330 October 2003Died within hours of detention Madaripur [14]
Mizanur Rahman Busha40 Jubo Dal activist29 October 20031 November 2003 Chuadanga [14]
Lebu Mia45Farmer30 October 20031 November 2003 Habiganj [14]
Abdul Haque32Microbus driver25 October 20034 November 2003Osmani Medical College HospitalSylhet [14]
Rashedul Hasan35Assistant film director2 November 20037 November 2003 [14]
Saiful Islam22Jubo Dal activist8 November 20038 November 2003Feni Sadar Hospital Feni [14]
Abu Sufian309 November 20039 November 2003Died in Bangladesh Army camp MohammadpurDhaka [14]
Haji Abul Kashem731 November 200310 November 2003Tangail General Hospital Tangail [14]
Zahirul Islam Mia25Jubo Dal activist19 November 200319 November 2003Mitford HospitalDhaka [14]
Unidentified4019 November 200319 November 2003Mitford Hospital, Army gave to police in critical conditionDhaka [14]
Tasu Mia45Businessman19 November 200320 November 2003Army claimed he was hit by a busDhaka [14]
Masum3019 November 200321 November 2003 Dhaka Medical College and Hospital Dhaka [14]
HakimLabourer13 November 200321 November 2003Injured in a crossfire with army and criminalsDhaka [14]
Shariful Mallik261 November 200321 November 2003Died on way to Khulna Medical College Hospital Khulna [14]
Arju Mia3825 November 200321 November 2003Gazipur Sadar HospitalGazipur [14]
Tipu Biswas35Jubo Dal activist30 November 200330 November 2003Died in Army custodyKhulna [14]
Abdus SattarBusinessman10 December 200310 December 2003Bogra Mohammadpur Hospital Bogra [14]
Nabi Hossain Kahn50Rickshawpuller14 December 200314 December 2003Found dead in a pond after being detained by the Army Narsinghdi [14]
Jasim Uddin2515 December 200315 December 2003 Combined Military Hospital Dhaka [14]
Shafiuddin Swapan35Jubo Dal activist16 December 200316 December 2003Dhaka Medical College and HospitalDhaka [14]
Omar Faruk4615 December 200316 December 2003Brother of Bangladesh Nationalist Party activistDhaka [14]
Ibrahim Khalil Ibu Chhatra League activist15 December 200316 December 2003Dhaka Medical College and HospitalDhaka [14]
Mir Jahirul Rabin22 Tejgaon College student4 December 200316 December 2003Dhaka Medical College and HospitalDhaka [14]
Abu Barek Rubel2416 December 200316 December 2003Boalkhali Hospital Boalkhali [14]
Yusuf3420 December 200320 December 2003Combined Military HospitalDhaka [14]
Mohammad Rashed2525 December 200325 December 2003 Sandwip [14]
Unidentifiedleader of an outlaw party6 January 20046 January 2004Died a few hours after detentionPabna [14]
Abdul Khaleq Sarkar28Businessman8 January 20048 January 2004Gazipur Sadar Hospital Gazipur [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Operation Clean Heart indemnity law illegal: HC". The Daily Star. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "' Operation Clean Heart ' in Bangladesh - 2002-11-25". Voice Of America (in Bengali). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  3. ↑ "Bangladesh Court Declares Indemnity Act Illegal". Benar News . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "HC scraps law giving indemnity for 'Operation Clean Heart'". bdnews24.com . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Bangladesh: Revoke "Shoot-at-Sight"". Human Rights Watch . 2003-06-04. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  6. ↑ "Bangladesh winds down crime fight". BBC News . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 Manik, Julfikar Ali (2009-06-08). "Operation Clean Heart to be opened". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  8. ↑ "Operation Clean Heart indemnity revoked". The Daily Observer (Bangladesh) . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Bangladesh: Accountability needed in 'Operation Clean Heart'". www.amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  10. ↑ "Operation Clean Heart: Open License to Kill at Whim". Daily Sun. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  11. ↑ Rasid, Harunur (2022-10-18). "The reality of the human rights situation in Bangladesh". Global Village Space . Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  12. ↑ "HC allows Operation Clean Heart victims to sue army-led joint force". New Age (Bangladesh) . Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  13. ↑ "'Have you forgotten Operation Clean Heart?' Hasina asks critics of extra-judicial killings". bdnews24.com . Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 "Chronology of deaths during joint drive". The Daily Star. 2003-01-12. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
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