Mon 10 Dec 2007
Citizens’ Response to Formation of National Human Rights Commission
Posted by Asif under News and eventsWe welcome the announcement by the Cabinet Division to approve the
long-pending draft law on a National Human Rights Commission.
We call for urgent steps to be taken to establish the Commission with full
powers and, most importantly, institutional independence to enforce the
human rights of all persons, citizens and non-citizens, and to address
violations of rights by any person, regardless of their identity or
institutional affiliation.
We further demand that the Commission’s jurisdiction extend to all
universally recognised human rights.
We express our concern that the proposed Selection Committee is too
executive-dependent and urge that it be revised to include persons with a
track record and credibility in promoting and protecting human rights,
including from within the Bar, media and academia.
We further urge that the selection of Commissioners reflect the diversity of
our society, to enable it to focus on the concerns of all persons,
irrespective of religion, gender, ethnicity or any other marker of identity.
We urge in particular that the Commission include at least one woman, and
that the minimum and maximum age-limits on membership be removed.
We call for public consultations to be held, and the responses incorporated
in the Draft Ordinance before it is placed for the President’s approval, so
that the Commission can be finally constituted by the New Year.
1. Sultana Kamal, Former Advisor of the Caretaker Government, and
Executive Director, Ain o Salish Kendra
2. Dr. Hameeda Hossain, Research Initiatives Bangladesh
3. Prof. Zafar Iqbal
4. Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director, Transparency International
5. Shaheen Anam, Executive Director, Manusher Jonno
6. Taslimur Rahman, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust
7. ZI Khan Panna, Former Chairman, Bar Council Legal Aid and Human
Rights Committee
8. Dr. Shahdeen Malik, Advocate, Supreme Court
9. Ziauddin Tarek Ali, Shomilito Shamajik Andolon
10. Ayesha Khanam, Secretary General, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad
11. Khushi Kabir, Nijera Kori
12. Manzoor Hasan, Institute of Governance Studies
13. Sanjeeb Drong, Adivasi Odhikar Andolon
14. Rezwana Hasan, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association
15. Sara Hossain, Advocate, Supreme Court
16. Dr. Faustina Pereira, Advocate Supreme Court
December 10th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I think this unelected group of well wishers to Bangladesh should set up the elections and leave. Enough of putting their friends into fancy good will positions. This group of people that have been SILENT and fine with the hijack of our democracy and freezing people’s human rights for almost one year CANNOT possibly defend any more human rights in Bangladesh. Isnt it time to say, JOKES OVER. Can I vote for who I want to represent Me, instead of keeping my head dug in the sand.
December 12th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
As the 16th of December approaches its deadline for liberating Bangladesh from the hands of Pakistani aggressors many memories are revisited up the memory lane.
I recall my visit to Professor Fazle Rabbi as a kid.
I recall the voices of EPR jawans and police personnel I heard from our 39 Minto Road residence on the 25th of March, 1971, shouting for cover while resisting the marauding Pakistani brutes.
I recall the story my friend narrated about his freedom fighter elder brother being picked up by Bengali Razakar collaborators from their house in Gulshan just prior to Bangladesh’s independence. His brother just came in to see his parents after a successful operation in Dhaka when the collaboraters swooped on their house with the Paki army and picked him up in a truck. He went swirling into a blackhole never to be seen again.
I recall my journalist friend whose father in the Bangladesh Army was listed as MIA never to be accounted for again.
I recall Professor Munir Choudhury’s wife teach us Bengali in Standard I at Dhaka English Preparatory School (renamed as Udayan after our independence) behind the DU VC’s residence. Who would have known that so many of our stars like Munir Choudhury would be butchered by the killer Jamaat assassins on the eve of our Victory Day!
Today on the 12th of December, 1971 the joint allied troops of Mukti Bahini and the India Army are on a winning streak freeing our land from the Pakistani occupation forces.More and more countries are voicing their support for our recognition as a sovereign state.
Senator Kennedy and the American public are behind us though the Nixon administration is trying to foil our independence. The Soviets vetoed an American resolution in the UN to propel us into our victory.
Bangladesh finally is FREED!
But the killers, arsonists and rapists have gone unpunished. If this interim government has any good intention of honoring the Human Rights Day then it should begin by charging and trying the killers of 1971 who worked as an an auxillary force for the Pakistani occupation forces.