Amnesty chief faults Bangladesh Government on rights
BANGLADESH, Bangladesh's army-backed emergency government has failed
to protect human rights and hold itself accountable over its anti-graft
drive since taking power a year ago, Amnesty International says.
The caretaker government put democracy on hold when it ousted the
country's feuding politicians last January following a stand-off between
the two main political parties over vote-rigging allegations.
Elections scheduled for January 22 last year were cancelled after
months of crippling protests and violence, and the new authorities
pledged to clean up Bangladesh's notoriously graft-ridden politics
before holding new polls later this year.
But Amnesty secretary general Irene Khan told AFP in an interview
that the interim body had not governed in a transparent way, and had
failed to tackle the impunity with which law enforcers committed human
rights abuses.
"Our most important concerns are the persistence of impunity and that
major human rights violations are not investigated and the perpetrators
are not prosecuted," said Khan during a week-long visit to the
impoverished country.
"Then there is the issue of failures in protecting human rights over
the past year," she said, adding that she had heard first-hand accounts
of abuse of power, arbitrary detention and mistreatment from victims in
the capital Dhaka and the northern city of Rajshahi. Although many
similar cases had occurred in 2006 and before, these latest ones were in
2007, she said.
The government has never given figures for the number of people
detained under its corruption crackdown, although it is known around 150
high-profile figures were arrested.
Some, including former ministers, have been given lengthy jail
sentences by fast-track tribunals not open to the press or public.
The country's two most recent prime ministers - Khaleda Zia and
Sheikh Hasina Wajed - are still in detention. "This government made a
pledge to create greater transparency and accountability with the
anti-corruption drive, but on many occasions they have not been very
transparent about what they are doing," Khan said.
Khan is due to meet army chief General Mooen U. Ahmed and head of the
caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed during her visit.
Rajshahi, Tuesday, AFP |
