The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRPB), a human rights body,  has expressed deep concern and demand fair probe into the death of a domestic worker after falling from the eight-floor of the building in the city's Mohammadpur. Priti Urang, 15-year-old daughter of  tea worker of Mittinga village in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district Lokesh Urang, used to work as domestic help at the house of Daily Star executive editor Syed Ashfaqul Haque in the capital’s Mohammadpur and died falling from journalist’s flat on February 7. Police arrested journalist Ashfaqul and his wife Tania Khandaker on that day. Effects of Domestic Violence on Children A court also sent them to jail after rejecting their bail petition. The court permitted police to interrogate them at the jail gate for three days. Prity had been working at the house of Ashfaqul for two years. Meanwhile, the HRFB also placed some demands to ensure security of the domestic workers. These are—stopping use of children as domestic help, taking initiative from both the government and private organisations in this regard, implementing the House help safety and welfare policy 2015 and to enact a law, enlist the work of domestic workers under risk sector and taking  effective steps to strengthen the registration process of domestic workers from the state-run organisations. Twitter, UN Women team up to provide life-saving info to domestic violence survivors Besides, Naripakkho, a women rights organization, demanded a fair probe into the death of Priti and punishment of those involved in the death. It also urged the government to take steps so that the culprits do not get acquittal using power and effective steps to stop recurrence of such incident. Tea workers on Sunday demanded a fair investigation into the death of Priti Urang. During a programme, Priti's parents told the gathering that Priti went to work at the Daily Star executive editor Ashfaqul Haque's house through Moulvibazar district correspondent representative of the newspaper Mintu Deshwara. MJF expresses concern over rising domestic violence From the beginning, they lost touch with her. In two years, they could not meet her even once. “On the day of Priti's death, Mintu Deshwara asked us to come to Srimangal," said Lokesh, the father. "When Srimangal came, he said Priti was seriously ill and was taken to Dhaka. After going there, we were directly taken to the police station and heard the news of the girl's death. I came home with the dead body of the girl from the police station.” "We don't even know whether our case has been registered at the police station. We just want justice for our daughter's murder," he said. Speakers said that instead of sending the child Priti to school, tea garden journalist Mintu Deshwara, who works for the Daily Star, sent her to work at the residence of Syed Ashfaqul Haque, executive editor of the same newspaper.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin on Thursday said the Chief Justice has nothing to do with the situation created over the  Supreme Court Bar Association(SCBA) election.  “Chief Justice said it is not our matter. It is a bar’s (Lawyers’ Association) matter. Senior lawyers of the bar association should sit for discussion to resolve the problem,” he told reporters after a meeting with Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique. Responding a question whether the election environment is good, the attorney general said that to keep the environment peaceful, both of the sides have the responsibilities equally. “If one side snatches the ballot papers and another side obstructs, then how will environment be fine?” “BNP supporters raise demand for re-election. But election is going smoothly and hundreds of lawyers are casting votes standing in queues,” he added. Earlier, a section of Pro-BNP lawyers presented yesterday's incident of police action on them on the premises of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) before a full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique. Meanwhile, pro-BNP lawyers are still chanting slogans against the election which is underway today while pro-Awami League lawyers are also chanting slogan supporting the election. At least 10 journalists and lawyers were injured as police charged batons on them at the Supreme Court premises amid scuffle between pro-Awami League and pro BNP lawyers over the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) election on Wednesday. The two-day voting in SCBA election started around 10 am but it was suspended immediately when some pro-BNP lawyers staged demonstrations demanding formation of election conducting committee led by a neutral person.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the government wants to ensure justice for all with prompt disposal of cases, and ensure transparency and accountability in the country. “We want every citizen of the country to get justice. We want prompt disposal of cases. We want to ensure transparency and accountability… we want to establish that environment,” she said. The prime minister said this while addressing the inaugural session of the 59th Annual Council of Bangladesh Judicial Service Association at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC). Sheikh Hasina said the government is working tirelessly to ensure the wellbeing of people — for a bright and secured future for them. “Let us ensure rule of law for the people of Bangladesh, so they can have a better life. We will establish Bangladesh that was dreamt by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” she said. Read more: Zia, Ershad and Khaleda Zia turned Bangladesh into a ‘nation of beggars’: PM The prime minister said that members of the parliament have passed laws alongside making amendments to ensure security and welfare of the people while judges are ensuring justice for all. “As long as I am in power, I will do whatever necessary for the development of the judiciary,” she said. She said her government has formed special tribunals to dispose cases filed under the antiterrorism act. If the trials of anti-terrorism cases end quickly, those involved in terrorism will be discouraged, she hoped. The PM said patterns of terrorism and militancy have changed with the advent of newer technologies, and crimes are being enabled by technology. “We have enacted a law to contain cybercrimes. Many people say many things, but the fact is that law is necessary as the number of cybercrimes has gone up immensely,” she said. She called upon all, including parents, teachers, and religious leaders, to be involved in anti-terrorism and anti-militancy awareness campaigns across the country. “We have to pay special attention so that no chid gets involved in militancy,” she added. Referring to militant attacks in Jhalakathi and Gazipur courts, she said her government has taken measures so that judges can return home safely after delivering verdicts. The PM said as many as 101 tribunals are now working across the country to deal with cases of women and children repression; seven tribunals are assigned to work on human trafficking cases. To bring dynamism in the judiciary, she said a total of 1227 judges were appointed in the lower courts since 2009 till date, while a process is underway to recruit 200 judges more. Read more: Anti-liberation forces and killers of Bangabandhu are always trying to make Bangladesh a ‘failed state’: PM to AL activists Recalling the contribution of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the development of the judiciary, she said Bangabandhu had scrapped a Pakistani era law, paving the way for appointing women in the judiciary. The prime minister urged judges to consider the situation before Awami League assumed power in 1996, saying, “You (judges) will see a complete change.” She said her government has continued the trial of war criminals, confronting obstacles at home and abroad, adding that she had received many international phone calls, including from heads of states, when her government initiated measures to try war criminals. The prime minister thanked Judge Golam Rasul for his bravery in delivering the judgement over the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, overcoming many hurdles. She said the BNP-Jamaat alliance called hartal on the verdict day (November 8, 1998). The BNP-Jamaat alliance government later awarded the killers of Bangabandhu by posting them in foreign missions and rehabilitated them in politics, she said. She also said military dictator Ziaur Rahman freed 11,000 war criminals from jails to stop the trial of the anti-liberation elements that was initiated by the Father of the Nation. The prime minister vowed to build a developed, prosperous 'Smart Bangladesh' by 2041 to give the people a better life. Law Minister Anisul Huq, Law Secretary Md. Golam Sarwar and Bangladesh Judicial Service Association President AHM Habibur Rahman Bhuiyan also spoke at the programme. A documentary on judicial service was screened at the programme.

Naheed Ezaher Khan was only five years old in 1977 when she saw her father’s body. He was killed like hundreds of other military officers during Gen Ziaur Rahman’s military regime. Her last memory of her father is a body perforated with bullets – that imagery still haunts her, even after 45 years. The murder spree went on following the takeover of Gen Ziaur Rahman who ordered killing, by hanging or on firing squad, of the army and air force officers charged with a coup attempt on October 2, 1977. Still deprived of justice, she recounted her ordeals at an event held in Cumilla on December 10, marking Human Rights Day 2022, where several other victim families also pleaded for justice. Read: Experts want independent commission to bring August 15 perpetrators to justice Recounting the days overcast with gloom following her father's death, Naheed said, "Hearing the news, my mother talked to Gen Ziaur Rahman to bury my father through proper religious rituals and with state honor befitting a military officer safeguarding his nation with due diligence and a freedom fighter fighting for the independence of this land." All their pleas fell on deaf ears of the military ruler who fortified his position as the country's ruler after the assassination of the Father of the Nation in 1975. The death of her father slipped their family into an abyss of despair as they were treated like traitors despite her father's contribution as a freedom fighter and a military officer. She and her sibling were even refused admission in schools as the tag of being “children of a death sentence awardee” hung around their life. Naheed Ezaher Khan is one of over 1,000 family members of the officers, murdered on the same occasion, who teamed up under the banner of “Ma-er Kanna” (Mother’s Tears) to demand the restoration of the honor snatched away from them and posthumous trial of Ziaur Rahman. Gen Zia, in his six years’ stint, oversaw execution of at least 1500 officers who were freedom fighters.  Journalist Zayadul Ahsan Pintu, who is known for his research on post-1975 killings of the members of the armed forces, had said that the then military tribunal judges used to read out pre-written judgment signed by the Gen Ziaur Rahman. Hundreds of mothers, wives, sisters, and brothers made frantic effort to see or locate the remains of the deceased, but to no avail. Read: 'Progress in ensuring justice for Rohingyas moves at snail's pace' Ziaur Rahman, who mercilessly hanged countless officers suspected of coup, mercifully protected, through an indemnity ordinance, the self-proclaimed killers of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose death marked the beginning of the darkest chapter in the country's history. Another woman, Laila Anjuman, shed tears even after all these years as her spouse Flight Sergeant Tofazzal Hossain was picked up from the cantonment a year and a half into their wedding. She lashed out at Ziaur Rahman, who “hanged her husband in the guise of suppressing a so-called rebellion”. She had married Tofazzal and had a six-month-old baby at the time of her husband's death. The most heart-wrenching part is that she is yet to show her child where her husband's grave is.  Legal experts heavily criticize the fact that the bodies were not returned to their families after the death sentences were executed, which is a rare cruelty.

International community and States Parties of Rome Statute need to stand resolutely with Bangladesh in securing sustainable return of the Rohingya people to their homeland, Myanmar, speakers told a discussion in the city. They underlined it at an event during the 21st (annual) Assembly of the States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague on Friday. The event titled ‘Justice for the Rohingyas and No Peace without Justice’ was co-hosted by the Bangladesh Embassy to the Netherlands, the Government of Gambia.  Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands, M Riaz Hamidullah, Deputy Prosecutor of ICC, Nazhat Shameem Khan, President of Burma Rohingya Organisation UK, Tun Khin, former member of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Amb. Laetitia Van Den Assum, and Gambian Solicitor General, Hussein Thomasi, spoke at the event. Read more: ‘US glad over beginning resettlement programme for Rohingya refugees’ Ambassador Hamidullah said that in securing a lasting solution within the new federal structure of Myanmar, issues relating to the Rohingya people as also other ethnic minorities in Myanmar merit attention in inclusive and transparent ways.  As the regional grouping, civil society actors, think-tank, academia within ASEAN region need to look at situation in Myanmar to ensure the region's collective stability and prosperity. Aside from humanitarian assistance, political solutions should be equally in focus, he added.  The Rohingya leader Thun Khin appreciated Bangladesh for hosting Rohingya and in their fight for justice for the Rohingya.  He shared the significance of universal jurisdiction and an investigation in an Argentine Court a key step in securing justice for the Rohingyas. He also urged more countries to consider such cases. Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Khan shared the progress on investigation on the ICC Case inquiring war crimes against Rohingyas.  The Gambian Solicitor General said that The Gambia itself had been a victim of two decades of authoritarian rule and thus valued the Rohingya issue in initiating the procedure at the ICJ as a member of the Genocide Convention. Read more: US working to increase resettlement of Rohingyas from Bangladesh: Blinken  Ambassador Laetitia Assum said that the ground situation in Myanmar continues to escalate since the military coup two years ago.  She viewed that as most ASEAN countries do not share a border with Myanmar, they do not sufficiently understand the burden on the neighboring countries. 

Students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) on Tuesday (November 08, 2022) formed a human chain on campus, demanding justice for fellow student Fardin Noor Parash’s death. The human chain, under the banner of general students, was formed in front of BUET Shaheed Minar after Fardin’s namaz-e-janaza at the campus Central Mosque. The students demanded immediate arrest of those behind Fardin’s death after identifying them. Read: Injury marks on head, body of Buet student Fardin: Doctor who conducted autopsy Fardin’s body was brought to Buet campus after autopsy this morning.

Students of Government Science School and College today (September 12, 2022) blocked roads in Dhaka’s Farmgate area, demanding safe roads and protesting the death of a fellow student in a road accident in Tejgaon area yesterday. A number of students of the school took to the street around 11:50 am, in front of the Farmgate Police Box, demanding road safety, according to the UNB photographer. Read “No single nation can address evolving tech-based crimes on its own”

Experts have emphasised creating an independent commission to bring those involved in the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family on August 15, 1975, to justice. A commission will have to be formed with retired judges, senior advocates, senior journalists and people who actively participated in the Liberation War of 1971, they added. The experts called for completing the execution procedure of the absconders living abroad. They were speaking at the discussion "The Killing of Bangabandhu: The Conspirators, the Executors and the Ultimate Justice" organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA) and Bangla Worldwide jointly Saturday in Dhaka. Read: August 15: Remembering the Father of the Nation on Mourning Day Author of the Proclamation of Independence Barrister M Amir-ul Islam, chairman of BILIA, Professor Mizanur Rahman, director of BILIA, Barrister Tania Amir, Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury, Professor Muntassir Mamun, Professor Harun-Ur-Rashid, Ali Wazed Zafar, Ishfaq Ilahi Choudhury, Rokeya Kabir, Professor Kamrul Hasan Khan and Professor Biswajit Chanda spoke at the event.

Two journalists of a private television channel came under attack when they went to a trading house in Agargaon Taltola in the city to take the views of the management on allegations against the company.      Police, however, detained seven people, including the owner of Victor Trading Corporation in connection with the attack on Saiful Islam Jewel, the staff reporter of private television DBC News, and camera person Azad Ahmed.  The incident took place at around 1:00 pm on Tuesday when the two TV journalists went to the office of Victor Trading Corporation near Taltola Bazar to gather news about irregularities and corruption in the purchase of medical equipment.   Witnesses said Kawsar Bhuiyan, owner of Victor Trading Corporation, along with his men resorted to attack them and at one stage, they also forced the camera person to delete the footage they had captured.  Injured journalist Saiful Islam Jewel said that when they went there for collecting news, at first the camera person of DBC, Azad Ahmed, was beaten, the camera was vandalized and the video footage was deleted forcibly. Later, when they wanted the camera back, 10-12 men belonging to Kawsar brutally beat up Jewel and Azad. Both of them were seriously injured.  Also read: Journalist attacked in Faridpur; one held Colleagues of Saiful Jewel said that they were rescued from the spot and treated at Shaheed Suhrawardy Media College Hospital in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. A complaint has been lodged at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar police station in this regard.  Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) in a statement condemned the attack on the two journalists and demanded the government's intervention to ensure examplorary punishment of the perpetrators.  CRAB's President Mirza Mehdi Tamal and general secretary Asaduzzaman Biku, along with the leaders of the executive committee, expressed strong condemnation and concern over the attack on the two journalists. In addition, the leaders requested the intervention of the government to ensure that those concerned are immediately brought under the law and exemplary punishment for obstructing the professional work of journalists. 

BNP on Saturday alleged that the government has unleashed a fascist and repressive rule in the country by shutting down all the avenues of justice for people. In a statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “The illegal regime that usurped the state power is now repressing people like a fascist.  In this case, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing are the main weapons of the ruling quarter.” He also said people belonging to opposition parties, including BNP, are being killed selectively in the name of different drives across the country. “All the avenues of justice for people have been closed in the country.” The statement was issued on the occasion of the United Nations’ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to be observed across the country on Sunday. Read: AL govt has become enemy of people: Fakhrul Fakhrul said the government has imposed the one-party misrule on the country since it has no accountability to people.  “Evil attempts are being made to regulate the media through intimidation and threats. “Freedom of the press is now completely at stake,” he said. Stating that the country is going through a tough time, the BNP leader said political leaders, human rights activists, political analysts who are vocal in favour of democracy are being subjected to oppression, enforced disappearance and killing. He said the government has continued filing 'false' cases against BNP leaders and activists and dissidents and arresting them. “All the achievements and progress of the nation are now being lost in the darkness. Democracy is being hit the hardest by the continuance of oppression. We have to remove this anarchy,” Fakhrul said. Read: Padma Bridge symbol of Bangladesh’s “economic strength, confidence” He alleged that BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has been kept under house arrest by convicting her in completely untrue and fabricated cases out of the government’s vengeance. “Despite the fact that our leader is very ill, the government is not giving her any scope to go abroad for proper such treatment. Her life has been put in danger for lack of advanced treatment,” the BNP leader said. He urged the democracy-loving people of the country to get united and put up a resistance against all forms of oppression.