The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) on Monday demanded time-bound actions to implement the CHT Peace Accord.The rights body also urged the government to take immediate measures to ensure the land rights of indigenous people, and appoint an acceptable head of the CHT Land Commission to remove the longstanding land disputes in the hilly region.
“HRFB is apprehensive about the failure of the relevant authorities to address violations of fundamental rights of indigenous communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, including instances of rape of indigenous women and minors and lack of deterrent action through neutral and transparent investigations,” HRFB president Advocate Sultana Kamal told a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity.
About the ongoing war crimes trial, she said the forum demanded that the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of worst forms of crimes in 1971 for too long be effectively challenged and that justice be done in accordance with law and due process. “We also raised concerns about the rights of the families of the victims and those who have been demanding justice.”
Sultana Kamal urged all parties to refrain from politicising the trial process, and ensure the highest standard of integrity and credibility of the judicial process.
Describing the present human rights situation of the country, the HRFB president said, “We expect the police and law enforcement agencies to act as protectors of human rights; it is not in our interest to undermine their role but the government has to take steps to end impunity for torture, custodial torture and enforced disappearances of its citizens.”
Sultana Kamal said the government has undermined the human rights of 151 Bangladesh citizens who have disappeared at the hands of law enforcement officials between January 2009 and June 2012.
“The HRFB is deeply concerned that law enforcement agencies have reportedly continued to be responsible for such killings, custodial torture and disappearances,” said Sultana Kamal, also the executive director of Ain o Shalish Kendra.
She stressed the need for taking concrete preventive and punitive measures to bring to justice those who are responsible and address the impunity of law enforcement agencies such as the Rapid Action Battalion.
The forum also drew attention to instances of violence against women and domestic violence, rights of women, children and the disabled, rights of religious minorities and indigenous communities, and the situation of Rohingya refugees. UNB
