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Allegations of disappearances after being picked by law enforcing officers Political violence and hartal Extra judicial killings continue Torture in police custody Criminal cases withdrawn out of political consideration BSFs destruction on Bangladesh territory Slum eviction without alternative shelter arrangement Odhikar condemns the statement made by the Deputy Leader of the Parliament Attacks on religious minority groups
Violence against readymade garments workers
but also in countries like Bangladesh is constitutive of a democratic state. The movement to establish the rights and dignity of every individual is part of the struggle to constitute Bangladesh as a democratic, political community. As part of its mission, Odhikar monitors the human rights situation of Bangladesh to report violations and defend the victims. In line with this campaign, an account of the human rights situation of Bangladesh, for the month of April 2012, is presented here:
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BNP: Bangladesh Nationalist Party The daily Prothom Alo, 19/04/2012 3 Student wing of BNP 44 Report from Muhibur Rahman, human rights defender of Odhikar in Sylhet, 08/04/2012 5 Fact finding report of Odhikar, 26/04/2012
6. Odhikar expresses grave concern regarding the incidents of enforced disappearance and demands that the Government should rescue or recover the victims of enforced disappearances and take stern action against the responsible persons. Apart from the despicable degradation of human rights and law and order situation the enforced disappearance of M. Ilias Ali signals a political crisis that may precipitate serious instability and uncertainty in the society and politics of Bangladesh. This may intensify the already precarious partisan violence. The governments tactics of using law enforcement agencies to repress the Opposition political parties will further contribute to the already deteriorated political situation of Bangladesh.
Hartal: General strike The daily Prothom Alo, 22/04/2012 8 The Daily Ittefaq, 23/04/2012 9 Student wing of Awami League
12. Moreover, BNP claimed that police arrested 1106 activists from all over the country on April 22 and 23, 2012 during hartal.12 13. On April 22, 2012, during the hartal, two BNP activists Shahadat and Alamin were arrested by police from Phulbari, Bogra and produced before the mobile court. The Magistrate ordered six months of imprisonment.13 Meanwhile five youths have been sentenced for 15 days of imprisonment for picketing in Chandpur.14 14. On April 24 at least 101 people were arrested by police in relation to the hartal.15 15. Sporadic violence and detention of Opposition activists marked the first day of the second round of the back-to-back hartal on April 29, 2012 by the BNP-led 18 party alliance, as they continued to put pressure on the government to trace disappeared Ilias Ali. Pro-hartal activists also vandalised vehicles across the country the day before and during the hartal. Moreover, four vehicles were torched in different parts of the capital on the eve of April 28.16 According to BNPs acting Secretary General, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 455 BNP leaders and activists were arrested by law enforcement agencies across the country.17 More than 100 people were injured in clashes between police and pro-hartal activists.18 16. On April 29, 2012 four picketers in Tangail have been sentenced for different periods of imprisonment through summary trial using a mobile court for picketing.19 17. On April 30, the second day of the hartal seven BNP activists in Chandpur and one Chhatra Dal leader in Rangpur were sentenced for different periods of imprisonment through summary trial using a mobile court.20 18. On April 28, 2012 Chhatra League activists attacked cultural activists and teachers who were protesting for the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University. Five teachers, 12 cultural activists and a journalist were injured in the attack.21 19. Odhikar condemns the vandalising of vehicles, by hartal supporters and the attacks by anti hartal activists and mass-arrest by police the day before and during hartal. Odhikar also expresses concern over punishing people through summary trials by using a mobile court. Odhikar expresses grave concern over the continuation of political violence. Odhikar believes that political leaders need to be sensitised to stop political violence
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Youth wing of Awami League Report from Muhibur Rahman, human rights defender of Odhikar in Sylhet 12 The daily Prothom Alo, 24/04/2012 13 The daily Naya Diganto, 23/04/2012 14 The daily Samakal, 23/04/2012 15 The Daily Ittefaq, 25/04/2012 16 The Daily Star, 29/04/2012 17 The daily Kaler Kantha, 30/04/2012 18 The daily Jugantor, 30/04/2012 19 The daily Amar Desh, 30/04/2012 20 The Manabzamin, 01/05/2012 21 The daily Manabzamin, 29/04/2012
among themselves and within their parties; and the law enforcement agencies must play an effective role and be held accountable for such acts.
Public lynching
26. During April 2012, eight people were allegedly killed due to public lynching by mobs. 27. Due to the weak criminal justice system, the tendency of taking the law into ones own hands is increasing, as people are losing their confidence and faith in the police and judiciary.
Student wing of BNP Report from Khalilur Rahman Shumon, human rights defender of Odhikar in Khulna, 23/04/2012. Pictures of the incident can be found in the national daily papers. 24 The daily Prothom Alo, 29/04/2012 25 The daily Prothom Alo, 11/01/2011, page no.1, reported by Rozina Islam
the judiciary. Moreover, such practices will further extend the culture of impunity in Bangladesh and will cause grave injustice to the victims. No one is above the law, and a fair trial is a Constitutional guarantee.
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The daily Prothom Alo, 07/04/2012 The daily Manabzamin, 18/04/2012 28 Capital Development Authority 29 Maidan: field
months. On the basis of that order, about one thousand illegal constructions were torn down by RAJUK in five operations.30 38. Evicted slum dwellers alleged that the authority carried out this eviction operation without any prior notice. About 4000 poor people, including women and children were evicted from four slums and are living under the open sky, exposed to storms and rain. Some people made temporary tents using sacks or polythene sheets as the only cover to stay dry on the street. They said that they felt utterly helpless losing their shelter and livelihood. Moreover, the future of their school going children is also now bleak.31 39. Odhikar believes that poor people come to the Capital as victims of natural calamities and river erosions. They have to live in slums on government land. Although it is the obligation of the State to provide shelter and to rehabilitate the poor people, the State does not fulfill these rights and is violating the rights of the poor people. 40. Odhikar expresses grave concern over this incident and demands the Government should not destroy slums and adversely affect the livelihood of the slum dwellers. The Government should rehabilitate the evicted slum dwellers immediately.
Odhikar condemns the statement made by the Deputy Leader of the Parliament
41. While addressing an award ceremony organised by Bangladesh Shishu Academy on April 4, 2012, the Deputy Leader of Parliament and Presidium Member of Awami League, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, commented that Bangladesh is the country of Bangalees and none other than Bangalees can live here.32 42. Odhikar regrets the statement made by Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury. Odhikar believes that the then linguistic nationalism of Bangalees was the main strength to the political movement of Bangladesh which led to its independence in 1971. However, not only Bangalees but also people from other minority linguistic and ethnic groups participated in the liberation war of Bangladesh. Such ultra nationalistic sentiment that denies the existence of non-Bengali communities and publicly erases their roles in the liberation struggle of Bangladesh, is of serious concern.
The daily Prothom Alo, 05/04/2012 The daily New Age, 08/04/2012 32 The daily New Age, 06/04/2012
community had been looted. The next day (April 1, 2012), seven houses belong to Hindu families in Chakdah village, 10 kilometers from Fatehpur village, were vandalized, looted and set on fire.33
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The daily Prothom Alo, 07/04/2012 The daily Samakal, 16/04/2012 35 Report from Sardar Anisur Rahman, human rights defender of Odhikar in Rajshahi
Rape: 50. In April 2012, a total number of 50 females were reportedly raped. Among them, 17 were women, 32 were female children below the age of 16 and the age of one victim could not be ascertained. Of the women, two were killed after being raped, six was a victim of gang rape. Out of the 32 child victims, two children were killed after being raped, nine were victims of gang rape and one child committed suicide. Acid violence: 51. According to information gathered by Odhikar, in April 2012, it was reported that ten persons became victims of acid violence. Of these affected persons, four were women, three were men and three were girls. Body found at MP hostel 52. On April 22, 2012, police recovered a decomposed body of an unknown woman from a bathroom on the second floor of the MP hostel in block 6 in Parliament House.36 The MP hostel is where Members of Parliament reside, away from home, and where they have offices, finding the body of a woman in such a secure and guarded area is cause for grave concern.
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Statistics: January-April, 2012* Type of Human Rights Violation Crossfire Torture to death Extra-judicial killings Shot to death Total Disappearances Bangladeshis Killed Human rights Bangladeshis violations by Injured Indian BSF Bangladeshis Abducted Deaths in Jail Killed Injured Attack on journalists Threatened Assaulted Killed Political violence Injured Acid violence Dowry related violence Rape Sexual harassment /Stalking of women Section 144 of Cr.PC Public Lynching January 5 0 1 6 0 2 9 3 9 0 21 6 7 16 1884 9 47 48 33 13 13 February 11 2 0 13 5 2 3 4 6 2 8 3 3 9 727 9 50 56 31 12 6 March 10 1 1 12 3 2 14 12 6 0 1 26 13 17 1052 7 49 70 38 8 15 April 9 1 1 11 5 4 17 4 2 0 16 1 0 24 2528 10 30 50 47 5 8
*Odhikar'sDocumentation Note:SomemonthlydatahasbeenupdatedafterreceivinginformationinApril2012
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Recommendations
1. The Government must stop extrajudicial killings as per commitment in its election manifesto and at the UN Human Rights Council during the 2009 UPR Session. The Government must bring all involved in the acts of extrajudicial killings before justice, through proper and independent investigation. 2. Torture during remand and other forms of custodial violence must be stopped. The Government should implement the 2003 directives of the High Court Division regarding this matter.37 3. The Government should rescue or recover the victims of disappearances. Odhikar urges the government to accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 18, 2009. 4. The Government must take effective action to stop all forms of criminalisation in the name of politics. The law enforcement agencies need to play a proactive role to stop political violence and to take legal measures against perpetrators and carry out their duty in an accountable and unbiased manner. 5. Summary trials must be stopped during hartal and other political programmes. The use of mobile courts must be put to a stop. 6. Criminal cases withdrawn randomly out of political consideration only add to the lack of peoples confidence in the justice delivery system. Such practice should be stopped and the culture of impunity be brought to an end. The Judiciary must be strengthened to bring back peoples confidence in it. 7. The Government should protest strongly against human rights violations on Bangladeshi citizens by the BSF; and investigate all incidents and demand from the Indian Government adequate compensation for the families of the victims and trial and punishment for the perpetrators. The Government should also ensure the safety and security of the Bangladeshi citizens residing at the border areas. 8. Interference on media must be stopped. Incidents of threats and attacks on journalists must be properly investigated and perpetrators of such acts must be brought to justice. 9. Slum evictions should be stopped without arranging alternative shelter homes and the government should rehabilitate the evicted slum dwellers. 10. The Government must respond appropriately to stop violence against women and the offenders must be brought under the purview of the law to ensure that justice is served.
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See BLAST and Others vs. Bangladesh and Other. 55 DLR (HCD) (2003) 363 (WRIT PETITION NO. 3806 of 1998)
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