The European Parliament has called on all parties in Bangladesh not to boycott the coming parliament elections as it would deprive citizens of a political choice and undermine the country’s social and economic stability and its impressive development progress.
The parliament called on the Election Commission to organise and oversee the next general elections in a fully transparent manner; supported the recognition of new political parties that intend to participate in the next general elections and meet reasonable criteria for political participation and representation.
It also called on all political parties to refrain from any violence or instigation of violence during the electoral process and to prevent a repetition of the politically motivated violent clashes that occurred in the first half of 2013.
It recognised Bangladesh’s reputation as a tolerant and multi-confessional society, and condemned groups and factions trying to stir up inter-community tensions for their own ends; called on all groups and individuals to exercise tolerance and restraint, especially in the lead-up to, during, and after the elections.
It has expressed its serious concerns over the recent flare-up of politically motivated violence that left dozens of people dead at the end of October 2013.
The 15-point resolution on Bangladesh: Human Rights and Forthcoming Elections was adopted in Brussels on November 21.
In the resolution, the EU parliament regretted the fact that the Bangladeshi parliament did not manage to achieve an all-party consensus for the exercise of power by the government in the pre-election period, bearing in mind that most democracies manage this phase without a caretaker government.
It urgently called on the Bangladeshi government and the opposition to put Bangladesh’s best interests first and to find a compromise which would give the Bangladeshi people a chance to express their democratic will.
The EU parliament expressed its serious concern over the continuing paralysis of everyday life in Bangladesh as a result of general strikes organised by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami and the confrontation between the two political camps in the run-up to the elections.
It acknowledged the need for reconciliation, justice and accountability for the crimes committed during the 1971 war of independence and it stressed and supported the important role of the International Crimes Tribunal in this respect.
The parliament, however, deplored the increasing numbers on death row in Bangladesh and the mass death sentences handed down in the trials of those involved in the 2009 border guard mutiny and insisted on the application of national and international standards relating to fair trials and due process.
The parliament reiterated its strong opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances, and called on the competent authorities in Bangladesh to introduce an official moratorium on executions as a first step towards the abolition of capital punishment.
It called on the Bangladesh government to restore the enabling environment for civil society organisations, including human rights defenders, which has contributed much to Bangladesh’s development, so that they can carry out their activities freely.
The parliament urged the Bangladeshi authorities to carry out prompt, independent and transparent investigations into cases involving violations of the rights of human rights defenders, including threats, attacks, killings, torture and ill-treatment, in order to identify all those responsible and bring them to justice, underlined, in particular, the case of labour leader Aminul Islam, as well as those of journalists Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi.
It welcomed the joint initiative by the government of Bangladesh and the International Labour Organisation, in collaboration with government, employers’ and workers’ representatives, on ‘Improving Working Conditions in the Ready-Made Garment Sector’; urged European and other international clothing brands to fulfil the promises and pledges made in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse.
The EU parliament called on the Bangladeshi government to scrap the 30 per cent ‘representative’ requirement for the registration of trade unions, to extend the scope of the Labour Act to cover categories of workers currently excluded, to adopt a prohibition on employers interfering in internal trade union affairs, to extend the scope of the Labour Act to apply to export processing zones, and to grant collective bargaining rights to Workers’ Welfare Associations (WWA), while making it easier to register WWAs.
-With New Age input
