Human Rights of the Accused under International Law and Municipal Law: A Case Study in Bangladesh (1990-2000)

Abstract

Every criminal justice system has the obligation to protect human rights of the accused, because an accused is treated as innocent before conviction under the provision of law. The right to life, liberty and fair trial are the fundamental human rights of the accused. There is a genuine link between peace and human rights. This pursuit and preservation of peace and the security of humankind, the first stated purpose of the United Nations, necessitate the protection and implementation of human rights, without which human rights cannot be effectively achieved. Infringement of the fundamental human rights to life, liberty, personal security and physical integrity affect individual rights as well as it has a negative impact on the equality of life. These infringements are a product of both state parties and politics involving national criminal processes when carried out under the colour of law by public officials. The topic 'human rights of the accused' is of universal concern that cuts across major legal and political boundaries. However, this study seeks to correlate internationally and nationally protected human rights, which are applicable in the criminal process. Human rights and constitutional guarantees of the accused; rights of arrested and detained persons with reference to the state of preventive detention under the Special Powers Act, 1974 and the role of police in Bangladesh; right to reasonable investigation, questioning, search and seizure; the right to a fair trial and the rights of prisoners in Bangladesh are set forth in details in this study and a comparison is made basically with the provisions in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (JCCPR). Admittedly, this study is unique because it makes a comparison of international law and national criminal justice system. A comparison of the criminal jurisprudential philosophy in both international law and laws of Bangladesh should em1ble readers to distinguish the direction of human rights strategy being followed in both administration of criminal justice. The study has been divided into SEVEN chapters and each of the chapters has further been divided into sections and sub-sections. Chapter 1 is introductory with description of the crime situation prevailing in Bangladesh. This chapter outlines the aims and methods of the study. It discusses the scope and limits of the study, the objectives of the study, the research methodology and the review of literature; chapter 2 provides the constitutional guarantees of the accused. This chapter identifies the links between human rights and the constitutional guarantees. In this chapter, endeavours have been made to disclose how far the basic human rights of an accused as guaranteed in Bangladesh are implemented at����d how far the accused are enjoying their rights as free citizens; chapter 3 focuses on the rights of arrested and detained persons with special reference to the state of preventive detention under the Special Powers Act (SPA), 1974 and the role of police in Bangladesh. It highlights the role of police as the main Law Enforcing Agency (LEA) in the protection of human rights in Bangladesh; chapter 4 deals with the rights that accrue to the accused while he/she is being subjected to investigation, questioning, search and seizure; chapter 5 deals with the right to a fair trial and rights of prisoners in Bangladesh. This chapter highlights the rights available to the accused at the under-trial stage and also discusses the prisoners' rights including the jail situation in Bangladesh; chapter 6 attempts to elucidate the meaning of arrest and shows the state of human rights in Bangladesh; and chapter 7 presents a general conclusion including the findings and recommendations for promotion and protection of human rights of the accused. Every chapter specially deals with issues relating to the human rights of the women accused. It clarifies what types of rights the women accused are entitled to. The objective of this section is to ponder over those rights guaranteed to a woman accused in criminal justice…………………..