On May 12, 2009, the United Nations General Assembly will hold elections to the UN Human Rights Council. Five seats will be available to the Asian region. Only five States from the region Bangladesh, China, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia have announced their candidacy, meaning that they will be elected for three-year terms unopposed. A coalition of NGOs has denounced the use of such clean slates in the elections: http://www.ahrchk.net/pr/mainfile.php/2009mr/626/.
Bangladesh is seeking a second term, having held membership in the Council since the bodys establishment in 2006. During this period, the human rights situation degraded significantly, notably as the result of a nearly two-year state of emergency under which the military-backed government suspended and violated many fundamental rights. Mass arbitrary arrests took place, restrictions were placed on the freedom of the press, and the military infiltrated and entrenched itself in the countrys civilian institutions, including those tasked with protecting human rights, such as the judiciary.
On December 29, 2008, the Bangladesh Awami League won national elections and formed a new government. The afore-mentioned human rights NGOs call upon the new government to abandon the practices of its predecessors and begin meaningful cooperation with the Human Rights Council, halting abuses, enabling justice deliver mechanisms to function, dismantling the countrys system of impunity and ensuring the highest standards of protection and promotion of human rights, as should be required for membership in the Council.
Special Procedures: In its election bid in 2006, Bangladesh made voluntary pledges on the promotion and protection of human rights (Footnote 1), in which it promised to “continue to cooperate with the special procedures and mechanisms of the Council with a view to further improve its human rights situations. The pledges made on March 3, 2009, (Footnote 2) as part of the countrys current election bid, state that Bangladesh has so far hosted several special rapporteurs demonstrating its willingness to cooperate with the UN human rights machinery. However, the last visit was by the Special Rapporteur on the right to food in 2004. Bangladesh has failed to invite any special procedures to visit the country since it became a member of the Council in 2006, despite requests made by several key mandates. These include the Special Rapporteurs covering the mandates on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the independence of judges and lawyers; adequate housing; contemporary forms of slavery; and racism; as well as a request by the Independent Expert on minority issues and a joint request by the Independent Experts on water and sanitation and on extreme poverty. It is imperative for the new government to issue standing invitations to all special procedures and facilitate the visits of those with pending requests as a priority.
Extra-judicial killings: A visit by the Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions is required as a matter of urgency. Since Bangladesh’s election to the Council in 2006 an estimated 1000 persons have been extra-judicially killed by the Rapid Action Battalion, the police, the armed forces or other paramilitary security forces. However, not a single case has yet been prosecuted and those responsible enjoy total impunity. The killings have continued despite the country’s Foreign Minister promising that her government will show “zero tolerance” to the perpetrators of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses during the examination of Bangladeshs human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review process February 2009. This promise was also repeated in the 2009 pledges.
Independence of the judiciary: The Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers should also be invited to visit the country as a priority. The lack of an effective, independent judiciary is ensuring that the perpetrators of a wide range of grave human rights abuses continue to enjoy impunity. Although in theory the judiciary was separated from the executive branch in November 2007, it is still not able to function independently. Despite claims in the 2009 pledges that Bangladesh recently completed the process of full separation of the judiciary from the executive, in April 2009, the government amended the Code of Criminal Procedure-1898 to ensure that it has discretionary powers to enable officers of the executive to take control of criminal cases whenever the authorities deem fit. This evidently runs contrary to the claims made in the pledges and eliminates the independence of the judiciary in practice, notably concerning cases of human rights abuses alleged to have been committed by members of the authorities.
Freedom of speech: Bangladesh, in its 2009 pledges, claims to have one of the most independent print and electronic media in the world. However, the authorities forced some 160 local newspapers and a television news channel to close during the state of emergency. A significant number of journalists have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, received threats or been subjected to legal or physical attacks. According to Odhikar, in 2007: “35 journalists were injured, 13 arrested, 35 assaulted, 83 threatened and 13 sued. For example, a media practitioner was forced to sign an undertaking not to write any report without permission from the Bangladesh Rifles.” A request for a visit by the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression remains pending since 2003.
Treaty Bodies: Despite pledges in 2006 to Strengthen its efforts to meet its obligations under the treaty bodies to which she is a party, Bangladeshs record in this regard remains poor. For human rights to be protected and enjoyed in reality, the government must go beyond seeing ratification as an end in itself and ensure the implementation of the rights and provisions contained in the human rights instruments to which it is party. For example, more than ten years after the ratification of the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the country has still not criminalised the practice of torture. Torture remains endemic in Bangladesh, in part due to the fact that there is no legal prohibition and therefore no credible deterrent to halt the use of this grave abuse. A Bill on the criminalisation of torture has been submitted to the Parliament as a Private Member’s Bill. However, its enactment remains uncertain as the government, which has more than two-third majority in the house, has not clarified its position on this issue. As such, the authorities are urged to criminalise torture without delay and invite the Special Rapporteur on torture to visit the country during its upcoming membership in the Council.
National Human Rights Commission: Bangladesh appeared to fulfil its 2006 pledge when it established an NHRC in September 2008. However, the NHRC was established as a face-saving exercise by the military-controlled government during the state of emergency. A Chairman and two Commissioners were only appointed two months later, to begin officiating in December 2008, coinciding with the end of the emergency. At present, the NHRC remains in a state of limbo.
Human Rights Defenders: Bangladesh pledged in 2006 to “Continue to promote the constructive role of the NGOs in the work of the Council and to
strive to promote effective participation of the NGOs from developing countries in the work of the Council.” In the 2009 pledges, the government claims to be cooperating with civil society representatives at the Council. However, in truth, the government has made attempts to block NGOs raising concerns about Bangladeshs human rights record during Council sessions. While the country has a large number of NGOs operating in its territory, those that seek to work on sensitive issues, such as arbitrary arrests and detention, torture or extra-judicial killings, face the prospect of becoming victims of such abuses themselves. Recent cases of raids on the offices of Odhikar, and threats against its staff for their human rights activities, speak to this, as does the case of journalist and human rights defender Mr. Tasneem Khalil, who was illegally arrested on May 11, 2007, and detained by Bangladeshs intelligence agency in Dhaka he was interrogated about his involvement in a report on extrajudicial killings by Human Rights Watch issued in 2006, during which he was tortured and received death threats. He was released following international intervention but has since been forced to leave the country for security reasons.
Anti-Corruption Commission: This body is ineffective, lacks impartiality and was used during the state of emergency as a weapon to harass politicians and businessmen. A large number of high profile persons were tried in special tribunals that did not follow due process, under complete supervision by the military. Despite claims in the 2009 pledges by the current government that it has reformed the Commission to have greater independence and authority, local civil society groups have accused the current government of applying pressure to have cases dropped. Political interference is making the Commission less able to effectively address the countrys serious problem of corruption.
Recommendations: The government of Bangladesh has an opportunity to break from the practices of the past and make substantial progress concerning the protection of human rights and its cooperation with the UN human rights system. Ultimately, this is not a question of development or resources, but one of political will. Bangladesh must go beyond simple ratification of instruments and ill-founded claims of cooperation with mechanisms at the international level, and face-saving yet ineffective measures at the national level. It must instead commit to tangible cooperation with the Council and its mechanisms and the implementation of its obligations under international law at the national level. As part of its membership in the Human Rights Council the government of Bangladesh must:
- Issue a standing invitation to all of the Councils special procedures, and enable visits of all that have requests pending, without delay, giving priority to the Special Rapporteurs on extra-judicial killings, on the independence of judges and lawyers, on the freedom of expression and on torture;
- Ensure the implementation of all recommendations made by special procedures and of all obligations under the international instruments to which Bangladesh is party;
- Ensure the full independence of the judiciary in practice, inter alia, by revoking the April 2009 amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure-1898 that allows the executive to take control of criminal cases;
- Enact a law criminalizing torture, in line with international laws and standards;
- Investigate all allegations of human rights abuses, notably arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, extra-judicial killings, violence against women and corruption, including those committed during the recent state of emergency; prosecute all those alleged to be responsible in fair trials; and provide adequate reparation to the victims and their families;
- Guarantee the personal integrity and freedom to work of all journalists and human rights defenders;
- Strengthen and provide sufficient resources and independence to the National Human Rights Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Footnotes
1 Please see Bangladeshs 2006 pledges here: http://www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/bangladesh.pdf
2 Please see Bangladeshs 2009 pledges here: http://www.alrc.net/doc/pdf/ALRC-STM-003-2009-a1-Bangladesh.pdf
