Dhaka, Mar 21 (V7N) -The Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) members have proposed the government for a specific time-bound roadmap to implement the recommendations of the UN report as an international document to prevent similar incidents like the July uprising in the future.
These demands, including the formulation of recommendations, were raised at a press conference organized by the Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) at the Midas Center in Dhaka on Thursday.
The organization's members have asked for abolishing the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), not involving the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in anything other than border-related matters, limiting the work of the DGFI to military intelligence activities, and abolishing the surveillance-based organization National Telecommunication Monitoring Center (NTMC).
Speakers at the press conference said that the investigative team of the United Nations Human Rights Office has prepared a report on human rights violations during the student and public movements in Bangladesh from July 1 to August 15, 2024.
UN human rights chief Falk Turk and others highlighted various aspects of the report at a press conference in Geneva on February 12.
In that report, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) made a set of recommendations regarding the security forces, judiciary, political system, and economic governance.
The report contains 43 recommendations in five sections, including recommendations to abolish the elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), limit the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to border security only, and restrict the Defense Intelligence Directorate to military intelligence activities only.
HRFB member Iftekharuzzaman said: " If our concerns and demands, which have been raised for a long time, had been met and properly considered by the relevant authorities, this report would not have been necessary. In fact, the way authoritarianism developed in Bangladesh would not have happened."
Highlighting that the Reform Commission has released six reports, with five more to be published, he said: "To my knowledge, the recommendations of the six reports, including the five upcoming ones, are similar to those in the UN report."
He also said: "They have recognized our long-standing concerns in an international document. If we think about prevention and the future, we want to give the highest priority to the recommendations for prevention"
At the same time, he demanded a specific, time-bound roadmap from the government to formulate the recommendations mentioned in the report.
He said: "RAB must be dissolved, BGB must be in the Border Guard, The DGFI must be limited to military intelligence activities and the military authority of Ansar VDP must be stopped. At the same time, the NTMC must also be abolished. Following international standards, especially in violation of basic human rights, we must withdraw from any such surveillance."
Highlighting some of the limitations of the UN report, Iftekharuzzaman said: "All reports have limitations. We have pointed that out. We have raised it so that the issues do not fade away. We have raised it to ensure that these issues remain within our focus or attention in the reform programs or state reform plans we are carrying out."
Mentioning that the judiciary is not yet independent, Blast Director Md Barkat Ali said: " We had hoped to see the judiciary at least somewhat independent, but that hope has not been fulfilled. The long-standing mess may not be resolved in two days, but there should have been some initiative, which has yet to come."
Women's representative Rowshan Ara said: "The UN report says that it needs to be investigated further, but who will do that?"
She further said: "We have heard that sufficient donations are coming for those who have been injured. A plan has been made for that. So that the injured can return to a healthy life. But how much of that is actually happening?"
Tamanna Haque, coordinator of the Law and Arbitration Center, presented the recommendations of the UN report in a written statement at the press conference.
Zakir Hossain, CEO of Nagorik Udyog, Ranjan Karmakar, executive director of Steps Towards Development, and Shamsul Huda, executive director of ALRD, spoke there.
It is worth noting that HRFB is a coalition of 20 human rights and development organizations; this alliance works to eliminate inequality and discrimination.
This forum has been monitoring human rights processes related to Bangladesh at the United Nations since 2007, while also working to protect human rights within Bangladesh.
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