Inside This issue

Nation demands release 1

Kamaruzzaman Verdict 2
Hearing on Azhar ends 2
Release unconditionaly 2
We will free dearest 3
Indian MEA has no 3
Islamic Scholars demands 4
Nationwide Hartal 4
Profile of a dictator 4
Enforced disappearnces 5
RAB Killed 800 6
Revoke draconian media 6
Volume 3 Issue2
September 20, 2014
Centre for
Bangladesh
Studies
Sentenced to life imprisonment
Nation demands
release of Sayeedi
Dhaka, 17 September:
Bangladesh Supreme Court
has sentenced most popular
public speaker of the country
Maolana Delowar Hussain
Sayeedi's to life imprisonment.
The verdict came after five
months the appeal process
had concluded in 17 April this
year. Chief Justice Hossain
said the prominent Jamaat
leader would have to remain
imprisoned for the rest of his
natural life. Among the 5
judges Justice Abdul Wahab
acquitted from all charges.
Whereas Justice Shamsuddin
manik sentenced him to
death. The three other jus-
tices including Chief Justice
Mozammel Hossain sen-
tenced him to life.
Initially the controversial In-
ternational War Crimes Tribu-
nal sentenced him to death
on February 28 last year. Say-
eedi had, on March 28 last
year, appealed against the
death sentence, seeking ac-
quittal.
Following the verdict the As-
sistant Secretary General of
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Dr. Shafiqur Rahman called for
followers and supporters to
maintain calm and exercise
restraint. Jamaat called for na-
tionwide strike on Thursday
and Sunday. Refuting the ver-
dict Dr. Shafiq said, the prose-
cution failed to prove any of
the charges brought against
Allama Sayeedi. Sentencing
him for one day in prison is
also a gross injustice. He
added. Dr. Shafiq said that the
nation demands an uncondi-
tional release of Sayeedi.
Reaction
ICT prosecutor Tureen Afroz
said they expected maximum
punishment. "But we respect
the court's verdict.
"We are yet to get the full
verdict. Once it's available we
will understand where more
facts and evidence were
needed," she said.
Defence counsel Mizanul
Islam said they did not agree
with the verdict and that they
expected acquittal.
Sayedees third son, Masood
Sayedee, told bdnews24.com
he had expected his father to
be acquitted altogether.
Although the death sentence
has been reduced, I still think
we deserve better. This was
not justice.
Sayedees son, who had at-
tended the trial regularly day
in and day out, said this trial
had had its own share of
scandals too. We will cer-
tainly file a review petition
after we get the full verdict.
On Wednesday, the full bench
of Appellate Division deliv-
ered the ruling on Sayedee's
appeal against his death sen-
tence.
Attorney General Mahbubey
Alam, Additional Attorneys
General Murad Reza and Md
Mamtaz Uddin Fakir repre-
sented the state and defence
counsels Khandker Mahbub
Hossain and SM Shahjahan
represented Sayadee.
Sayedees chief counsel
Khandker Mahbub Hossain
had said then, The charges
(brought against Sayedee)
might be right. But Delwar
Hossain Sayedee is not in-
volved with these incidents.
Delwar Sayedee has been
charged instead of Delwar
Shikder.
73 years old Sayeedi is the
second most important
leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-
e-Islami and also revered as
the most eloquent Islamic
See Page -2
page 2
continued from page 1
orator worldwide. He was in
dicted in November 2013 on
20 counts of charges and was
given death penalty for two
murders by the international
crimes tribunal 1. Bangladesh
witnessed violent protest fol-
lowing the verdict of Allama
Sayeedi when at least 320
people were killed by the se-
curity forces.
International protest
Meanwhile the international
community condemned the
verdict, saying that justice has
not been served. Save
Bangladesh, a British based
campaigner group of
Bangladeshi expatriate organ-
ised a demonstration in front
of the Bangladesh High Com-
mission at London, Birming-
ham and Manchester.
Controversial verdict
The verdict of international
crimes tribunal 1 against Say-
eedi was rejected by Jamaat.
International community as
well condemned the verdict
because of its many flaws.
The investigation officer has
conducted the investigation
fraudulently to confirm
Mr.Sayeedis conviction. The
defence was given very short
time to prepare his defence
before the trial. ICT-1 did not
take any note that the prose-
cution did not make full dis-
closure of their case to the
defence. It restricted the de-
fence counsel from cross ex-
amining the Prosecution
Witnesses on their previous
inconsistent statements and
relevant documents. Prosecu-
tion witnesses were either
rewarded or forced to give
false evidence against Mr.Say-
eedi.
When they denied, the Inves-
tigation Officer submitted
written statements in their
names and ICT-1 received
them as evidence against
Mr.Sayeedi without allowing
him any opportunity to chal-
lenge. ICT-1 closed its eyes to
the clear evidences (Safe
house documents) showing
that the Investigation Officer
committed fraud upon the
tribunal by falsely reporting
that these witnesses were un-
available. The defence was not
allowed to exhibit these Safe
House documents as that
would prove the fraudulent
nature of the investigation.
The defence case was sub-
stantially limited and forced
to close in one fifth time of
the prosecution case. Almost
all the defence witnesses and
their family members were
threatened so that they can-
not give evidence for Mr.Say-
eedi. A proposed prosecution
witness (Mr. Shukhoronjon
Bali) showed the courage to
tell the truth by testifying as a
defence witness. But the
members of the law enforcing
agencies abducted him in the
tribunal premises and this
person remains traceless. Fi-
nally, the recent publication of
the Skype and Email commu-
nications of the former Chair-
man of ICT-1 reveals that he
was conspiring with the Min-
isters of the Government to
fast tract the case and con-
vict Mr.Sayeedi. He was found
to have been taking secret as-
sistances from an expatriate
Bangladeshi, Dr. Ahmed Zi-
auddin, who was drafting or-
ders and judgment for the
Chairman.
Violence may broke again
Alam Sayeedi is the only Ja-
maat leader who enjoys pop-
ular support from every
quarters of the country. Al-
though Jamaat called for
showing resilience against the
verdict, it is feared that situa-
tion may deteriorate as mass
people will take the street if
the Supreme Court upholds
the initial verdict.
Short profile of Allama
Delawar HossainSayeedi:
Allama Delawar HossainSay-
eedi is the most popular Is-
lamic scholar of Bangladesh.
He devoted his life to dissem-
inate the light of the Quran
all over the world. He is an
eloquent speaker, popular
leader and organizer. He
joined Bangladesh Jamaat-e-
Islami (Jamaat) as primary
member in 1979. In 1989 he
was selected as member of
Central Committee of that
party. He was elected as a
Member of Parliament from
his Pirojpur Sadar Con-
stituency twice 1996 and
2001. He authored 72 Islamic
Books including Tafsee of
Quran, Biography of Prophet
Mohammad (PBUH), Quraan
& Science, Women Rights in
Islam, Labors Right in Islam,
Political Views of Islam etc.
He is also actively involved in
many charitable activities and
educational Institutions.
Kamaruzzaman
verdict any day
Dhaka, 14 September:The
Supreme Court will deliver its
verdict any day on an appeal
filed by Jamaat leader Muham-
mad Kamaruzzaman challeng-
ing death penalty awarded to
him by International War
Crime Tribunnal of
Bangladesh.
A four-member bench of the
Appellate Division headed by
Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha
today kept the appeal waiting
for verdict after concluding
hearings for 16 days.
The International Crimes Tri-
bunal-2 on May 10 last year
sentenced the Jamaat assis-
tant.
He submitted his appeal to
the apex court challenging the
ICT judgement on June 6 last
year.
During todays hearing, Attor-
ney General Mahbubey Alam
prayed to the court to uphold
the tribunals verdict saying
that charges brought against
Kamaruzzaman have been
proved without any doubt.
Kamaruzamans lawyer SM
Shahjahan prayed to the court
to acquit his client saying that
the charges brought against
him were false and baseless.
Release Unconditionally
Hearing on
Azhar ends
Dhaka, 15 September: A tribu-
nal in Dhaka today concluded
hearing arguments in a war
crimes case against Jamaat
leader ATM Azharul Islam and
will deliver its verdict any day.
The 62-year-old Jamaat-e-Is-
lami assistant secretary gen-
eral faces six charges.
Azharul was the former presi-
dent of Rangpur district unit
Islami Chhatra Sangha, the
then student wing of Jamaat,
in 1971.
On completion of the argu-
ments by both the sides, the
International Crimes Tribunal-
1 led by its chairman Justice
M Enayetur Rahim kept
Azharuls verdict waiting for
the verdict delivery.
The ICT on November 12
last year framed charges
against him for committing
crimes against humanity in
Rangpur district.
On July 25, the tribunal ac-
cepted the war crimes
charges brought against him
by the prosecution.
Police arrested Azhar at his
Moghbazar house in the capi-
tal on August 22 last year
after the tribunal had issued a
warrant of arrest in connec-
tion with his alleged wartime
offences.
Editors Note: On the day of Judgement of Al-
lama Sayeedi, a group of journalislts representat-
ing various national electronic and print media
aalon with local police superintendant went to
sayeedis village to record the reaction of his fel-
low villagers. There they encounter serious dis-
comfort regarding the verdict. We are reprinting
the translation of it from fellow online news
media Banglanews24.com.
Dhaka 17 September: It is 10 AM in
the morning. We are travelling to Say-
eedkhali village of Zianagar, About 25
kilometres from Pirozpur town. District
police super Abid Hasan was waiting for
us there with his police van. After check-
ing the security arrangement of the area,
he boarded the car with us. As soon as
we reached Saeedkhali, we heard sound
of wailing. We stopped and travelled fur-
ther down the side road and found a
group of 10 15 women.
While asked why they were wailing, one
of them replied that today the supreme
court sentenced Allama Delwar Hussain
Sayeedi to life imprisonment.
So he got a lesser punishment? One
women was quiet furious on such re-
mark made by one of the journalists.
Who are you? She inquired in an an-
guished voice. When we informed her
that we were journalists, she claimed
that all the charges against Maolana Say-
eedi was fabricated. The government
made the judges to deliver such verdict
unjustly.
When we tried to take some pictures
along with their details, they forbade us
to do so.
They said, earlier the tribunal11 had
sentenced him to death and we appealed
and got the punishment commuted.
Now we will file the review petition and
he will be acquitted of all charges. We
will free our dearest Sayeedi and we are
not happy with the verdict.
page 3
We will
free our
dearest
Sayeedi
Declare
the
wailing
women of
his village
So called Saradha scandal
Indian MEA has no info of Jamaat funding
The Indian Ministry of Exter-
nal Affairs (MEA) has said it
has not received any report
that was mentioned in a news
item that a member of the
Trinamool Congress has di-
verted certain funds to
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to
destabilise the present Awami
League government."My at-
tention was drawn to this re-
port by a Kolkata-based news
organisation.
I immediately checked this
and I can confirm to you, as
of now we've not received
any report of the sort that is
mentioned in that news re-
port," said official spokesper-
son Syed Akbaruddin. He
came up with the remark
when a questioner said the
government of Bangladesh
has raised with the Indian
government the fact that a
member of the Trinamool
Congress has diverted certain
funds from this particular
scam that has been talked
about to fund the Jamaat-e-Is-
lami and destabilise the
Sheikh Hasina government in
Bangladesh and wanted to
know whether it was correct
or not, according to Indian
MEA website.Indian central
intelligence agencies now
claim they have sufficient evi-
dence that Saradha funds
were used by 'fundamentalist
outfits' in Bangladesh against
the Awami League before the
January 5 elections, reports
The Times of India on Sunday
14 September.
The Saradha scam seems to
be getting murkier by the day
and this has got the Centre
worried as it does not want
ties with the present govern-
ment in Bangladesh to suffer
due to this.The transfer of
funds was allegedly facilitated
by Trinamool Congress MP
Ahmad Hasan Imran, a former
general secretary of the
banned Students' Islamic
Movement of India.
While Hasan has vehemently
denied these allegations, BJP
has made this an issue.
According to BJP, Trinamool
was assured by Bangladesh Ja-
maat-e-Islami that a section
of leaders of the minority
community in West Bengal
would mobilise the minority
vote bank in the party's
favour. It was also alleged that
Trinamool took help from
Bangladeshi criminals, belong-
ing to fundamentalist outfits,
during the Lok Sabha polls in
seats along the international
border."No wonder, the Ma-
mata Banerjee government
didn't allow a support rally in
Kolkata in favour of the Shah-
bag Movement that was un-
derway in Bangladesh in 2013.
She was made to believe that
this would irk certain outfits,"
the report quoted a senior
BJP leader as saying.
According to intelligence
agencies, Sudipta Sen may not
have had any sympathy for
the Jamaat or other funda-
mentalist outfits in
Bangladesh. His aim was to in-
vest his money.Ever since this
report surfaced, chief minister
Mamata Banerjee has been
silent on the issue.
page 4
Islamic Scholars demand
release of Sayeedi
Dhaka, 19 September:A
deep conspiracy is going on
to eliminate Islam from the
country, says Ulama of the
country.
In a joint statement countrys
5001 leading Islamic Scholars
said that a deep conspiracy is
going on to eliminate Islam
from the country and to de-
prive people to be benefitted
from Quranic teaching. In a
bid to uproot Islam, a blue-
print is in works to destroy
Alim, Ulama, Pir, Mashayekh
and Islamic leadership in the
country. As part of such con-
spiracy world renowned Is-
lamic Orator Allam Sayeedi
has been sentenced to life
based on fabricated cases
and concocted evidences. We
demand his immediate and
unconditional release.
The top scholars said,
Maolana Sayeedi is a top Is-
lamic Scholar of the country.
For half a century he has
been preaching Quranic
teaching in home and abroad.
He is respected as a
preacher worldwide. He de-
nied any political involvement
before 1978 and threw open
challenge in the nations par-
liament. Yet he has been given
life sentence based on lies.
We are requesting the ap-
propriate authority to recon-
sider his punishment and
release him unconditionally.
The people of Bangladesh
along with Islamic Scholars of
the country will never accept
this verdict against Allam Say-
eedi. They call upon the gov-
ernment to release Allam
Sayeedi so that he can con-
centrate on preaching the
Quranic message to the peo-
ple.
Scholars who signed the
statement are: Permanent
Member of Rabeta Alam Al-
Islami Maolana Mahiuddin
Khan, Chief Bangladesh Khe-
lafat Movement Maolana
Shah Ahmadullah and 5000
others.
Profile of a Dictator: The one and only Hasina
Bangladesh has witnessed many changes
in the past months. The cabinet of Prime
Minster Sheikh Hasina has approped the
National Broadcasting policy under
which government wil appoint an inde-
pendent body who will watch over what
contents the media will be allowed to
broadcast. Under the policy, broadcast
outlets are prohibited from disseminat-
ing any news, photos, or videos that
could tarnish the image of law enforce-
ment agencies and armed forces, accord-
ing to news reports. The policy also
requires broadcast outlets to telecast
programs of national importance, includ-
ing speeches made by the heads of state
and government.
The journalist community was dividied
on the issue. The pro Awamileager
newsperson hailed the policy as timely
whereas, Prothom Alo, an widely circu-
lated Bangladeshi newspaper expressed
concern over the policy in the pretext
that it will give indemnity to certain in-
stitutions. The newspaper furher added
that, the provision to form a broadcast
commission is aim[ed] at tying up the
hands and feet of the media. Such a re-
strictive policy is totally unacceptable.
Bangladesh Nationlist Party, main opposi-
tion of the country led by former prime
minster Begum Khaleda Zia in a fromal
reaction said that, the government's
move to formulate the National Broad-
cast Policy is nothing but to gag media
and people's freedom of speech. "The
National Broadcasting Policy is a genius
black law. The present illegal government
wants to control media formulating the
polic.
It is worthwhile to mention here that
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of
Bamgladesh and father of current prime
minster of the country Sheikh Hasina
had also banned all the newspaper ex-
cpet 4 in 1974.
Similarly on 17 september 2014, the Na-
tional Parliament has passed a new am-
mendement giving it power to impeach a
judge of the Supreme Court. This has
raised widespread concern among the
judges, lawyers and civil society that gov-
ernmnet will use this power to keep
judges under pressaure. Critics of the
amendment, including senior jurists, said
it was a thinly veiled way for the ruling
party to keep the judiciary under con-
trol. But Law Minister Anisul Hoque, who
proposed the change, said the amend-
ment allows parliament to impeach
judges on grounds of "misbehavior or in-
capacity." Major opposition parties op-
posed the government's move to amend
the constitution, saying authorities will
systematically influence the judiciary, es-
pecially when it comes to politically sen-
sitive cases.
The concern is legitimate. Especially the
Supreme Court of Bangladesh has just
rejected appeals by a former prime min-
ister, Khaleda Zia, over the appointment
of a judge in a corruption case against
her. The ruling clears the way for Mrs Zia
to stand trial. Prosecutors accuse her of
having siphoned off cash from charitable
trusts set up in memory of her late hus-
band, Ziaur Rahman, who was an army
leader at independence and was later as-
sassinated as president. If found guilty,
the countrys second-most-powerful
woman could face time in jail.
The court ruling reinforces the domi-
nance enjoyed by the countrys most
powerful woman, Sheikh Hasina, the
prime minister (pictured above). It
comes eight months after she won an
unprecedented second term in an elec-
tion boycotted by Mrs Zias Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP). Sheikh Hasina
had put Mrs Zia under house arrest and
barred the BNPs electoral ally, Jamaat-e-
Islami, from running. With no opposition,
it was a shoo-in for Sheikh Hasinas
Awami League.
Nationwide strike observed
Dhaka, 19 September: Na-
tionwide strike called-
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in
protest of unjust verdict
against Maolana Delwar Hus-
sain Sayeedi was observed
peacefully and sponteniously.
Offices were closed and show
market or business was con-
ducted on the day. Daily Star, a
national daily of the country
reported that no motor vehi-
cle apartform paddled rikshaw
was running during the 24
hours shut down.
In Dhaka, police detained two
pickets from Mirpur area when
they were trying to bring out a
procession on the Chiriakhana
road at Rainkhola in favour of
the shutdown. Besides, the ac-
tivists of Jamaat and its student
wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir,
staged demonstrations at dif-
ferent districts during the
shutdown.In Rajshahi, the po-
lice had to fire blank shots to
disperse a mob attempting to
bring out a procession in the
Dingaduba area. However, no
one was hurt.
In Bogra, Jamaat and Shibir
men brought out a procession
in Kaloni and Khandar areas of
the town this morning and
torched tyres on the roads.Be-
sides, police in several drives
arrested eight Jamaat-Shibir
men suspecting that they might
carry out subversive activities
during today's shutdown.
page 5
Inhumane Stroies of some who disappear
Enforced disappearances
haunt Bangladesh
Over a few horrifying hours
one night last December
Sabira Islam went from danc-
ing with her husband at a
party to frantically searching
the streets of Dhaka after he
had been abducted.
His body was found on the
outskirts of the Bangladeshi
capital early the next morning
- he had been strangled.
Nazmul Islam was a local
leader of the main opposition
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP) and his wife is con-
vinced his death was politi-
cally motivated.
But she says she has lost her
faith in Bangladeshi justice:
"On the night when my hus-
band was abducted, I went to
the police and pleaded with
them to find him. But no-one
helped us.
"Even two months after... we
don't have any clue regarding
his murder," Mrs Islam says.
Nazmul Islam's murder was
not an isolated incident.
Human rights groups say it is
just one of a growing number
of "enforced disappearances
and secret killings" in
Bangladesh.
Almost four months on and
the anger over disappear-
ances is intensifying in
Bangladesh.
The main opposition has
called for a countrywide
strike on Sunday to protest
against the disappearance of a
senior leader in Dhaka a few
days ago.
Who is to blame?
The wife of another activist in
Dhaka has a similar tale to
tell.
"My husband was taken close
to our house last year. Eye-
witnesses say he was bundled
into a van by people who said
they were from law enforce-
ment agencies. Even now we
don't know his whereabouts,"
Jhorna Khanum, who works
for a human rights group in
Dhaka, said. She also believes
politics is behind Shamim
Akhter's disappearance be-
cause he belonged to a left-
wing party and had been
involved in student politics
for years.
Shamim Akhter Shamim
Akhter has become one of
the latest in a long line of dis-
appearances
Many of the families of those
who have gone missing say
that the security agencies are
responsible for abducting
their relatives. Concern is
growing because these disap-
pearances appear to be on
the rise.
According to Dhaka-based
human rights group Odhikar,
only two people disappeared
in 2009, compared with 18 in
2010. And in 2011 the num-
ber of disappeared shot up to
30. Nine people have disap-
peared since January 2012.
The group says many more
disappearances have not been
officially recognised.
"This pattern used to exist
during previous regimes. Now
it is coming back and it's
alarming," Odhikar secretary
Adilur Rahman Khan says.
The victims have been oppo-
sition activists, local traders,
workers and some who were
abducted because of criminal
feuds or business rivalries.
Some of these people have
been found dead - the where-
abouts of all the others are
unknown.
So what unites this varied
group of people? Rights
groups argue that the disap-
pearances are down to a cul-
ture of impunity among the
security forces, which means
anybody who falls foul of the
authorities is vulnerable.
Bangladesh's elite Rapid Ac-
tion Battalion (RAB) police
force is blamed for much of
the wrongdoing. Human
rights groups have docu-
mented nearly 1,600 extra-ju-
dicial killings since 2004 - and
they say this number includes
disappearances, those killed in
so-called "fake encounters"
where people are shot dead
in allegedly staged gun battles,
and people who have died in
custody.
"Although the number of
RAB killings has dropped fol-
lowing domestic and interna-
tional criticism, there was a
sharp increase in enforced
disappearances, leading to
concerns that security agen-
cies have replaced one form
of abuse with another," the
New York-based Human
Rights Watch said in its World
Report 2012.
'Gang rivalries'
The Bangladeshi government
said that report "was not cor-
rect" and security forces ve-
hemently deny such
accusations. They dispute the
figures put forward by rights
groups.
"These are baseless com-
plaints. Law enforcement
agencies have nothing to do
with them. In fact, we have
solved many abduction cases
in the last three years," said
Commander Mohammad So-
hail, a spokesman for the
Rapid Action Battalion.
A Bangladesh Rapid Action
Battalion officer watches an
opposition rally in Dhaka in
July 2006
Many disappearances have
been blamed on the Rapid
Action Battalion
Cmdr Sohail also disputed
explanations provided by
human rights groups on dis-
appearances, attributing them
to political and gang rivalries.
"If you see the profile of
some of those abducted or
who are missing, you will find
that they had lots of oppo-
nents and were involved in
crime themselves," he said.
Indeed, following an outcry
over continuing abductions
and killings, the government
ordered an inquiry in Decem-
ber. Security personnel say
they have made significant
progress and have even
solved many cases.
"They are carrying out their
duty properly and are work-
ing to prevent, not to enforce,
disappearances," Bangladeshi
Home Minister Sahara
Khatun said, in support of the
security forces in January.
Nevertheless, human rights
activists blame the country's
present political culture for
the increasing violence.
"Unfortunately, our politics is
a kind of violent politics and
there is a culture of im-
punity," Odhikar spokesman
Mr Khan said.
"That's why we see more
human rights violations
through political violence.
Probably, some in the law en-
forcement agencies are taking
advantage of that."
Meanwhile, families struggle
to deal with the loss of their
loved ones.
"My youngest son, who is five
years old, still keeps asking
me when his dad will come
back. I don't know how to an-
swer him," Sabira Islam says.
- Adapted form BBC Online
Shamim Akhter has become one of the
latest in a long line of disappearances
disappearances have been blamed on
the Rapid Action Battalion
page 6
Editor: Ahmed Kamal. Published by Sadek Abdullah on behalf of Centre for Bangladesh Studies, London
117 Mile End Road, London E1 1DT. Email : info.centreforbangladesh@gmail.com
European Parliament
RAB killed 800 since creation
18 September: The European
Parliament (EP) in a resolu-
tion on Thursday urged the
Bangladeshi authorities to
bring the RAB and Police
under law stating that the
elite force is responsible for
killing 800 people since it's
formation.
The EP resolution alos called
for putting an end to RAB's
impunity.
The Members of European
Parliament (MEPs) also said
human rights violations by
members of the Rapid Action
Battalion (Rab), an emergency
force created 10 years ago
comprising both military and
police officers, should stop.
The MEPs also called on the
Bangladesh government to
make sure that
labour laws are enforced and
brought into line with Inter-
national Labour Organisation
standards, according to the
EP.
They also suggested that the
Donor Trust Fund mecha-
nism, created by the Rana
Plaza Coordination Commit-
tee to help victims and sur-
vivors following the Rana
plaza factory collapse in 2013,
be made mandatory,
as voluntary company dona-
tions have only reached USD
17 million, leaving USD 23
million outstanding.
Earlier, the EP had a debate
on a joint motion for a reso-
lution on human rights viola-
tions in Bangladesh.
The EP, according to the joint
motion, commended the
Bangladesh government for
the progress made towards
achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs),
which has resulted in signifi-
cant real-life improvements
for millions of its citizens.
It, however, expressed con-
cern over continued human
rights violations
by Rab and other security
forces, including enforced dis-
appearances and extrajudicial
killings of opposition activists.
The EP joint motion reiter-
ated its call for the abolition
of the death penalty and wel-
comed the Supreme Court
decision to commute the
death sentence handed down
by the International Crimes
Tribunal to Bangladesh Ja-
maat-e-Islami leader Delwar
Hossain Sayedee to imprison-
ment until death.
It called on the government
to immediately release any-
one subjected to enforced
disappearance and urged the
government to establish an
independent body to investi-
gate such cases.
The EP reiterated its call on
the government to establish
an effective and fully inde-
pendent human rights com-
mission.
It urged the government to
recognise and respect free-
dom of the press and media
and to allow human rights
groups to play an important
role in strengthening account-
ability and documenting
human rights abuses.
The EP joint motion also
urged the Bangladeshi author-
ities to revoke
the new media policy and
abide by their obligations to
allow free speech and expres-
sion.
Revoke Draconian Media Policy -HRW
Desk Report: New York
based human rights orgnisa-
tion Human Rights Watch
criticised National Broadcast-
ing Policy 2014 devised by
Bangladesh Government and
requested that authority
should revoke the draconian
policy. In a statement pub-
lished on September 3, the
organisation saud that, the
Bangladeshi government
should immediately revoke a
new media policy that im-
poses draconian restrictions
on media freedo. The organi-
sation urges the donor that
should make it clear to the
Bangladeshi government that
limits on freedom of expres-
sion that violate international
law are unacceptable.
The policy was published in
the official government
gazette on August 6, 2014. It
contains overly broad lan-
guage and imprecise defini-
tions that appear aimed at
significantly curtailing critical
reporting. The policy would,
for example, ban speech that
is anti-state, ridicules the
national ideology, and is in-
consistent with Bangladeshs
culture, and would restrict
the reporting of anarchy, re-
bellion, or violence.
Bangladesh is party to the In-
ternational Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, and is
therefore required to protect
and uphold the right to free-
dom of expression, which in-
cludes the right to seek,
receive, and impart informa-
tion. The UN Human Rights
Committee, which interprets
the covenant, has stated that
states may not prohibit criti-
cism of institutions, and that
A free, uncensored and un-
hindered press or other
media is essential in any soci-
ety to ensure freedom of
opinion and expression.
Hasina claimed that the media
policy was modelled on the
BBC media policy guidelines.
But the foundations underlin-
ing the BBC policy are absent
from the Bangladeshi policy.
Fundamental to these differ-
ences, for example, is the
BBCs commitment to inde-
pendence, impartiality, free
expression, and a plurality of
opinions concepts that are
wholly undermined by the
Bangladeshi governments at-
tempts to control media con-
tent.
Human Rights Watch noted
that the slippery slope al-
lowed by the media policy
could have broad-ranging ef-
fects and that no media area
is exempt from its reach. On
September 3, 2014, the gov-
ernment issued a ban on Eng-
lish titles in local movie
productions. The media policy
includes a provision that in-
structs broadcasters to be
careful about pure Bengali
pronunciation, and the con-
tamination of Bengali lan-
guage, distortion and
pronunciation of Bengali to
the tune of foreign languages
have to be avoided.
The new media policy ap-
pears to be little more than
an attempt to establish a
state ideology and set a trap
for critics, Adams said. Its
almost like the government is
living in a bygone era when it
could tell people what to
think, watch, and read. The
government should realize
that in the digital age those
days are over.