HR of minority groups improves

Human rights of the minority community have slightly improved in 2010 in the country due to some effective steps of the government, according to a recent human rights report.

The report said 2010 saw some improvement for minorities as members of minorities held several important positions of the government and some steps were taken towards controlling the curriculum of Madrasha.

Global Human Rights Defense (GHRD) and Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) jointly prepared the report titled ‘Human Rights Report 2010: Minorities in Bangladesh’, which was released at Dhaka Reporter
s Unity yesterday morning.

The report discussed key human rights issues and specific incidents of abuse against women and minorities during January to November 2010. Among them, 50 incidents were investigated.

The government is yet to publish its list of returnable property pursuant to the proposed Vested Property Return Act, aiming at returning occupied property to Hindus that was grabbed under the Enemy Property Act, the report said.

It found that despite the ruling party’s election pledge to end all extra-judicial killings, torture and deaths at the hands of state authorities has persisted. In December the High Court reaffirmed the government’s declared sediment that all extra-judicial killings must be brought to end.

The report said the government has failed to implement integral clauses of 1997 Chittagong Hill Tract Peace Accord, aiming at bring peace in the CHT. Land disputes and lack of protection of indigenous rights to land remain the main cause of conflict in the CHT.

The report said religious, ethnic and social minorities are facing various forms of discrimination and violence. It was observed that within minority groups, children and women are particularly vulnerable.

In 2010, GHRD and BIHR investigated violence perpetrated against mainly religious and ethnic minorities as well as Dalits (untouchable) and women.

The perpetrators of violence against minorities were often in a superior socio-economic position, or they were local criminals, and sometimes they belong to extremist groups or youth parties, the report said.

In some cases, involvement of ruling party members or politicians were also reported or alleged. In most of the cases the victims had a little assistance from police, who in some instances even assisted the perpetrators, the report said.

It suggested ensuring effective, independent, prompt investigation of human rights violation to bring those responsible for the violation before court and provide access to justice and rehabilitation for the victims.

The report also suggested fulfilling all obligations in relation to the CHT peace treaty and declare a clear process and timeline for effective implementation of the accord; fully implementation of the UN declaration on rights on indigenous people (2007).

The report recommended amending the Prevention and Repression against Women and Children Act 2000 so that it is fully in harmony with international human rights standards.

The other recommendations include taking stronger efforts to enforce promises to end extra-judicial punishments, including village arbitration and killings; and implementation of the Human Rights Defender Protection Act.