United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s previous government and security and intelligence services, alongside violent elements associated with the Awami League, systematically engaged in a range of serious human rights violations during last year’s student-led protests, says a report by the UN Human Rights Office released on Wednesday. Drawing on testimony of senior officials and other evidence, it also found an official policy to attack and violently repress anti-government protesters and sympathisers, raising concerns as to crimes against humanity requiring urgent further criminal investigation. Former senior officials directly involved in handling the protests and other inside sources described how the former Prime Minister – Sheikh Hasina and other senior officials directed and oversaw a series of large-scale operations, in which security and intelligence forces shot and killed protesters or arbitrarily arrested and tortured them. Based on deaths reported by various credible sources, the report estimates that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed between 1 July and 15 August, and thousands were injured, the vast majority of whom were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces.  UN report finds widespread human rights violations by Hasina regime Of these, the report indicates that as many as 12-13 percent of those killed were children. Bangladesh Police reported that 44 of its officers were killed. The protests were triggered by the High Court’s decision to reinstate a quota system in public service jobs but were rooted in much broader grievances arising from destructive and corrupt politics and governance that had entrenched economic inequalities. To remain in power, the former government tried systematically to suppress these protests with increasingly violent means, the report finds. “The brutal response was a calculated and well-coordinated strategy by the former government to hold onto power in the face of mass opposition,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk. Dr Yunus urges Oman to reopen visas for Bangladeshi workers “There are reasonable grounds to believe hundreds of extrajudicial killings, extensive arbitrary arrests and detentions, and torture, were carried out with the knowledge, coordination and direction of the political leadership and senior security officials as part of a strategy to suppress the protests. The testimonies and evidence we gathered paint a disturbing picture of rampant State violence and targeted killings, that are amongst the most serious violations of human rights, and which may also constitute international crimes. Accountability and justice are essential for national healing and for the future of Bangladesh,” he added. At the request of the Chief Adviser Prof Mohammed Yunus, the UN Human Rights Office in September dispatched a team to Bangladesh, including human rights investigators, a forensics physician and a weapons expert, to conduct an independent and impartial fact-finding into the deadly events. The interim government extended significant cooperation with the inquiry, granted the access that was requested, and provided substantial documentation. The report found patterns of security forces deliberately and impermissibly killing or maiming protesters, including incidents where people were shot at point-blank range. The report examined in detail the emblematic case of Abu Sayed, among others, who was filmed shouting “shoot me” at police with his arms spread wide apart at a protest at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur. Using video footage, images and geo-location technology, investigators reconstructed his killing to corroborate testimonies of how it occurred. A forensic analysis concluded his injuries were consistent with his having been shot at least twice with shotguns loaded with metal pellets, from a distance of about 14 metres. The report concludes there are reasonable grounds to believe that Abu Sayed was the victim of a deliberate extrajudicial killing by the police. Having been at the forefront of the early protests, women, including protest leaders, were also subjected to arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment and attacks by security forces and Awami League supporters. The report documents gender-based violence, including physical assaults and threats of rape, aimed at deterring women from participating in protests. It also found police and other security forces killed and maimed children, and subjected them to arbitrary arrest, detention in inhumane conditions and torture. In one of several deadly cases documented, a 12-year-old protester in Dhanmondi died from internal bleeding caused by some 200 metal shot pellets. Also among those killed were very young children who were brought by their parents to protests, or who were shot as bystanders. In one case in Narayanganj, a six-year-old girl was killed by a bullet to the head while standing on the roof of her building observing violent clashes at a protest. On 5 August – the final and one of the deadliest days of the protests – a 12-year-old boy who was shot by the police in Azampur recalled that police were “firing everywhere like rainfall”. He described seeing at least a dozen dead bodies. The report also documents cases in which security forces denied or obstructed critical medical care for injured protesters, interrogated patients and collected their fingerprints in hospitals, intimidated medical personnel and seized hospital CCTV footage without due process, in an apparent effort to identify protesters and to conceal evidence of the extent of violence by State forces. It also documents troubling instances of retaliatory killings and other serious revenge violence targeting Awami League officials and supporters, police and media, as the former Government started to lose control of the country.  Hindus, Ahmadiyya Muslims and indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts were also subjected to human rights abuses. While some 100 arrests in relation to attacks on distinct religious and indigenous groups have reportedly been made, the perpetrators of many other acts of revenge violence and attacks on such groups still enjoy impunity, the report says. The report provides a detailed set of recommendations to reform the security and justice sectors, abolish a host of repressive laws and institutions designed to stifle civic and political dissent, and implement broader changes to the political system and economic governance. “The best way forward for Bangladesh is to face the horrific wrongs committed during this period, through a comprehensive process of truth-telling, healing and accountability and to redress the legacy of serious human rights violations and ensure they can never happen again,” the High Commissioner said. “My Office stands ready to assist in this vital national accountability and reform process,” he added.  

Welcoming the report by the UN Human Rights Office, Chief Adviser Prof  Muhammad Yunus has reiterated the interim government’s commitment to upholding the rule of law and called on all members of Bangladesh’s justice system, including the police, prosecutors and judges, to do the same. “I, along with everyone else working in the interim government and millions of other Bangladeshis, am committed to transforming Bangladesh into a country in which all its people can live in security and dignity,” he said on Wednesday. The interim government thanked the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for undertaking the “most thorough independent investigation” to date of the events in Bangladesh in July and August that ended the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime. As the report notes, the long years of the Hasina regime have left Bangladesh with ‘structural deficiencies’ in the law enforcement and justice sectors, said the Chief Adviser. Chief Adviser to visit Aynaghar soon The reform of these institutions is crucial to Bangladesh’s transformation into a society where its entire people can live in security and dignity, he said. “I call on everyone working inside these institutions to side with justice, the law, and the people of Bangladesh in holding to account their own peers and others who have broken the law and violated the human and civil rights of their fellow citizens.” The OHCHR made its investigation at the invitation of Bangladesh’s interim government. Its report identified extensive and grave human rights violations, including alleged extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, and disproportionate use of force by the Sheikh Hasina-led government and elements associated with the Awami League, as well as a broader array of security and intelligence agencies. Based on deaths reported by various credible sources, the report estimated that as many as 1,400 people may have been killed between 1 July and 15 August, and thousands were injured, the vast majority of whom were shot by Bangladesh’s security forces.  CA Dr Yunus to visit 'Aynaghar' soon Of these, the report indicated that as many as 12-13 percent of those killed were children. Bangladesh Police reported that 44 of its officers were killed.  

Migrant laborers who built Qatar’s World Cup stadiums often worked long hours under harsh conditions and were subjected to discrimination, wage theft and other abuses as their employers evaded accountability, a rights group said in a report released Thursday. The 75-page report by the London-based charity Equidem comes less than two weeks before the Gulf Arab nation hosts the world’s biggest sporting event, with over 1.2 million fans expected to descend on the tiny emirate for the monthlong tournament. Under heavy international scrutiny, Qatar has enacted a number of labor reforms in recent years that have been praised by Equidem and other rights groups. But advocates say abuses are still widespread and that workers have few avenues for redress. Qatari officials from the ruling emir on down accuse critics of ignoring the reforms and applying double-standards to the first Arab or Muslim nation to host the tournament. Equidem says it interviewed 60 workers over a period of two years who were employed across all eight stadiums. All of them spoke to the group on condition of anonymity, fearing retribution. Workers described illegal recruitment fees that left them deeply in debt before they even started; long working hours in the desert heat and other harsh conditions; nationality-based discrimination in which the most dangerous high-rise work was reserved for Africans and South Asians; unpaid wages and denial of overtime; and verbal and physical violence. “Fans need to know how this came about, that the stadiums that they’re sitting in (were) built by workers, many of whom were in conditions of what we would call forced labor or other forms of modern slavery,” said Namrata Raju, the lead researcher on the report. Workers said employers had various ways of avoiding accountability, with one describing how supervisors pulled the fire alarm and evacuated workers from a site before FIFA inspectors arrived. Read: FIFA World Cup 2022: All you need to know about Qatar's laws, customs Qatar bars migrant laborers from forming unions, striking or protesting, and workers said they feared retaliation — including losing their jobs or being deported — if they spoke out. “The fear of reprisal is exceedingly high,” Raju said, with workers feeling as though “two sets of eyes” are on them because of surveillance by Qatari authorities and employers. London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch have documented similar abuses. They also say that while Qatar has dismantled much of its “kafala” system, which tied workers to their employers, many laborers still face retaliation if they try to quit their jobs or go to work for someone else. As a result, some work long hours under harsh conditions for months on end without being paid. Migrant workers make up a large majority of Qatar’s population and around 95% of its labor force. They have built sprawling infrastructure at breakneck speed since Qatar won hosting rights in 2010, including the stadiums, a high-speed metro system, highways and hotels. They will serve meals, clean rooms and sweep the streets during the monthlong World Cup. An earlier Equidem report found similar labor abuses at World Cup hotels. Construction workers mainly hail from poor countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. They typically live in shared rooms in labor camps and go years without returning home or seeing their families. They labor year-round, with reduced hours during the scorching summer months, when temperatures regularly exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Read: Qatar 2022: European nations still raising human rights concerns with FIFA Qatari authorities point to a number of steps they have taken to improve labor conditions, including enacting a minimum wage of around $275 a month, limiting the workday when temperatures soar and setting up a fund to compensate workers for wage theft and other abuses. Asked to comment on the Equidem report, Qatar’s media office said authorities carried out over 3,700 inspections last month and have stepped up enforcement of labor laws, leading to a decline in violations. “Equidem should encourage the respondents in its report to lodge complaints through the proper channels if they believe a law has been broken,” it said in a statement. “With this information, the Ministry of Labor will investigate companies and take the necessary corrective action, which often includes company closures and compensation for workers.” The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the government body organizing the World Cup, said the Equidem report was “littered with inaccuracies and misrepresentations.” It said reforms introduced since 2014 “have resulted in significant improvements in accommodation standards, health and safety regulations, grievance mechanisms, healthcare provisions, and reimbursement of illegal recruitment fees to workers.” Raju said the scope of such reforms is limited by the lingering power imbalance between employers and workers. “When a system of labor discriminates between a national and a non-national and has done so for years, it means that the entire system needs to start to shift, rather than changing one law here, one law there,” she said. Read: Rights groups fear for workers as Qatar World Cup spotlight dims Rights groups worry that the power imbalance will endure and potentially worsen after the World Cup ends on Dec. 18 and the international spotlight moves on. Companies are expected to slash their payrolls once the fans depart, adding to the pressure workers face to stay in line. Equidem and other rights groups have called on Qatar to enact further reforms and for Qatar and FIFA to set up a larger fund to compensate workers who faced abuses going back to 2010, years before the existing reforms were enacted. FIFA has said it is open to the idea, which enjoys the support of several federations. Qatar says it is focused on strengthening its existing fund, which it says has paid out over $350 million this year in compensation for work-related incidents and unpaid wages. Rights groups are also calling for the establishment of a genuinely independent and representative migrant workers center as a first step toward legalizing unions and other forms of collective action, but there appears to be little movement on that front. Without urgent commitment on both, Equidem says, the World Cup “will leave a legacy of exploitation and unfulfilled promises.”

China's State Council Information Office on Monday issued the Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2021. The report said the human rights situation in the United States, which has notorious records, worsened in 2021. Its political manipulation led to a sharp surge in COVID-19 deaths while shooting deaths in the country hit a new record. Read: Human rights defenders in Myanmar under siege, say UN experts Fake democracy trampled on people's political rights and violent law enforcement made life harder for migrants and refugees in the United States, it said. The report also highlighted the country's growing discrimination against ethnic minority groups, especially people of Asian descent. Unilateral U.S. actions created new humanitarian crises across the globe, it added.

The Council of the European Union has adopted the fourth round of sanctions in view of the continuing grave situation and intensifying human rights violations in Myanmar, following the military coup in the country on February 1, 2021. The European Union on Monday said they are deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Myanmar and the evolution towards a protracted conflict with regional implications. Since the military coup, the situation has gravely deteriorated continuously. As a matter of priority, the EU reiterated its calls for an immediate cessation of all hostilities, and an end to the disproportionate use of force and the state of emergency.  Also read: EU chief: Russia could be cut off from markets, tech goods The European Union said they will continue to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.  The EU reiterated its call for the full and immediate respect of international humanitarian law. The new listings target 22 people and four entities, including government ministers, a member of the State Administrative Council and members of the Union Election Commission, as well as high-ranking members of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw).  As regards the sanctioned entities, these are either state-owned companies providing substantive resources to the Tatmadaw, or private companies closely connected to the Tatmadaw's top leadership.  These companies are Htoo Group, IGE (International Group of Entrepreneurs), Mining Enterprise 1 (ME 1) and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). Restrictive measures now apply to a total of 65 individuals and 10 entities, and include an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities. In addition, a travel ban applicable to the listed persons prevents these from entering or transiting through EU territory. Also read: ASEAN special envoy on Myanmar urged to meet Aung San Suu Kyi The existing EU restrictive measures also remain in place.  These comprise an embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression, an export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression, and a prohibition on military training for and military cooperation with the Tatmadaw. The restrictive measures come in addition to the withholding of EU financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all EU assistance that may be seen as legitimising the junta. The relevant legal acts, including the names of the persons concerned, will be published in the Official Journal.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in power since 2009, has ruled Bangladesh with a “zero tolerance to terror” policy, says an article published by The Diplomat highlighting the situation in Afghanistan.  The article written by Subir Bhaumik, a former BBC and Reuters correspondent, particularly mentioned the efforts taken following the 2016 terror strike on an upscale Dhaka restaurant that left 23, including 18 foreigners, dead.  Read:Washington recommits to strong counterterrorism partnership with Dhaka Her government has controlled the radical Islamist ecosystem with some tough policing, often triggering Western criticism over human rights violations. Despite these efforts, over the last two years, the radical Hifazat-e-Islam, which controls a huge network of Qaumi madrassas (seminaries), unleashed a series of violent street protests, the article reads.  Like the Taliban, the Hifazat-e-Islam leaders oppose women’s empowerment and demand the enactment of blasphemy laws and a Shariah-driven polity, wrote the author of five books on South Asian conflicts. They are in stark opposition to Hasina, who has restored much of her father’s secular dispensation and touted economic growth, gender empowerment, and protection of minorities, he mentioned.  The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has thus sparked fears of history repeating itself in Bangladesh, the article reads.  Dhaka has carefully reacted to the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, but its worries as the world’s third largest Muslim-majority nation are evident. “Bangladesh is carefully observing the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan, which we believe, may have an impact on the region and beyond,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. India’s leading Bangladesh watcher, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, said: “Both Bangladesh and India will have cause for worry about the situation in Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover is a huge morale booster for all Islamist radical forces, so both India and Bangladesh have to fight the threat of radicalism together,” he said. Read:Hard-and-soft approach needed to counter terrorism: CTTC chief Former Indian Foreign Secretary Krishnan Srinivasan said the “expected apprehensions” in India and Bangladesh were understandable, but he pointed to the success of both Delhi and Dhaka in fighting terror and developing economically. “The Taliban takeover is unlikely to make a material difference,” he said in an interview, insisting that India and other governments have to deal with the Taliban. “Keeping them at arm’s length for fear of terror will only be counterproductive.” Indeed, there are reports that India has begun engaging with the Taliban for the first time.  But Bangladesh’s government seems more cautious, worried that any outreach to the Taliban might boost the radicals back home, Subir Bhaumik wrote in his article titled "Taliban Takeover in Afghanistan Stokes Bangladesh’s Terrorist Fears." On August 15, 1975, a cable of army men assassinated Bangladesh’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with much of his family, he mentioned.  The military rulers who took over and ruled Bangladesh for the next 15 years legitimized the pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami, introduced constitutional amendments that undermined the country’s secular democratic polity, and finally declared Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh, wrote the journalist. On August 21, 2004, Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader and now prime minister, barely survived a grenade attack on her rally.  The attack left 24 Awami Leaguers dead and more than 500 injured. One of Hasina’s bodyguards, Mahbubur Rashid, was killed. Read: Netherlands-based Diplomat Magazine runs cover story featuring Hasina The 1975 coup was led by disgruntled junior army officers, but the 2004 grenade attack was carried out by Islamist Harkat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) militants, he mentioned.  A Dhaka court verdict on the attack held senior functionaries of the Bangladesh National Party (BNP)-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition, including Tarique Rahman, responsible for using the HUJI jihadis to wipe out the top Awami League leadership, Subir Bhaumik wrote. 

The U.S. secretary of state's accusation of genocide against China touches on a hot-button human rights issue between China and the West.

The Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) in Myanmar submitted its final report on Monday noting that war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law took place during the security operations between August 25 and September 5, 2017.