URGENT APPEAL: Protect the Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh: Implement the Peace Accord now!

JOINT URGENT APPEAL FROM GHRD, KAPAENG FOUNDATION, JUMMA PEOPLES NETWORK UK

To: the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Dhaka, the Office of the Prime Minister, London and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague.

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals are joining forces to urge the Government of Bangladesh to keep its promise to protect its indigenous peoples, and implement the CHT Peace Accord before the next general elections in 2014.

Background
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord was signed in Bangladesh in 1997 to promote peace and to protect its indigenous population. Today, almost 15 years later, it remains unfulfilled and violence against the indigenous peoples has continued.

Bangladesh has ratified numerous international human rights treaties and it is also the largest provider of UN Peacekeepers in the world. Despite this, it continues to violate the rights of minorities and its indigenous peoples. The indigenous people, known as Jumma in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), have been under attack for over 35 years, ever since the Government brought in large numbers of Bengali settlers onto their ancestral land. Influential settlers – supported by the military who are heavily deployed in the region – have been attacking the indigenous peoples who have lost their lands at an alarming rate and have endured endless human rights violations ever since.

The protection of indigenous peoples and the implementation of the 1997 Peace Accord was one of the key election pledges of the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Unfortunately, at the end of her mandate, it remains unfulfilled.

We note with concern how violence against indigenous communities in the CHT has been escalating in recent months.

We are disturbed that this Government has rather taken regressive steps that work against the essence of the Accord, including publicly denying that there is an indigenous population in Bangladesh, refusal of giving constitutional recognition to indigenous groups and also recently demanding its district officials to take action against the celebration of World Indigenous Day.

Therefore, we urge Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to take immediate and urgent action to fulfill her election promise and fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord within this tenure, to ensure the protection of Jumma lives, land, identity and culture.

In particular:
• Dismantle all temporary military camps in the CHT and demilitarize the region according to the Accord.

• Investigate and publicise all allegations of human rights violations against the indigenous peoples by the security forces.

• Solve the land disputes fairly; amend the Land Dispute Settlement Commission Act of 2001 according to the spirit of the Accord.

• Give constitutional recognition to the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh.
With the elections coming up in Bangladesh, there is a great fear that the CHT Peace Accord will remain unimplemented and that the situation will only worsen in the future, threatening the peace and existence of the indigenous peoples in Bangladesh!

Our call will be delivered to Governments in three countries on World Indigenous Day, August 9, in Dhaka, London and the Netherlands.

Yours Sincerely,

Global Human Rights Defence (The Netherlands)

Jumma Peoples Network (UK)

Kapaeeng Foundation (Bangladesh)

Hana Shams Ahmed, writer and activist

Join our shared efforts in protecting the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Take action today and sign our petition here! http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Protect_the_Indigenous_People_in_Bangladesh/?cUXFhdb]

For further information regarding the Chittagong Hill Tracts, see following web pages:

JUMMA PEOPLES NETWORK UK                                 

Jahangir Alam Akash; ‘ No one can ever stop me from continuing to fight for the voiceless.’

Recently the ‘Committee to protect journalists’ published its impunity index list of countries were journalists are regularly killed and governments failed to solve the crimes. Bangladesh ranked as the 11th country, a rank higher than last year.

Jahangir Alam Akash is one of those journalists and writers living in exile as a result of his reporting of human rights issues in the country. On numerous occasions he disclosed. the atrocities of the armed forces in cases involving human rights violations, and he has faced at least four politically motivated cases based on false charges as a result.

He was brutally tortured by the law enforcement agencies (RAB) in 2007, and fled to Germany fearing his safety after the Awami League came into power in 2009. The Hamburg Foundation has hosted Mr Akash as a guest for the politically persecuted, for a duration of one year.

Global Human Rights Defence invited Mr Akash to celebrate International Human Rights Day in The Hague, and took the opportunity to discuss the situation for Bangladeshi journalists and to obtain his view on the human rights situation after the national elections. Mr. Akash shared his concerns about the corrupted system, and fears that little has changed despite the return to democracy in Bangladesh.

At the time of the incident when you were tortured, several organisations, like GHRD, Asian Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International lobbied for your safety. What impact did the work of international organisations have on your work, especially the time after you were tortured?

-'In Bangladesh I feared for my life, I felt unsafe and helpless. The support I received from organisations like GHRD, Amnesty International, The Asian Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims (BRCT), meant a lot to me and my family. The pressure that has been put on governments and international bodies, in the form of urgent appeals and other requests demanding my safety and protection helped to ensure the safety of myself and my family. Since the government is still very concerned about its image, the international support and attention that I received through the work of these different organisations was one of the main reasons why I was actually not killed during those two days of torture.’

How would you say is the human rights situation today, compared to the situation during the emergency powers?

- ‘The elections were considered democratic. However, the democracy in the country does not work in practice. Persecutions against religious minorities, extra judicial killings, attacks against journalists and other human rights violations still occurs. The government has been warned by the High Court regarding the situation of the growing and ongoing illegal activities of the RAB. It demanded that the government immediately have all these types of activities banned. But still you can’t see any changes.’

As long as the lack of political will to address human rights violations continues, he sees no possibility to return:

- ‘Because of the widespread corruption throughout the country’s legal instances, I have learned that you cannot depend on the system to serve you justice. The legal, political and governmental system is not strong enough to fight the atrocities and human rights violations. So far there has been no response whatsoever from the government in regards to the torture they subjected me to.’

According to Akash, it is not to be expected that the government will ever recognise or acknowledge these types of incidents:

- ‘The government’s actions are controlled by its political interests and agenda, which obviously overshadows the population’s human rights. The governments way of “handling” the extra judicial killings conducted by RAB forces in the country is an example of this.’

What practical changes do you think the government should undertake to improve the situation?

- ‘The government has some major obstacles to tackle in order to get the human rights situation under control, such as the fact that the country has no working educational system or the gross poverty that prevails in the country. As of right now the judiciary system is not functioning, the main reason is the widespread corruption. The system is filled with corruption, from top to bottom.’

Akash explains further:

- ‘Religion is also present in the politics and Islam is announced as the state religion. The “islamisation” of the government is a serious problem, especially for the religious minority groups and also for the process of building a secular democracy. To remove Islam as the state religion would be a critical step to achieve secularism, which is of great importance to release the tension between religious groups in the country.’

Do you feel optimistic about the future of Bangladesh with the new government?

- ‘The process will be long and time consuming but I stay positive. There are alot of people working and hoping for a better future for Bangladesh. There will come a day of happiness and peace. After coming to Europe I have been able to conduct my work for the people in Bangladesh who are living in oppression, people who are marginalised and who live in poverty.

No one can ever stop me from continuing to fight for these voiceless people’.

A time for reflection

Another year has passed. It is a good time for reflection – if one find time in between the season evaluations, newsletters, annual reports, cleaning…out of a sudden the entire year must be wrapped up in one package! What a year it was. Trying to determine the highlights and set backs is not easy.

I appreciate the meetings with the incredible Bhutanese families that were evicted from their homeland, some tortured and imprisoned, and then lived seventeen years in refugee camps before being sent to a country they never heard of. I remember their hospitality and kindness, their gratefulness for being given the chance to start a new life, but also their despair for the loved ones that were left behind.

I remember the excitement at the birth of the FLARE network at the European Parliament in Brussels. The feeling of success and being invincible when we walked together with almost 100,000 others in Bari, Italy taking stand against the mafia.

I recall anger and frustration when a certain ambassador claimed that no- one is being tortured in Bangladesh. I remember the excitement of taking part of history when former prime minister Sheik Hasina entered the House of Lords after almost a year in captivity.

It hurts to think of the pain in the eyes of the families who lost everything, whose child committed suicide after a brutal gang rape and left with no assistance, the human rights defenders who risked their life to report about them, and the frustration I felt so many times that we could not do more to help them in their struggle!

But I can also smile looking back on how 50 children, newly arrived from conflict zones all over the world, were singing and jumping up and down of excitement to meet Sinterklaas and receive their presents!

2008 was the year of survival for GHRD. It was a constant battle to continue achieving results, with no resources. 2009 is the year where we finally have the opportunity to grow, expand our networks and strengthen our capacities.

The year of 2009 will be an important one in GHRDs history. I want to do more, do better. There is enough to do. I am looking forward to share it with you!

Lord Voldemort of Bangladesh

I went to Brussels and the European Parliament last week to take part in an informal hearing about the human rights situation in Bangladesh. The situation is alarming - more the 25.000 people were arbitrary arrested over the past two weeks.

Approximately half a million people have been arrested in Bangladesh since the proclamation of state of emergency 16 months ago. Most of them are political opponents; many will be tortured into accordance by the military regime.

Those who were able have gone into hiding; or maybe they ‘disappeared,’ or mysteriously died from ‘heart problems’ after days of torture. Others are simply shot in the back, with the official explanation that they ‘attempted to escape’.

As expected, the present representative of the Bangladeshi Embassy denied any governmental involvement in human rights abuse. The ambassador was ‘surprised to hear that the human rights situation is bad in Bangladesh’ he claimed the Bangladeshi human rights record have ‘always been good’, and; ‘no-one is being arrested without reason in Bangladesh’.

In reality, state security forces can arbitrarily arrest and detain individuals without warrant or evidence[1]; in fact, they can 'produce' evidence through the use of force. Soldiers and police responsible for torture and killings enjoy impunity.

Journalists and human rights activists that are brave enough to report about the abuse become targets themselves. Ahmed Swapan, a torture victim and exiled Bangladeshi journalist said; ‘I am afraid to speak here today. I am one of those whose right hand still is dysfunctional because of my reporting in Bangladesh.’ The torture of Tasneem Khalil, who reported to, amongst others, CNN and Human Rights Watch, made it to the international press last year. If they beat a journalist who is working for a distinguished media and human rights organisation unconscious with batons – what will they do to others who have less chance of getting their story out?

“In Bangladesh, they have their own Lord Voldemort – the DGFI. They
are so feared that people don’t even dare mentioning its name,”

William Sloan (International Association of Democratic Lawyers), during his last visit to Bangladesh, was held up and interrogated at the airport, cautioned by the DGFI[2], barred from the courtroom where Sheikh Hasina was on trial, interdicted from holding a press conference, confined in his hotel room for ten hours, and escorted to the airport by police and detained until boarding time. “In Bangladesh, they have their own Lord Voldemort – the DGFI. They are so feared that people don’t even dare mentioning its name,” he said, making a reference to the Dark Lord in the Harry Potter books.

Indeed, over the year we have seen a mobilisation of dark forces in Bangladesh. Terror, torture and intimidation are the main tools used by the military government to maintain power. However, whereas Lord Voldemort made no secret of his intention of dictatorial rule, the Bangladeshi government is still attempting to hide behind a democratic façade and maintain its international reputation.

Perhaps it is time to stop allowing the military regime in Bangladesh to hide behind the term ‘caretaker government,’ and instead start calling it what it is: a military regime. Because, as the Harry Potter fans will know; fear of a name only creates fear of the phenomenon itself.

[1] Emergency Powers Rules, Section 16 & 20, EPR 2007
[2] Directorate General of Forces Intelligence; one of the main Bangladeshi intelligence services

The truth, and nothing but the truth…says who?

GHRD ended up in the middle of the Swedish media battle last week when investigating a murder in Bangladesh. Ashit Biswas, 32, disappeared in 2005 and the remains of his body were found last week – elucidating another uninvestigated crime in Bangladesh. Usually, the ‘West’ show little interest in what’s going on in Bangladesh.

But this case is different. The suspect, Joy Rahman, is something of a media celebrity in Sweden, where he spent eight years in prison for murder, before being found innocent by the Supreme Court. It was the scandal of that time. Rahman cried out in media, a victim of a racist prejudiced justice system. He moved back to Bangladesh and started a foundation for the money he was given as compensation. Not that money could ever compensate eight years of declined freedom! But it helps. Especially in Bangladesh, where money is the answer to all problems, including legal ones.

Now, everyone wanted their share of this story. The question of guilt – and victimization is central and divided the Swedish and Bangladeshi press. In Sweden, they are eager to portray Joy Rahman as another victim of corruption and illegality in a non-existent Bangladeshi justice system. In Bangladesh, some media want to see Joy Rahman hanged by tomorrow, whether there is evidence or not.

As for me, I am referring to the rule of law, to objective reporting and to respect Rahman’s right to presumption of innocence whilst searching the truth about Ashit’s death. Media cannot, and should not, determine guilt. In Western Europe, most of us are skeptical to the ‘facts’ produced by media, but rely on a court verdict.

But when working in Bangladesh, this perception of ‘truth’ is challenged. Here, police investigations and verdicts are for sale. The police fabricate charges, plant evidence and force through confessions under torture on routine. Meanwhile, many media in Bangladesh are opposing this corrupt system, struggling to work independently to expose the truth.

So what do we know? Well, whereas many criminals escape trials; innocents are also convicted, imprisoned and executed. The question now is; to which category does Rahman belong? And says who?