(From the left to right) Renate D. Bloem, Adilur Rahman Khan, Md. Ashrafuzzaman, Mandeep Tiwana, Gerald Staberock and Reema Omer were the panelists of a parallel event on “Rule of Law in Bangladesh” on 19 June 2014 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: OMCT
Rights experts urge international community to aid criminal justice reforms in Bangladesh
Six international human rights organisations met recently to consider the rule of law in Bangladesh.
The meeting was organised on 19 June 2014 as a parallel event at the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC) and CIVICUS:
World Alliance for Citizen Participation, along with the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) hosted the event. The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) was also a participant.
At the meeting, human rights experts from Asia and Europe urged the international community, and the UN human rights mechanisms, to help effect radical reforms in the criminal justice institutions of Bangladesh so that the rule of law may be established and upheld in the country.
The speakers discussed the functionality and credibility of the primary institutions related to the rule of law in Bangladesh. Hong Kong based ALRC Programme Coordinator, Md. Ashrafuzzaman, stated that the justice apparatus in Bangladesh is unable to protect and guarantee rights to citizens. He explained that institutions central to upholding the rule of law in Bangladesh, such as the judiciary, and the entire administrative framework, lack moral, intellectual, and infrastructural capacity to fulfil their mandate.
Adilur Rahman Khan, Secretary to Odhikar, a Bangladeshi rights group, highlighted the abuse of Bangladesh’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2006. He also expressed apprehension at the move to create a law to control NGOs. Being a victim of 62 days’ arbitrary detention in a fabricated case under the ICT Act, Adilur Khan shared information with the audience about how he and his organisation have been persecuted by the government.
OMCT Secretary General, Gerald Staberock, underlined the culture of impunity for perpetrators of human rights abuses that prevails in Bangladesh. The military, the paramilitary, and the police commit crimes like torture, extrajudicial executions, and disappearances. Such torturers and murderers in uniform go unpunished. And, the same perpetrators get the opportunity to participate in UN Peacekeeping Missions.
ICJ’s International Legal Advisor, Reema Omer, shared her research findings about the ICT Act. She explained how the abuse of this law stifles the freedom of expression in Bangladesh. Ms. Renate D. Bloem, UN Representative of CIVICUS, on the other hand observed that Bangladesh is following the government of Rwanda in adopting a special law to control NGOs.
The speakers demanded the release of citizens and professionals arbitrarily detained in prison without trial, including newspaper editor Mahmudur Rahman. They urged the international community to intervene and help usher positive changes in the rule of law realities in Bangladesh.
The parallel event was chaired by Mandeep Tiwana, Head of Policy and Research, CIVICUS.
