Bangladesh ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 6th September 2000. In the last fourteen and half years, Bangladesh has not even submitted its Initial Report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
In this submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which is holding its 113th Session from 16 March to 2 April 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland, Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) highlights that the provisions of the ICCPR are being rampantly violated at will by the Government of Bangladesh, and the implementation of the ICCPR by Bangladesh requires immediate examination.
First, Bangladesh is in a profound national political crisis with no solution in sight and all the provisions of the ICCPR are being violated. Since 5th January 2015, the opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched total transport blockade and other strikes demanding resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led Awami League (AL) government and holding of mid-term elections under a neutral caretaker government. The AL led alliance came to power winning the controversial 5th January 2014 elections where 153 out of 300 parliamentary seats were won “uncontested” even before the first vote was cast as the oppositions had boycotted the parliamentary elections.
In the ongoing political unrest, between 5 January and 15 February 2015, about 90 people have died while more than a thousand were injured. Further, more than 7,000 opposition activists were imprisoned3 and media has effectively been silenced. The opposition, Jamaat-e-Islami, on its part, continues to wield influence disproportionate to its size and still maintains the capacity and willingness to inflict organised violence on civilians. The BNP, lacking the ability to enforce its strikes, relies on the Jamaats’ machinery and tactics and failed to disassociate itself from acts of violence.
Second, the government of Bangladesh has been freely using state security and justice systems for political ends. Death penalty has emerged as one of the important political tools of the current Government of Bangladesh both to silence the opposition and to assuage the sentiments of the Army, the power behind the throne in Dhaka, with the aim to bring the Army closer to the ruling AL. As many as 661 persons were awarded death sentence during January 2010-August 2014 and those convicted include almost the entire leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami and 192 personnel of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles allegedly involved in the massacre of the Bangladesh Army officers deputed to the BDR on 25th February 2009 at Pilkhana, Dhaka. The trial of both the Jamaat leaders and the DBR personnel does not meet international standards on fair trial.
Third, the religious minorities (Hindus and indigenous peoples) are not only victims of religious intolerance but also anger of the opposition on the government often befalls on them. The members of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and its youth wing Islami Chhatra Shibhir (ICS), carried out targeted attacks against Hindu minorities following convictions of their leaders by the International War Crimes Tribunals4 while the religious minorities have nothing to do with the trial! According to the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, 495 Hindu homes were damaged, 585 shops were attacked or looted and 169 temples were vandalized between November 2013 and January 2014 alone.
Fourth, access to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) region inhabited by indigenous Jumma peoples was prohibited in 1970s and 1980s and it came to be known as the “Closed Door Slaughter House” in 1980s because of a series of massacres of indigenous peoples perpetrated by Bangladesh Army and illegal plain settlers. In a case of dejh vu, on 7 January 2015, the Government of Bangladesh issued an order, among others, restricting entry of foreigners and diplomats to the CHTs. This is an attempt to hide the failure of implementation of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) including the failure to hold elections in the CHTs Regional Council and Hill District Councils for the last two decades and continuing violations of the rights of indigenous Jumma peoples. The non-implementation of the CHTs Peace Accord signed between the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) and the government of Bangladesh in December 1997 threatens the very existence of indigenous Jumma peoples.
On the other hand, every single indigenous person who has some land in mainland Bangladesh is constantly under threat from the land grabbers belonging to majority Muslims. Leaders of all the political parties have been the main culprits of illegal land grab from religious minorities and indigenous peoples. It is estimated that about 75% of three million civil and criminal court cases pending in courts across Bangladesh relate to land disputes, and indigenous peoples and minorities have been disproportionate victims of legal harassment to grab their lands, in addition to the physical assault.
Fifth, the government of Bangladesh has effectively silenced human rights defenders through the NGO Affairs Bureau under the Prime Minister’s Office which monitors foreign funding in the country. Many NGOs have been denied permission to receive foreign grants. On 1 December 2014, the Cabinet approved the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Bill, 2014 which inter alia will require prior approval before anyone involved in voluntary activities travelling out of the country for purposes connected with their work on the project.
Sixth, after the notification of the National Broadcast Policy on 28 August 2014 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned journalists not to “cross the line” set down in the new guidelines. Those who dare to cross the lines are silenced through physical attacks, false and frivolous cases and censorship.
The blatant violations of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) at will and the failure to submit even the Initial Report makes the case for examination of the implementation of the ICCPR without the report of the State party i.e. the Government of Bangladesh.
