Abu Abbas Bhuiyan, the mass education secretary of the Bangladesh
Chhatra League’s central committee, will file a case today against five
persons including Lutfozzamman Babar, former state minister for home
affairs.
The case will be filed with the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate of Dhaka.
Abbas
was arrested on charge of being involved in the attack on the late
Humayun Azad on February 27 in 2004, and was later severely tortured in
custody.
Different
organisations yesterday expressed shock at the death of 21 garment
workers in a fire at a sweater factory in Bhogra of Gazipur on Thursday.
Bangladesh
Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) expressed a
deep grief for the incident and took decision to give Tk 2 lakh for
each family of the deceased. The organisation will also give free
medical treatment to injured workers.The BGMEA has taken decision to
provide employment in garments factories for the family members of the
21 dead workers. It has declared 3-day mourning programmes.
Leaders
of National Garments Workers Federation yesterday at a protest rally at
Muktangan demanded compensation of Tk 5 lakh for each of the deceased
workers family. Terming the incident as 'killing of workers', they
demand arrest the owner of the factory.
Amirul Haque Amin presided over the programme which was addressed, among others, by Safia Parvin, Faruk Khan and Sultana Akter.
Shirin
Akter, president of Bangladesh Jatiya Srimak Jote and its general
secretary Md Nur Khan, Umme Hasan Jhalmal, president and Mahbuba Akter
Lipi, general secretary of Bangladesh Jatiya Nari Sramik Jote, Rokeya
Sultana Anju, presidentand SM Masud Rana, general secretary of
Bangladesh Jatiya Garments Sramik Jote in a joint statement yesterday
expressed a deep shock at the death of garments workers at Gazipur.
Bangladesh: Monthly Human Rights Report (March 2010)
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) Monthly Human Rights Report
Bangladesh, March 2010
Bangladesh made history this month when
becoming the first South Asian country to ratify the ICC Rome Statute
(International Criminal Court) on the 23rd of March. GHRD welcomes this
important step towards promoting international justice. However, during
the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Election held on the 24th and 25th of
March none of the four minority candidates, one of them being GHRD’s
local observer Mr. Rabindra Ghosh, was selected. There were three
panels from different political affiliations including Awami League and
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Several incidents of religious
attacks that occurred during the month bore witness to the rising
tension between the different religious groups in Bangladesh.
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) Monthly Human Rights Report
Bangladesh, February 2010
The 8th of March 2010, marks the occasion of
the International Women’s Day (IWD), which is celebrated worldwide. It
was launched by the UN in 1913 as a means of promoting and protecting
the equal rights of women globally. Incidents of violence against
minority women, such as rape and abduction, were reported during
February, in Bangladesh. In most of these cases the perpetrators were
in a more powerful position than the victims as they were members of
law enforcement agencies or political parties. Highly corrupt legal
institutions is one of the main causes for the lack of a proper
protection system for Bangladeshi citizens and women’s marginalised
situation in Bangladesh, due to religious traditions, social injustice,
thus making them more vulnerable. The widespread impunity in cases
regarding violence against women encourages these continuous
violations. There is still a high level of sexual harassment in
Bangladesh, which is detailed in Odhikar’s month report. For example,
there was an incident reported about a Dalit woman who was raped by a
policeman.
