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A	  Chronology	  of	  the	  Investigation	  of	  the	  Murder	  of	  Labor	  Activist	  Aminul	  Islam	  
	  
Lack	  of	  Progress	  Spurs	  Concerns	  of	  Impunity	  and	  Cover-­‐Up	  to	  Protect	  Security	  
Forces	  as	  Workers	  and	  Labor	  Leaders	  Fear	  for	  their	  Safety	  
	  
August 1, 2012 
Summary	  
 
Aminul Islam, 40, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers’ Federation 
(BGIWF)’s local committee in the Savar and Ashulia areas of Dhaka and a senior organizer with 
a well-known labor rights group, the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), was 
tortured and murdered in early April 2012. 1  To date, nobody has been held responsible for this 
crime. 
Over the past two years, Mr. Islam had been a target of harassment by Bangladeshi police and 
security forces.  He was detained and beaten by National Security Intelligence (NSI) on June 16, 
2010.  NSI officers demanded he provide a written statement, falsely implicating his colleagues 
at BCWS in criminal activities associated with garment worker unrest.2  Along with many other 
labor leaders and workers, Mr. Islam was facing trial in several cases connected to garment 
worker demonstrations for a decent wage in July and August 2010, and was charged with a 
number of spurious and unsubstantiated criminal offenses despite his verifiable alibis.3   Just 
before he died Mr. Islam had been helping workers employed by Shanta Group, a garment 
manufacturer based in the Dhaka Export Processing Zone, to resolve ongoing disputes and 
strikes. 
Mr. Islam’s family, former colleagues, and labor rights groups believe intelligence forces are 
involved in the murder of Mr. Islam and have long asked for the investigation to be transferred to 
the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Bangladesh National Police, which has 
greater resources than the local police department presently heading the investigation.4 To date, 
the investigation has made no progress, raising fears that the crime will go unpunished and the 
perpetrators will be protected.  A climate of apparent impunity is increasing the level of fear 
among former colleagues of Mr. Islam and other worker rights defenders in Bangladesh. 
  2 
International buyers are also increasingly worrying that their brands and reputation will suffer 
from association with Bangladesh in large part because of the murder of Mr. Islam. 
The	  Disappearance,	  Torture	  and	  Killing	  of	  Aminul	  Islam	  
 
April 4, 2012: On leaving the BCWS office in Baipail, near the capital Dhaka, to pray at a 
Mosque around 6:30pm, Mr. Islam sees a police van parked outside and becomes worried about 
surveillance.  He calls a colleague and suggests they close the center.  Later that evening Mr. 
Islam receives a phone call from Mostafizur Rahman, a former garment worker (now believed to 
work as an informant for security agencies) requesting his assistance in marrying a woman who 
had fled from her home.  According to a BCWS colleague, Mr. Islam reluctantly agrees to meet 
Mr. Rahman.  At 7pm Mr. Islam and Mr. Rahman depart by separate rickshaws for the Zirani 
Bazar marriage register’s office.  At approximately 8:30pm Mr. Rahman calls Mr. Islam’s 
colleague to say Mr. Islam never reached the Zirani Bazar and is not answering his phone.   At 
9:30pm Mr. Islam’s colleague receives a call from his wife who is worried her husband has not 
yet come home and is not reachable by cell phone.5 
April 5, 2012: Local police in Ghatail discovers Mr. Islam’s body dumped by a roadside, near 
the Tangail-Mymensingh highway, almost 100 kilometers north of Baipal where he was last 
seen.  Unable to identify the body, the police photographs and buries it.  The postmortem report 
shows evidence of severe torture.  There is a hole made with a sharp object below his right knee; 
his toes are smashed; and he died of excessive bleeding.6 
April 7, 2012: Mr. Islam’s wife sees a picture of her husband in a local newspaper and goes to 
the police station in Ghatail to identify the body.7 
Progress	  of	  the	  Investigation	  
 
Bangladeshi trade unions and industry associations, international business organizations, 
ambassadors of nine European countries, U.S. Ambassador Dan Mozena, U.S. members of 
Congress, and international unions and non-governmental labor organizations swiftly condemn 
the murder of Mr. Islam and call for an independent investigation.8  The U.S. Congressional 
Bangladesh Caucus, led by Representative Crowley, urges Prime Minister Hasina to ensure “no 
stone [is] left unturned in the search for justice.”  Family and former colleagues of Mr. Islam, 
including the Solidarity Center and BGIWF, form the Committee for Justice for Aminul Islam to 
ensure the perpetrators are held accountable. 
 
April 16, 2012: The case is transferred to Tangail Detective Branch after being filed in the 
Ghatail Police Station, the district where Mr. Islam’s body was found. 
April 18, 2012:  Eleven international industry associations, including the American Apparel and 
Footwear Association and the United States Association of Importers of Apparel and Textiles, 
write to Prime Minister Hasina to request her government to conduct a “comprehensive, 
  3 
impartial, and swift investigation into the murder of Mr. Islam…[and] hold accountable any 
person or persons found guilty.”   
April 25, 2012: The government forms a high level committee to investigate the murder of Mr. 
Islam.  The committee includes the Additional Home Secretary, the joint Secretary of the Home 
Ministry, the Superintendent of Police in Tangail, and a Director of the Industrial Police 
May 6, 2012:  During a visit to Bangladesh, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly 
condemns the killing of Mr. Islam and calls for an independent investigation to bring the 
perpetrators to justice.  She tells a large Bangladeshi youth audience that she told Prime Minister 
Hasina: “that there needed to be an independent investigation into the murder of Mr. Islam, 
because certainly his family and his colleagues deserve answers about what happened to him.”9 
May 15, 2012: The high level investigative committee announces it has failed to identify the 
persons responsible for Mr. Islam’s murder, terming the incident “mysterious.”  The Committee 
recommends the investigation be handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department of the 
Bangladesh National Police.10 
May 20, 2012:  The investigation is handed over to Mr. Humayuin Kabir, a senior officer of the 
Detective Bureau in the district of Tangail. Mr. Kabir focuses his investigation on Mustafiz 
Rahman, the last known contact of Mr. Islam.  Cell phone records indicate that Mr. Rahman 
communicated with intelligence agencies prior to and just after Mr. Islam’s disappearance.  Mr. 
Rhaman’s present whereabouts, however, appear to be unknown.11 
July 7, 2012: An investigative report in New Age Extra quotes multiple sources alleging that 
Mustafiz Rahman was the paid source of National Security Intelligence and the Industrial 
Police.12 
Involvement	  of	  Security	  Forces	  
 
Circumstances strongly suggest security forces murdered Mr. Islam in retaliation for his labor 
rights work.  This is not just the judgment of former colleagues of Mr. Islam and his family.  In 
the letter to Prime Minister Hasina, the eleven industry associations from Europe and North 
America express concern that “the apparent circumstances leading up to and surrounding Mr. 
Islam’s death could be perceived to be part of a deliberate campaign to repress efforts to raise 
and address issues related to unsatisfactory working conditions in the RMG sector.” 
 
Background 
June 2010:  BCWS becomes the target of intimidation by the Bangladeshi security forces, 
police, and factory owners.  Over the following months, its leaders are detained, beaten 
and subjected to fabricated criminal charges. The organization’s legal registration is 
revoked and its bank account frozen. 
  4 
June 16, 2010: Mr. Islam is detained and beaten by members of National Security 
Intelligence (NSI) who demand he sign letters falsely stating that two colleagues at 
BCWS and BGIWF, Ms. Kalpona Akter and Mr. Babul Akhter, had instigated worker 
unrest and violent activities.  He is told that he will be killed in a staged crossfire 
incident, his wife murdered, and their children orphaned if he refuses to sign.  Mr. Islam 
manages to flee his captors while being transported.13 
August 22, 2010: Mr. Islam is detained and charged with inciting riots in connection 
with large garment worker protests for a decent wage. These are baseless accusations 
that have never been substantiated.  He is imprisoned along with Kalpona Akter of 
BCWS, Babul Akhter of BGIWF, and others.  They are released on September 10, 2010, 
following international pressure including letters from members of U.S. Congress to the 
Prime Minister of Bangladesh.  Mr. Islam, Ms. Akter, and Mr. Akhter face eleven 
criminal cases following their release.14 They are required to report to court an average 
of 7 to 10 days a month in order to remain out of jail and have done so until the present 
time. 
March 2012: Mr. Islam registers complaints of workers at Shanta Group, a garment factory that 
supplies Nike, Ralph Lauren, and other brands.  Workers tell Mr. Islam managers were beating 
them and sexually harassing female workers.15 
March 9, 2012:  Mr. Islam is detained by the Industrial Police in anticipation of an anti-
government march planned for March 12 by opposition parties.  NSI had told the Industrial 
Police that Mr. Islam would mobilize 25,000-30,000 workers to the march.16 
March 21, 2012: BCWS is featured in an ABC News investigation into labor violations and fire 
risks in the Bangladeshi garment industry.  Mr. Islam had helped ABC News expose the 
dangerous working conditions. 
July 21, 2012: Bangladeshi newspapers announces that “locals, family and colleagues” believe 
Mr. Islam may be the “Victim of Shanta Group’s Wrath,” and report that Mr. Aminul had had 
talks with workers at the Shanta Group on April 4, the day he disappeared.17 
Climate	  of	  Fear	  and	  Impunity	  
 
The killing of Mr. Islam is not an isolated incident.  In the absence of progress in the 
investigation, fears grow that the killing of Mr. Islam is part of an escalating attack on worker 
rights defenders in Bangladesh. The Congressional Bangladesh Caucus, in their letter to Prime 
Minister Hasina, observes that the murder of Mr. Islam “has created a climate of fear amongst 
those organizing for improved working conditions, an unacceptable condition in the 21st 
century.” 
  5 
July 16, 2012: Two bidi workers are killed as police open fire against 3,000 workers 
demonstrate for higher wages.  In a letter to Prime Minister Hasina, the International Trade 
Union Confederation (ITUC) deplores the lack of progress in the murder investigation of Mr. 
Islam, and says “these killings take place within a context where the nation’s labour laws are 
ignored with near total impunity.”18 
July 22, 2012: Bangladeshi television media reports Prime Minister Hasina speaking out in 
defense of security forces, and criticizing those who associate the security forces, who are 
fighters of terrorism, with the murder of Mr. Islam. The Prime Minister says, “It is unfair to 
blame the agencies which traced the body of Aminul.”  She also emphasizes that Mr. Islam was 
not a worker, but a NGO worker, leaving his former colleagues and worker rights defenders to 
wonder why she believes this distinction is relevant.19  “We are really afraid now,” a former 
colleague of Mr. Islam tells ILRF.  “The Prime Minister’s remarks give us the sense that they are 
cooking something up to take the Aminul murder investigation in a different direction, and that 
they would make a new issue to harass us.”	  
Threat	  to	  the	  Industry	  
 
A series of high profile and unprecedented comments by U.S. political and apparel industry 
leaders, critical of the failed murder investigation and poor working conditions in the garment 
industry, have raised the possibility that the murder of Mr. Islam becomes more than a human 
rights issue.  Observers both in Bangladesh and elsewhere worry that murder of Mr. Islam may 
become the tipping point of the mountain of labor rights failures in the Bangladeshi garment 
industry.   Should it topple the very foundation of Bangladesh’s success in the garment 
industry—low wages, loose labor standards, and low prices—may also become its undoing. 
May 6, 2012: Secretary Hillary Clinton raises the prospect of diminished international 
investment in Bangladesh should the country fail to improve the labor rights climate. “The 
labour problems in the garment industries have to be solved because you do not want to earn a 
reputation as a place where labour leaders and activists are murdered,” she says at a question-
and-answer session with students and youth leaders at the International School Dhaka.20 
June 7, 2012: At a meeting with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters 
Association (BGMEA) U.S. Ambassador Dan Mozena warns his audience of factory owners that 
the Bangladesh “brand” may be at risk because of increasing international attention to poor 
working conditions, low wages, and repression of labor right activities.  He says he fears a 
“perfect storm” of labor-related challenges for the industry, in the center of which is the murder 
of labor rights activist Aminul Islam, which has attracted the attention of the CEOs of some of 
Bangladesh’s biggest apparel buyers.21 
July 18, 2012: The Daily Star and other Bangladeshi media report on an “unprecedented 
meeting” at Walmart's Gulshan office in Dhaka where the world’s top buyers of Bangladeshi 
  6 
garments gathered in the morning to share their concerns over persistent labor unrest in the 
industry and to “finalize an SOS message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”  The Daily Star 
obtained an advance copy of the letter and provides this quote: “Unrest among the workers in 
this sector is seen as risk among our companies and could cause damage to the reputation of 
Bangladesh as a reliable sourcing market.”  A source close to the buyers, the newspaper says, 
“confided that American buyers are particularly concerned about the disappearance of 
Aminul.”22 
End	  Notes	  
                                                
1 See, for example, Manik, Julfikar Ali and Vikas Bajaj, “Killing of Bangladeshi Labor Organizer Signals an 
Escalation in Violence,” New York Times (April 9, 2012); 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/10/world/asia/bangladeshi-labor-organizer-is-found-killed.html. 
2 See: SweatFree Communities, Enemies of the Nation or Human Rights Defenders? Fighting Poverty Wages in 
Bangladesh (November 2010): http://www.sweatfree.org/docs/enemiesofthenation.pdf. 
3 Ibid. 
4 See, for example, “Labour leader, Aminul Islam, was allegedly killed after being abducted by the law enforces,” 
Odhikar fact-finding report, http://www.odhikar.org. 
5 Baes, Saarte , Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM ASIA), “Individual Complaint to the 
Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders,” (May 18, 2012), on file with ILRF. 
6 Ibid. 
7 Ibid. 
8 Among many others, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Human Right Watch, the International Trade Union 
Confederation, the International Labor Rights Forum, the Worker Rights Consortium, the Clean Clothes Campaign, 
condemn the killing and call for an independent investigation.  
9 The murder of Mr. Islam became a centerpiece of Secretary Clinton’s remarks in Bangladesh.  Two mainstream 
English newspapers, the Daily Star and The Financial Express reported that Secretary Clinton “cited the recent 
murder of a labour union activist, Aminul Islam,” saying “killing and oppression of labour leaders constitute a threat 
to the rights of workers.”  According to the press, Clinton demanded, "Islam's killing has to be investigated into, and 
the perpetrators must be brought to book.” See, for example, “Hillary for peaceful solution to political crisis,” (May 
6, 2012): http://www.thedailystar.net. 
10 “Home ministry probe fails to identify killers,” New Age (May 16, 2012): http://newagebd.com. 
11 “Who is Mustafiz?” New Age Extra (July 7, 2012): http://newagebd.com.  According to State Minister for Labor 
Monnoian Sufivan, Mustafiz Rahman and other suspects have gone abroad.  See “Killers of garment workers’ leader 
identified,” The Financial Express (June 21, 2012): http://thefinancialexpress-bd.com/. 
12 “Who is Mustafiz?” New Age Extra (July 7, 2012): http://newagebd.com. 
13 SweatFree Communities, ibid. 
14 A summary of these charges is on file with the International Labor Rights Forum. 
15 Baes, ibid. 
16 Ibid. 
17 Siraj Serajul Islam and Mahbub Hassan Mehedi, “Labour leader Aminul Islam: Victim of Shanta Group’s Wrath!” 
Bangla New 24.com (July 21, 2012): http://banglanews24.com. 
18 Sultana, Munima, “ITUC condemns killing of two bidi workers,” The Financial Express (July 22, 2012): 
http://thefinancialexpress-bd.com/. 
19 Reported on Desh TV and ETV news at 7pm and 9pm on July 22, 2012.  See also “PM questions Western concern 
over Aminul’s death,” The Independent (July 23, 2012): http://theindependentbd.com. 
20Clinton, Hillary Rodham, “Interview With Ms. Mooni Saha, and Mr. Ejaj Ahmed At a Townterview with 
Bangladeshi Youth,” (May 6, 2012): 
http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2012/05/189370.htm 
21 Ambassador Mozena’s remarks have been widely quoted in Bangladeshi media.  See, for example, “Mozena fears 
‘perfect storm in’ in garment sector,” The Daily Star (June 7, 2012): http://thedailystar.net. 
  7 
                                                                                                                                                       
22 Haque, Syed Ashfaqul, “Top RMG Buyers Worried at Unrest,” The Daily Star (July 19, 2012): 
http://thedailystar.net. 


A Chronology of the Investigation of the Murder of Labor Activist Aminul Islam

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A Chronology of the Investigation of the Murder of Labor Activist Aminul Islam

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