Archives

DHAKA, Monday (AFP) Bangladesh suffers from a high level of human insecurity, with a justice system biased against the poor and a lack of awareness about violence against women, a UN report said.

The report authorised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), written over several years by Bangladeshi experts, showed that the country "today is weighed down by a significant level of human insecurity," said the UNDP's representative in Dhaka, Jorgen Lissner.

The report particularly faulted the justice system, noting the high costs of legal action and lengthy delays in the process.

"The laws and practices of the criminal justice system in Bangladesh dealing with human security are anti-poor, having a far more harmful effect on the poor and disadvantaged than other sections of the society," the report said.

It said most people are "simply 'priced out of the justice system,'" with up to 70 percent of Bangladesh's 130 million people turning to poorly equipped informal courts to resolve disputes.

It said the poor were also at a disadvantage in dealings with the police and recommended more training and monitoring of security personnel to encourage them to help the poor.

The study also reported "misuse" of preventive detention under the controversial Special Powers Act, which allows authorities to detain suspects for 90 days without giving any reason.

The report called violence against women a "serious problem" and proposed that a campaign be launched to raise awareness.

Lissner called the findings "very disturbing" but stressed that it was not the fault of any single party in politically polarised Bangladesh.

"The report does not have a scope for drawing party lines as the human insecurity issue was a crisis of a nation and not a crisis of a political party," he said.

The report recommended that all segments of society work to eliminate human insecurity, including the government, political parties, academia, civil society, local communities and the private sector.

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager