Bangladesh lies between India and Myanmar
in South Asia. It is a country with a vibrant society and a parliamentary
democracy. The country’s population is around 158 million[1].
There are many fundamental aspects that
define a state, such as: the country’s economic and political situation or as
in this opinion piece will discuss the human right situation. As the quote in
the beginning of the article states: “Human rights is a universal standard”.
The work of local civil society organisations
is essential in human rights documentation as they are the frontline workers
who advocate for promotion of human rights and they shed light to the stories
of the victims and survivors.
As an example, for the past couple of years
the Ain O Salish Kendra (a legal aid
and human rights organisation, hereinafter: ASK) has held an annual press
conferences where they shared the main results of their annual reports on the
human rights situation in Bangladesh. I base this
analysis on information taken from ASK’s documentation of newspaper articles
and their own sources reflecting human rights violations and articles reporting
on the earlier mentioned press conferences.
This year one of the news articles said
that the human rights situation has worsened in 2015. The question immediately
rises: Compared to what? 2014? Or is there a bigger picture which allows us to
look back for years?
Between 2013 and 2015, several articles
highlighted different areas of human rights which showed that every year another
field showed dramatic changes. Based on their report in 2015, there were several
areas where there were significant deterioration, for example: repression on
religious minorities, freedom of expression, violence against women and
political violence. I would like to highlight the following areas:
Violence against women and children is showing a growing tendency,
especially in the field of sexual harassments. From 2014 to 2015 there was almost
a 40% growth in the cases of domestic violence. It is also important to mention
that acid attacks (ca. 35 cases) were highlighted during the press conference
in 2015.
In terms of communal violence there are great differences from year
to year. In 2013, there were 278 houses attacked, burnt or destroyed and then
next year the number of similar cases 761. However, in 2015 there was a significant
decrease in the number of reported cases down to 104.
Based on available numbers it is clear that there are serious human
rights violations which need to be addressed. The
local human rights organisations like ASK work hard to gather information and
data that can be presented for the general public and organisations on a
national and/or international while also advocating for the improvement of the
human rights situation.
Below you can find a table which includes
data gathered from articles and ASK’s HR monitoring reports.
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
|
Political Clashes
|
848 [i]
|
664 [ii]
|
865[iii]
|
Communal violence
|
Houses: 278
Businesses: 208
Temples: 495 [iv]
|
Houses: 761
Businesses: 193
Temples: 247[v]
|
Houses:
104
Businesses:
N/A
Temples:
213[vi]
|
Violence against journalist
|
Deaths: 3
Assaults/
Harassments: 342[vii]
|
Deaths: 3
Assaults/
Harassments: 239[viii]
|
Deaths: 2
Assaults/
Harassments: 244[ix]
|
Violence Against Women
|
Rapes: 812
Deaths: 87
Domestic
Violence: 385[x]
Sexual
Harassment: 182[xi]
Acid attacks: 44[xii]
|
Rapes: 707[xiii]
Deaths: 68
Domestic
Violence: 488[xiv]
Sexual
Harassment: 146[xv]
Acid attacks: 48[xvi]
|
Rapes: 846[xvii]
Deaths: 60
Domestic
Violence: 373[xviii]
Sexual
Harassment: 205[xix]
Acid attacks:
35
|
Forced disappearances
|
53[xx]
|
88[xxi]
|
55[xxii]
|
Deaths in jail custody
|
60[xxiii]
|
29[xxiv]
|
69[xxv]
|
Mob beatings (Deaths)
|
127[xxvi]
|
127[xxvii]
|
135[xxviii]
|
Sources:
