Tasneem Khalil

Tasneem Khalil was born around 1981 in Bangladesh. While in Dhaka, Khalil studied English Linguistics at North South University.{{cite book|last=Human Rights Watch|title=The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power under the State of Emergency |publisher=Human Rights Watch |location=New York |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/bangladesh0208/index.htm |access-date=8 April 2013 |date=February 2008 |volume=20 |number=1(C)}} After his confinement in Bangladesh, he went into hiding for one month, and then on 6 June 2007 was able to escape via a major Bangladeshi airport.{{cite web |first=Jaime |last=Mendoza |title=Bangladesh: Tortured journalist describes ordeal |url=http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=87898 |publisher=Asia Media Archives |date=22 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718202847/http://asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=87898 |archive-date=18 July 2010 |access-date=1 October 2013 |url-status=dead}} From there, he went into exile with his family and sought refuge in Sweden, a country he chose for its record on freedom of speech.{{cite magazine |first=Simon |last=Robinson |date=14 February 2008 |title=New Charges of Torture in Bangladesh |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1713284,00.html |magazine=Time |access-date=1 October 2013}}{{cite news |title=Human rights group accuses Bangladesh of torture |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/feb/14/bangladesh.humanrights |newspaper=The Guardian |date=14 February 2008}} Sweden granted him asylum in June 2007. He studied human rights at Malmö University in Malmö and started his own magazine while in Sweden. Khalil is married and the couple has one son, Tiyash.

Tasneem Khalil was an editorial assistant with The Daily Star from 2000 to 2007. During this time he also wrote for Forum, which is a monthly magazine. He later became a stringer from Bangladesh for CNN and a consultant for Human Rights Watch in 2006. Khalil was active in his reporting and "prolific' in his blogging about human rights issues and violations, something his wife said would get him in trouble eventually.

After his confinement in Bangladesh and fleeing to Sweden, Khalil is the publisher and editor of Independent World Report, where he focuses on human rights topics in this subscription-based magazine. At Independent World Report, Khalil is providing dissidents with a means to communicate with the outside world:

The moment an individual signs up as a dissident journalist in China or a human-rights activist in Uzbekistan or a democracy activist in Burma he or she crosses a certain line, very much knowing what lies ahead. None of them have asked us to provide them with anonymity. They also want a global platform of human-rights journalism, and that is what we are trying to build.{{cite web |first1=Timothy |last1=Sowula |first2=David |last2=Hayes |title=A free media: Tasneem Khalil's project |publisher=opendemocracy.net |date=14 September 2010 |access-date=23 October 2013 |url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/timothy-sowula-david-hayes/free-media-tasneem-khalil%E2%80%99s-project}}

{{Location map+ | Bangladesh

| AlternativeMap = Bangladesh location map.svg

| float = left

| position = left

| width = 200

| caption = Dhaka is in Bangladesh.

| alt = Dhaka is located in Bangladesh.

| places =

{{Location map~ | Bangladesh

| label = Dhaka

|lat_deg = 23 | lat_min = 42 | lat_sec= 35 | lat_dir = N

| lon_deg = 90 | lon_min = 24 |lon_sec= 25 | lon_dir = E}}

}}Tasneem Khalil was taken into custody by four Bangladeshi army security officers, who were wearing plain clothing, from his home in Dhanmondi Thana, Dhaka, just after midnight 11 May 2007.{{cite news |title=Joint forces detain Daily Star journalist |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2007/05/11/joint-forces-detain-daily-star-journalist |newspaper=bdnews24.com |date=11 May 2007}}{{cite news |title=BD rights activist arrested |url=http://dawn.com/news/246537/bd-rights-activist-arrested |newspaper=Dawn |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=12 May 2007 |access-date=1 October 2013}}{{cite web |first=Joyce |last=Jaing |title=Bangladesh: Army releases Daily Star investigative reporter and blogger |publisher=UCLC International Institute |date=11 May 2007 |access-date=13 November 2013 |url=http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article/69663}} His wife said officers came to their home and took her husband without an arrest warrant but on account of a state of emergency.{{cite news |title=Region: B'desh relaxes restrictions on former PM's |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C12%5Cstory_12-5-2007_pg4_12 |newspaper=Daily Times |date=12 May 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131215165549/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C12%5Cstory_12-5-2007_pg4_12 |archive-date=15 December 2013 |access-date=1 October 2013 |url-status=dead}} While, the security force was at his home, they made a thorough search and confiscated his passport, computer and telephone equipment, and paper and electronic files used in his journalism work. Human Rights Watch believed he was detained for his human rights reporting and speaking out against the interim government in Bangladesh, and an editor at The Daily Star said the government had told him Khalil's detention was on account of his blogging at tasneemkhalil.com.

Khalil was not taken to the Dhanmondi Police Station in his area of the city but to the Sangsad Bhavan army camp and held there by the anti-corruption taskforce. During this arrest, he was blindfolded most of the time and beaten with 3 batons. He was questioned about his blogging on tasneemkhalil.com.{{cite web |title=Authorities free journalist and human rights activist Tasneem Khalil |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=11 May 2007 |access-date=1 October 2013 |url=http://archives.rsf.org/print.php3?id_article=22109}} He was also beaten because of an article he had written in Forum magazine.{{cite web |title=Journalist Tasneem Khalil released after brutal torture by military; government not addressing endemic torture, warns Human Rights Watch |publisher=IFEX |date= 14 February 2008 |access-date=1 October 2013 |url=http://www.ifex.org/bangladesh/2008/02/14/journalist_tasneem_khalil_released/}} He was told to confess his crimes of being anti-interim government and working with CNN and Human Rights Watch in other countries as a spy. Khalil was released in front of the Hotel Sonogran within 22 hours of captivity, which is the shortest time anyone has been released from the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, and a result of the pressure for his release from media outlets, press freedom organisations, and human rights organisations that mobilised on his behalf.

According to Brad Adams at Human Rights Watch, "Tasneem Khalil's prominence as a critical journalist may have prompted his arrest, but it also may have saved his life. Ordinary Bangladeshis held by the security forces under the emergency rules have no such protections."{{cite news |title=Torture victim exposes Bangladesh abuses |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/14/bangladesh.rights/ |work=CNN |date=14 February 2008 |access-date=7 April 2013}}

Tasneem Khalil was arrested under a state of emergency, that the Bangladesh interim government had ordered in 2007 to quell violence and to last between the time period that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party had surrendered control of the government until elections, in which the Bangladesh Awami League won at the end of 2008. Amnesty International quoted reports in Bangladesh that indicated around 100,000 people had been detained since the interim government took control.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa13/006/2007/en/ |title=Document – Bangladesh: Fear of Torture/Possible Prisoner of Conscience: Tasneem Khalil (M) |publisher=Amnesty International |date=11 May 2007 |access-date=1 October 2013}} Khalil was told, he had been arrested for his personal blogs he had written which Bangladeshi security had deemed anti-Bangladeshi. Other journalists were also detained and tortured during this time period.{{cite web |title=Government Challenged Over Torture of Editor in Sylhet |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=10 October 2008 |access-date=13 November 2013 |url=http://en.rsf.org/bangladesh-government-challenged-over-torture-10-10-2008,28900.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526231907/http://en.rsf.org/bangladesh-government-challenged-over-torture-10-10-2008,28900.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 May 2010}}{{cite news |title=We wish to inform you: A history of censorship in Bangladesh (1972–2012) |url=http://www.bangladeshchronicle.net/index.php/2013/04/we-wish-to-inform-you-a-history-of-censorship-in-bangladesh-1972-2012/ |newspaper=The Bangladesh Chronicle |date=1 April 2013 |type=Opinion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215182215/http://www.bangladeshchronicle.net/index.php/2013/04/we-wish-to-inform-you-a-history-of-censorship-in-bangladesh-1972-2012 |archive-date=15 December 2013 |url-status=dead}} These were journalists such as Noor Ahmed and Jahangir Alam Akash.

After Tasneem Khalil's detention, his wife contacted a list of people she had been told to call and notify in case of emergency. The organisations, he worked for then provided assistance by publicising with the help of a blogger's network his captivity and urging governments to make inquiries into Khalil's situation.{{cite news |last=Khalil |first=Tasneem |date=3 March 2008 |title=Surviving torture in Bangladesh |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/opinion/02iht-edkhali.1.10615296.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=1 October 2013}}

Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said, "We are extremely concerned about Tasneem Khalil's safety. He has been a prominent voice in Bangladesh for human rights and the rule of law, and has been threatened because of that. The Bangladeshi military should be on notice that its actions are being closely watched by the outside world."

The South Asia Media Commission's coordinator Husain Naqi condemned the detention of Tasneem Khalil: "The Bangladeshi military should desist from such arbitrary actions which are being closely watched by the outside world. Any harm to Khalil will seriously chip away at the army’s claims to legitimacy and upholding the rule of law. The authorities should apologize for and call a halt to the pestering, which is an indication of the fragile state of press freedom in Bangladesh."{{cite news |title=Media watchdog condemns BD journalist's harassment by govt |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C13%5Cstory_13-5-2007_pg7_31 |newspaper=Daily Times |date=13 May 2007 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131215165545/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C05%5C13%5Cstory_13-5-2007_pg7_31 |archive-date=15 December 2013 |access-date=1 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}

Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "The apparent military arrest of such a prominent and well-respected journalist as Tasneem Khalil without any stated cause is an indication of the fragile state of press freedom in Bangladesh."

After his release in Bangladesh and fleeing the country, Khalil documented his experience in a Human Rights Watch report. Human Rights Watch has called its publication of The Torture of Tasneem Khalil (2008), which focuses on the above events, "the most detailed public account of a case of torture in Bangladesh."

In 2020, Khalil along with 10 other people including cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and writer Mushtaq Ahmed were charged with "spreading rumours and carrying out anti-government activities" under the infamous Digital Security Act of Bangladesh.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-15|title=Virtual court to hear petition seeking remand for cartoonist, 3 others tomorrow|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/virtual-court-hear-petition-seeking-remand-cartoonist-3-others-tomorrow-1914785|access-date=2021-03-06|website=The Daily Star|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Bangladesh cartoonist held over virus post - 9News|url=https://www.9news.com.au/world/bangladesh-cartoonist-held-over-virus-post/96eb44bd-c14d-4304-8712-5ca8a7bb534c|access-date=2021-03-06|website=www.9news.com.au|date=7 May 2020 }}

• {{cite web |title=Blood Cotton |url=http://www.independentworldreport.com/2009/09/blood-cotton/ |author=Tasneem Khalil |date=25 September 2009 |website=Independent World Report |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004020943/http://www.independentworldreport.com/2009/09/blood-cotton/ |archive-date=4 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}
• Tasneem Khalil, [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/opinion/02iht-edkhali.1.10615296.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& "Surviving torture in Bangladesh"], New York Times, 2 March 2008.
• Tasneem Khalil, [http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/march/modhurpur.htm "Modhupur: Wherever the forest department is, there is no forest"], The Forum, volume 2, issue 3, March 2007.
• Fred Abrahams for Human Rights Watch with "research support" from Tasneem Khalil, [https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/12/13/judge-jury-and-executioner Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Torture and Extrajudicial Killings by Bangladesh’s Elite Security], Human Rights Watch, 14 December 2006.

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Mohaiemen |first=Naeem |author-link=Naeem Mohaiemen |chapter=Fragile Fourth Estate: A History of Censorship in Bangladesh (1972–2012) |year=2013 |editor-last1=Shoesmith |editor-first1=Brian |editor-last2=Genilo |editor-first2=Jude William |title=Bangladesh's Changing Mediascape: From State Control to Market Forces |publisher=Intellect |page=126 |isbn=978-1-8415-0473-5}}

• {{Commons-inline}}
• [http://www.tasneemkhalil.com/ Tasneem Khalil]
• [http://www.independentworldreport.com/about/ About Independent World Report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603212531/https://independentworldreport.com/about/ |date=3 June 2017 }}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/17/bangladesh-secret-interrogation-centre Bangladesh interrogation centre where Britons were taken to be tortured] The Guardian (17 January 2011)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khalil, Tasneem}}

Category:Living people

Category:Bangladeshi exiles

Category:Bangladeshi journalists

Category:Bangladeshi torture victims

Category:Magazine publishers (people)

Category:1981 births

Category:Bangladeshi prisoners and detainees

Category:Journalists imprisoned in Bangladesh

Category:Malmö University alumni

Category:North South University alumni