| Bangladesh_Mission Report_Human rights defenders trapped in a polarised political environment 56 pages / 943 KB |

Paris-Geneva,
November 9, 2013 - As two
members of prominent human rights NGO Odhikar will face trial tomorrow in Dhaka
in relation to their human rights activities, the Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders, an FIDH-OMCT joint programme, publishes
today an international
mission report on the situation of human rights defenders in Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh, the authorities resort to a legal arsenal and
restrictive practices to prosecute and pressure human rights defenders, who
face physical attacks, arbitrary detention and judicial harassment.
“NGO activists, lawyers, journalists and trade
unionists trying to defend the victims of human rights violations remain
inadequately protected and suffer repression for carrying out legitimate
activities under international law”, said Karim
Lahidji, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). “Presently,
two members of Odhikar, a respected human rights NGO, are facing judicial
harassment for publishing a report on police repression”, he added.
Mr. Adilur
Rahman Khan, Secretary of Odhikar and a
member of the General Assembly of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), whose trial will resume tomorrow, was detained from August 10 to
October 11, 2013. Mr. Nasiruddin Elan,
Director of Odhikar, was sent to prison on November 6. Both have been harassed after
Odhikar published a report on the repression of a demonstration of
fundamentalists by the police last May.
In Bangladesh, the political atmosphere is
fundamentally polarised, and the situation is becoming increasingly tensed in
the lead-up to the general elections due to take place before the end of
January 2014.
“We are alarmed
over the present situation and the risk of further repression of human rights
defenders in the upcoming pre-election context. Human rights work is in the
inherent interest of any nation, no matter who the victim may be. This voice
needs to be heard even in times of political tension”, declared
Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of OMCT. “There is a
heavy burden on all actors, State authorities, political parties and the media
alike, to withstand the temptation of labelling human rights defenders as
pro-government or anti-government, depending on whom they criticise or which
party is in power”, he added.
The trade union environment is
also generally polarised along party lines, and the few independent unions that
exist face obstacles to their work, including daily harassment by the
authorities. The enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing of labour
leader and human rights defender Aminul Islam in 2012 reminded the international
community and human rights defenders on the ground how risky independent labour
rights activities could be in Bangladesh. Authorities failed to launch any
effective investigation about his assassination.
The Observatory concludes that as long as
corruption is not curbed, and in the absence of a peaceful and constructive
political environment, of legislation promoting human rights and of an
independent judiciary, abuses of power and arbitrary practices will continue.
These make the exercise of fundamental freedoms more difficult, hinder the
strengthening of an independent civil society, and maintain human rights
defenders in the trap of a disabling environment.
The
Observatory Mission Report, titled “Human
rights defenders trapped in a polarised political environment”, outlines recommendations to the Bangladeshi authorities,
the United Nations, the European Union and other foreign diplomacies. The report is available here.
For more information, please contact:
FIDH: Audrey Couprie/Arthur Manet: +33 1 43 55 25 18
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39
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