Full report will be published here shortly

Ain o Salish Kendra, a human rights and legal service commission, in its annual report on human rights in Bangladesh, 2007 says the government’s record has been inconsistence and contradictory.

The report has been summarised mentioning that human rights violation, marginalisation of minority communities and harassment of indigenous communities in different areas including Chittagong Hill Tracts continued like previous years. Moreover, the role of army and intelligence agencies in rights violation remained opaque and officially undocumented.

The report in a cooperative analysis says rights appear to be violated in the pursuit of a law and order agenda and the prevention of corruption when it happened during the tenure of previous political governments to serve the interests of corrupt individuals or political parties or some other reasons.

Questions have been raised over neutrality of the military-backed caretaker government in relation to Islamist groups, as right wing religious groups have been able to stage street demonstrations on occasions with impunity.

On the other hand, garment workers and farmers were not allowed to voice protest and even were killed in the name of breaking Emergency Power Rules (EPR) when they went on streets protesting sudden shutdown of industries, non-payment, and dearth of fertilisers, the report mentions.

Besides criticising the state of emergency, the report titled “Contradictions and Continuities, Challenges and Concerns” also mentions the government went beyond the stated goal of restoring conditions conducive to holding free and fair elections by shutting ‘unprofitable’ jute mills that led to retrenchment of 50,000 workers.

The report also observes many state structures and practices from the past remain embedded in the system ensuring impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations, power abusers, preventing effective redress for violations.

It also says though received with greetings by civil society members and citizens against the backdrop of confrontational politics, popularity of the military-backed caretaker government ebbed over different issues including its role in handling university riot, food prices, poor performance of advisers and poor handling of cases against high-profile politicians.

The report reviews legislative and institutional development, which has impacted on human rights during the emergency state.

It particularly focuses on rights to life, liberty, freedom of expressions, fair trial, and rights of women, workers, religious minorities, indigenous people, prisoners and persons with disabilities.

A summary of the report was presented at a press briefing at Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday to have more discussions on the points it focused on. The report has been prepared through ASK investigations and with the help of news reports and reports from other private organisations.

Under the subhead “Background”, the report says four advisers resigned in mid-December in 2006 as they were unable to work towards a fair and free election due to political pressure under BNP-made President Prof Iajuddin Ahmed and also protested the president’s unilateral decision to call military in aid of civil authority.

It adds that doubts, however, remain in force about the substance of some of the institutional changes brought namely in Anti-Corruption Commission, Election Commission and Public Service Commission whether they represent actual structure reforms or merely constitute changes in personnel.

It also expresses concern over militarisation of different institutions and mentions that the voices demanding rights which were heard most inconsistently in 2007 are those of the elite.

On the emergency state, it says the government has brought itself out of the purview of judicial scrutiny by Emergency Power Ordinance, enabling the government further to take suspects in unlimited detention with or without charge and without the right to seek bail.

Regarding control of the CG over media the report mentions the government has employed indirect modes of censorship by invoking the threat of application of EPR.

“At the same time daily talk shows on private television channels, some of which are openly critical of the government have proliferated. These have been targeted for censorship whenever the state has felt threatened or vulnerable.”

ASK also made a nine-point urgent recommendation including necessary steps for withdrawal of emergency and full restoration of rights, steps to initiate investigation and prosecution of war criminals, and ensure through public consultation the enactments of laws on the right to information, on remedies for domestic violence as well as amendment of the Citizenship Act and the Disability Welfare Act.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=29355