Guntanamo Bay returnee

But Mobarak on his arrival in Dhaka was promptly detained by the airport police and was remanded on the plea that he needed to be quizzed to see if he had any criminal record and verify his antecedents.

Surely, the US authorities released Mobarak after carrying out verification of records pertaining to him. In that light it begs clarification as to why he should be needed to be taken on remand and interrogated by our police.

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We fail to understand as to why does he has to face an ordeal at home after being in exile and having undergone acute suffering for long five years in a foreign jail? Surely the inquest made by the US intelligence agencies has not found anything tangible against Mobarak otherwise he would not have been released at all. One is also likely to question why he was not produced before a court of law in twenty-four hours' time as mandated by law. The incident about Mobarak may also raise the question as to whether or not there are other Bangladeshis suffering a similar fate at the Guantanamo Bay?

We believe that Mobarak's detention may be viewed as being tantamount to a violation of his rights and of the statutory provision of the international covenants of Human Rights. We therefore strongly urge that the reason behind his arrest and subsequent findings, if any, be revealed for public knowledge. Government should issue a statement for public information sooner than later to allay misgiving that is bound to arise in the public mind having regard to the fact that the US government has released him simply because it had nothing against him.