HR Report on Bangladesh
US slates killings, torture by lawmen
The US government yesterday denounced the Bangladesh government over the latter’s “most significant” human rights problems, including killing and torture by security forces and their abuses that are responsible for disappearances and custodial deaths.
“An increasingly politicised judiciary exacerbated problems in an already overwhelmed judicial system and constrained access to justice for members of opposition parties,” said the US Human Rights Reports 2011, released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.
The report said impunity continued to be a serious problem in several areas. Most members of the security forces acted with impunity, the Rapid Action Battalion in particular.
On extrajudicial killings, it said members of the security forces committed numerous such killings. Police, Border Guard Bangladesh forces and the Rab at times used unwarranted lethal force. Allegations about the Rab’s arbitrary actions were numerous.
“The government did not take comprehensive measures to investigate cases of security force killings,” said the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in its Bangladesh section.
The report, however, mentioned that politically motivated violence has decreased from the previous year.
On disappearances and kidnappings, the report said such incidents, many allegedly by the security services, increased during the year, but precise figures were unavailable.
Also, widespread official corruption remained a serious problem and related impunity continued.
“Punishment of officials who committed abuses was predominantly limited to officials perceived to be opponents of the AL-led government.”
The government also infringed on citizens’ privacy rights, it added.
“There were instances in which the government limited freedom of speech and press, self-censorship continued, and security forces harassed journalists.
“The government curbed freedom of assembly, and politically motivated violence remained a problem.”
The report also said violence against children remained a serious problem, as did human trafficking.
“Societal violence against religious and ethnic minorities persisted, although many government and civil society leaders stated that these acts often had political or economic motivations and could not be attributed only to religious belief or affiliation,” it added.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
