Candidates for Under-Secretary-General for UN Women: Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is among the 25 candidates »

September 8, 2010

There are 25 candidates for the position of Under Secretary General for the new UN agency on women that is replacing the various agencies focused on women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming within the United Nations.

The complete list of candidates can be found here.

http://www.unelections.org/files/WFM-IGP_CandidatesforUNWomen_1Sept10.pdf

11th August is Salma Sobhan’s Birth Day »

August 5, 2010

We are happy to inform you that the 73rd birth anniversary of our beloved Salma Apa, Founder Executive Director of ASK is on the 11 August 2010. A program has been chalked out with the participation of ASK staff members to mark to the anniversary at ASK premises at 4 pm.

You are cordially invited.

In historic move, UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment »

July 6, 2010

In historic move, UN creates single entity to promote women’s empowerment

CHT Commission Memo to PM »

June 28, 2010

Sharia Law in Britain »

June 20, 2010

Sharia Law in Britain: A Threat to One Law for All and Equal Rights

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) handed over documented evidence of war crimes »

April 8, 2010

War Crimes Trial
Probe agency gets more evidence

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights organisation, and Muktijoddha Sangsad Central Command Council yesterday handed over documented evidence of war crimes to the chief of the investigation agency.

ASK Executive Director Sultana Kamal handed over various documents including a documentary titled “Al Badr”, a book named “Juddhaparadh” and reports on women repression in 1971 to the Chief Investigator Abdul Matin at his office.
She also gave a gazette notification issued by the then Pakistani government on the formation and duties of razakars (collaborators) during the Liberation War.

"Ain o Salish Kendra has been demanding the trial of war criminals since the 90’s and collecting information regarding war crimes since then. Today, we handed over those documents and I think these will help the authority in their investigations," Sultana Kamal told reporters.

ASK also handed over some photographs of genocide, Al Badrs, razakars and peace committee members and a list with names of razakars and Al Badrs including their offences committed during the liberation war.

The chief investigator told reporters that all the documents would help them a lot for holding the trial.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=133504

Three-day children’s exhibition titled ‘My Country’ »

March 26, 2010

Bengal Gallery of File Arts is delighted to invite you to the inaugural ceremony of a three-day children’s exhibition titled‘My Country’ on 1 April 2010, Thursday at 5.30 pm. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with Ain O Shalish Kendra, features artworks by a group of underprivileged children.

Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) is a leading Human Rights Organization in Bangladesh and is  working to provide legal and other help to disenfranchised women, men and children. Child Right Unit of ASK provides non-formal education to underprivileged children and is trying to develop their merit through various cultural activities.

H. E. Ms. Ingebjorg Stofring, Ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh,will be present as Chief Guest and inaugurate the exhibition. Social activist Ms. Khurshid Erfan Ahmed, Begum Mumtaz Khaleq, Human Rights activist Advocate Sultana Kamal, Artist Rokeya Sultana and Mr. Shamsul Alam Bakul, Duputy Country Representative of Save the
Children-Sweden-Denmark will be the Special Guests.

The entire sale proceeds of the exhibition will go to the child developmentfund of Ain O Shalish Kendra.

Bengal Gallery of File Arts
Inaugural ceremony:
Thursday, 1 April 2010, at 5.30 pm

Bengal Gallery of File Arts
House 275/F, Road 27 (old)
Dhanmondi RA, Dhaka 1209

The exhibition will remain open from 1 to 3 April 2010, daily from 12-8pm.

Testimony of the Sixty need your support »

October 9, 2009

On 21 October 1971 a document was released (published) by Oxfam London called ‘The Testimony of Sixty’ with an appeal to the world leaders, documenting the facts of what was happening in the then East Pakistan. Edward Kennedy, Mother Teresa and international journalists such as Michael Brunson (ITN), Claire Hollingworth (Daily Telegraph), John Pilger (Daily Mirror), along with relief workers from USA, Canada, Europe, Britain and India all contributed their testimony; it was their attempt to describe the genocide that was taking place in East Pakistan camouflaged by West Pakistan diplomacy. It was their record, their voice and their testimony of a tragedy, appealing to the world leaders to act immediately and stop the senseless brutality by the Pakistan Military Junta.

The Liberation War Museum commemorates that day and is distributing the facsimile edition of the document to the Head of the Governments across the world to help them understand what had happened in 1971 and continues even today in some parts of the world. This is going out to the world leaders with a plea to put a stop to such heinous acts of crime and help make ‘Never Again’ a reality, rather than just a slogan.

We also want to add that the perpetrators of the 1971 crimes committed in Bangladesh have remained unpunished and as the Government of Bangladesh prepares to bring them to justice we want the world to know about it and support the trial, that is the process to make ‘Never Again’ a reality in our country at least.

We as a nation have been the victims of crimes against humanity, genocide, atrocity and mass destruction in 1971. Therefore we understand what it is to be deprived of human rights. We are hence not willing to have a trial that will not meet the international standard or is going to be politically motivated. The law of the land protects all individuals and the law (International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973) under which the Trial will be held meets the international legal requirements.

We appeal to you all to support our cause and the Trial so that we can put an end to the blemish that has been dividing our nation for too long and not allowing us to move forward. On this auspicious day we once again express our gratitude to the people of the world and various governments and political leaders for extending their solidarity to our people in 1971 and hope to get their renewed support in the trial to upheld truth and justice.

We are organizing a program on Oct 21 in the UN Headquarter with the help of the Bangladesh Mission in New York, the Embassy in Washington and the Friends of LWM in USA.. We will also hand them over to their Ambassadors/High Commissioners in Dhaka, Bangladesh on that day. You can also make arrangement to have it handed over to your elected representative or the head of state in the country you are residing or organize your community to make them aware of this action and make the trial of those who committed crimes against humanity and Genocide in 1971 a reality. In Bangladesh let us renew our pledge to make sure the trial is held free and fair and commit ourselves to our country and the spirit of the Liberation War to make a better world for our future generation.

Bangladesh: Information Commission formed »

July 7, 2009

The Daily Star, Thursday, July 2, 2009

Information Commission formed
Ex-secy Azizur Rahman made CIC

Staff Correspondent

The Right to Information (RTI) Act went into full effect yesterday with the formation of the three-member Information Commission by President Zillur Rahman.

Retired secretary M Azizur Rahman was appointed the chief information commissioner (CIC), while former secretary Mohammad Abu Taher, and Prof Sadeka Halim of the sociology department at Dhaka University were appointed as the other two commissioners.

A selection committee headed by a Supreme Court judge earlier nominated a panel of six persons for the posts.

Now every citizen has the right to have access to information regarding any government and non-government organisation, with the exception of a few national security and intelligence agencies.
The authorities of any organisation or institution that undertakes public functions are obliged to release information to citizens on demand, according to the provisions of the act.
It however will require some more time for the people’s right to information to be fully ensured, as no office of the Information Commission has yet been set up, while an information delivery system is also yet to be set up in government offices. The commission will form a set of rules for effective enforcement of the act.

Deputy Secretary to the Information Ministry Abul Hossain, who is dealing with the act, told The Daily Star yesterday that a process of recruiting manpower for the commission is currently underway. He said the government will also soon disburse funds for the commission.

The Right to Information Ordinance 2008 was promulgated by the immediate past caretaker government, which was later ratified by the new parliament on March 29 this year. The president signed it into a law on April 5, and a gazette notification to that effect was published on April 6.

All provisions of the act will be retroactive since October 20, 2008 except only three regarding demanding information, adjudication of appeals against refusal to provide information, and regarding lodging of complaints with the commission against such denials.

The act however restricts public access to information of at least 20 categories, while it also clearly mentions that organisations related to intelligence and national security are obliged to release information regarding corruption and violation of human rights.

Information seekers must apply in writing on prescribed forms or by e-mail to designated officers by paying a reasonable fee, which will be fixed by the commission.

Officers concerned must release requested information within 20 working days of application submissions.

Officers must let the information seekers know within 10 days of application submissions, if they are unable to release any requested information.

"In case of information involving more than one delivery unit or authority, officers may exhaust a maximum of 30 days for releasing the information… but the authorities must release the information within 24 hours if it is related to life and death, arrest, and release from jail," the law says.

The agencies kept outside the purview of the act are the National Security Intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, defence intelligence units, Criminal Investigation Department, Special Security Force, Intelligence Cell of the National Board of Revenue, Special Branch of the police, and the Intelligence Cell of Rapid Action Battalion.

The head office of the commission, to be located in the capital, will function independently and supervise general activities related to the people’s right to information. It will also receive complaints against any authority for refusing to release information.

If any official refuses to provide information, individuals may file appeals with the Information Commission. Officials concerned, if found guilty of denying information, may be fined Tk 50 for each day of delay in releasing requested information, but the total sum of the fine must not exceed Tk 5,000.

The Information Commission will have the authority of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedures 1908.

We Apologise to the Bangladeshis for the Atrocities of 1971 »

May 26, 2009

by Action for a Progressive Pakistan

Healing the Wounds of the Past

On May 13, 2009, the Government of Bangladesh demanded an unconditional apology from the Government of Pakistan for war crimes committed during the 1971 army action in what was then East Pakistan. The Pakistani government’s response was to dismiss the demand, telling Bangladesh to ‘let bygones be bygones’. This was not the first time this demand was made, nor the first time it was dismissed with such flippancy by Pakistan.

Between 25/26th March 1971 – the start of the military offensive – and the signing of the instrument of surrender on 16th December, 1971, the Pakistani army engaged in what essentially amounted to genocide against its own citizens for daring to demand that their electoral writ be implemented. The army’s atrocities were both indiscriminate and targeted – the rape of countless Bengali women, the killing of hundreds of Bengali intellectuals and students, and the senseless murder of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Bengalis and indigenous people, besides looting and pillaging on an unprecedented scale. Nearly forty years on, even a reliable estimate of the number of people killed by the army isn’t possible because mass graves continue to be unearthed, a powerful testimony to the horror that was perpetrated on our people. This is the horror which the Pakistani army continues to cravenly refuse to acknoweldge. The sole recognition of these atrocities – the Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report – which was an official Government of Pakistan panel – was ignominiously suppressed by then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and successive governments, and declassified only in December 2000.

The outrageous dismissal of Bangladesh’s demand by the Pakistani foreign office – “let bygones be bygones” – is a shameful reflection of Pakistan’s constructed amnesia over the horrific actions of its Army and its political leadership. Not only has there never been a move on the part of the Pakistani state to apologize to Bangladesh, there has not been any sustained effort by citizens’ groups to pressure the government to publicly acknowledge the truth.

As Pakistanis, we find this unconscionable. We find it unconscionable that the Pakistani army raped, killed and pillaged our brothers and sisters in East Pakistan in 1971. We find it unconscionable that the Pakistani state has steadfastly refused to acknowledge these atrocities for the past 38 years, leave alone hold those responsible for them accountable as suggested by its own Chief Justice in the State commissioned inquiry. We reject the Pakistani state and army’s claim that these atrocities were committed in our name.

Today, as we stand at the brink of yet another army action aimed at our own people, at the brink of another human catastrophe brought about by and for the same interests and institutions, namely the Pakistani military, we remember 1971. We demand that our state acknowledge and apologize for the actions of its army, punish those responsible for the atrocities (and named in the HR Commission’s report) and pay reparations for the extensive infrastructural damage and looting to Bangladesh. Only through such an expiation can we – as a people and a state – heal the wounds of the past and hope to build a new partnership with the people of Bangladesh.

On his return from his first and only trip to Dhaka following the establishment of Bangladesh, Faiz Ahmed Faiz asked in anguish ‘Kab nazar mein aaye gi, bedaagh sabze ki bahar, khoon ke dhabbe dhulen ge kitni barsaaton ke baad’. We must atone for the death and destruction visited upon our brothers and sisters in our name, and do it soon, lest these stains on our national conscience become permanent.

Source : http://www.sacw.net/article931.html

HRW Report on Bangladesh. Ignoring Executions and Torture »

May 19, 2009

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports on the involvement of soldiers, paramilitary officers, and police in so-called "crossfire killings" and other custodial killings, torture, "disappearances," and arbitrary arrests.

http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/05/18/ignoring-executions-and-torture-0

BDR Mutiny and its Aftermath »

March 3, 2009

• The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Headquarters’ mutiny in Dhaka on February 25-26, 2009 left more than 140 people dead.

• Till the evening of 1 March 2009, eight thousands BDR jawans have reported back to their posts following the Government’s 24-hour ultimatum.

• On 1 March 2009, over 1,000 BDR soldiers have been sued for the Mutiny and the killings.

• The Government started a search operation titled "Operation Rebel Hunt" to round up the absconding rebels.

Overwhelming Victory of Women in the 9th Parliamentary Election »

January 3, 2009

For the first time in the history of Bangladesh the highest number of 19 women have won 23 parliamentary seats through direct election in the recent past parliamentary election held on 29 December 2008.The newly elected women parliamentarians, in most cases have defeated their male counterparts by a huge number of votes.

This time 60 women candidates contested from 65 constituencies which is also the highest compared to all past general elections.

Appointment of the Chairman and Members of the NHRC »

December 2, 2008

President Iajuddin Ahmed has appointed the chairman and two members of the newly formed National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury, a former judge of the Supreme Court, has been appointed the chairman and Professor Niru Kumar Chakma, a teacher of the Department of Philosophy of Dhaka University, and Munira Khan, former chairperson of Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA), have been appointed as members of the commission.

Bangladeshi Workers tortured and deported from Kuwait »

December 2, 2008

In recent times, several hundreds of Bangladeshi workers have been deported by Kuwaiti government. Many of them have reportedly been tortured prior to deportation. They have been deported on charges of staging demonstrations to demand the overdue payment of their salaries and to protest the inhuman condition they were forced to work and live and exploitation by employers.

The Bangladeshi workers have become victims of discrimination and violations when they used the rightful way to establish their legal entitlements. In stead of considering the root causes that compelled the workers to resort to the street, and taking steps in giving dues to the workers, the Kuwaiti authority has used the repressive tool of torture and deportation. And by using such repressive measures, Kuwait has disregarded international obligations on safeguarding migrant workers’ rights. Similarly, this incident shows the failure of Bangladeshi government to discharge its duty in protecting Bangladeshi migrant workers’ rights abroad.