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Bangladesh human rights record remains poor: US
3/10/2006
The US State Department said Wednesday said Bangladesh human rights record remained "poor", and the government "continued to commit numerous serious abuses", reports UNB.
It pointed out extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrest, politically motivated violence and killings, impunity for security forces, physical and psychological torture, lengthy pretrial detention and restrictions on privacy.
In its Human Rights Report 2005 the State Department also mentioned "violence against and restrictions on journalists, infringement on religious freedom, extensive government corruption, violence against women and children, trafficking in women and children and limitation on workers' rights".
Secretary of State Conleezza Rice, Under Secretary Dobriansky and Assistant Secretary Lowenkron presented the State Department Human Rights Report on 196 countries on the day.
The report said security forces committed numerous extra-judicial killings. "The police, BDR and RAB used unwarranted lethal force."
It observed there was an increased number of killings by security personnel. "Nearly all abuses went uninvestigated and unpunished. The resulting climate of impunity remained a serious obstacle to ending abuses and killings. In the few instances where charges were levied, punishment of those found guilty was predominantly administrative."
According to press reports, law-enforcement agencies, including the RAB, a paramilitary group composed of personnel from different law- enforcing agencies, including the military, killed 396 persons this year.
"The deaths, all under unusual circumstances, occurred while an accused was in custody or during police operations; however, the government described the deaths of some identified criminals as occurring in crossfire between the RAB or police and criminal gangs."
The US State Department described prison conditions as abysmal that were a contributing factor to custodial deaths. According to press reports, 76 persons died in prison and 210 died while in the custody of police and other security forces.
About political prisoners, it said the government stated that it held no political prisoners. However, opposition parties and human rights monitors claimed the government arrested many political activists and convicted them on "unfounded" criminal charges (see section 1.d.). NGOs did not have access to prisoners.
On freedom of speech and press, it said the law provides for freedom of speech and press; however, in practice the government "limited" these rights.
"Individuals were not always able to criticize the government publicly without fear of reprisal, and the government often attempted to impede criticism by prohibiting or dispersing political gatherings," says the exhaustive US report largely based on newspaper reports and opposition-NGO allegations.
The report said there were no developments in the January 2004 killing of Manik Chandra Saha, president of the Khulna press club, the June 2004 killing of the Daily Janmabhumi editor, or the October 2004 killing of Dipanker Chakrabarty, editor of the Daily Durjoy Bangla.
On torture and other cruel, Inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, the report alleged the RAB, and police routinely employed physical and psychological torture as well as "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" during arrests and interrogations.
The report said law-enforcement personnel accused of rape and torture generally were not investigated. In some cases police detained women in safe custody after they reported a rape, which often translated as confinement into jail cells where they endured poor conditions and were sometimes "abused and raped again".
On freedom of religion, the report said "discrimination against members of religious minorities" existed at both governmental and societal levels, and religious minorities were disadvantaged in practice in such areas as access to government jobs, political office, and access to justice.
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