Values:

The Forum is committed to and guided by the values of democracy, justice, rule of law and accountable governance as well as universality of human rights, based on the principles of equality and non-discrimination.

Vision:

The Forum works with a vision of Bangladesh where human rights, as enshrined in the Constitution and international human rights law, will be fully and equally promoted and protected without any bias or discrimination.

Mission of HRFB:

The Forum wants to build a human rights culture in Bangladesh through: developing and sharing knowledge, information and awareness; raising a collective voice against all human rights violations; and providing a platform for building informative and objective discourse, and taking proactive action to prevent violations, and to protect and promote human rights.

Objectives of HRFB:

The objectives of the Forum are:

1. 1. 1. To create a platform for CSOs in Bangladesh to use national and international mechanisms to protect and promote human rights;
      2. To undertake various activities to collect information for preparing reports, briefings, policy documents and recommendations, for lobbying and advocacy with various national and international stakeholders within and outside Bangladesh, in order to build the capacity of the State to protect and promote human rights;
      3. To raise a collective voice against incidences of human rights violations and advocate for justice; and
      4. Strengthen the capacity of human rights defenders and promoters across the country, and enhance the scope of collaboration and coordination between stakeholders, including the Government, civil society and media at both national and local levels.

    

   Member Organisations of HRFB

1 .Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)

2. Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF)

3. Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD)

4. Bandhu Social Welfare Society (BSWS)

5. Bangladesh Adivasi Forum

6. Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM)

7. Bangladesh Institute of Labor Studies (BILS)

8. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST)

9. Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP)

10. Fair

11. Kapaeeng Foundation

12. Karmojibi Nari (KN)

13. Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF)

14. Nagorik Uddyog

15.Naripokkho

16. National Alliance of Disabled Peoples Organizations (NADPO)

17. Nijera Kori

18. Steps Towards Development (Steps)

19. Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB)

20. Women Disabilities Development Foundation (WDDF)

Secretariat

Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)

Contact Address: Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB)
Email: hrfb.20@gmail.com
Web: http://www.askbd.org/ask/hrfb/
Secretariat : Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)
2/16, Block-B, Lalmatia
Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh
Phone: 02-8100192, 8100195, 8100197

Violence Against Hindu Community : January-June 2017

BNAD member Akhi Muni Saha from Netrokona said that she is now more courageous than before in protesting against any kind of human rights violations in her area.

Biddaloy Natto Dal (BNAD) are a group of school students who are engaged in drama and theatre. They perform drama on human rights issues to increase awareness using an alternative medium.

The two days long Fourth National BNAD Conference was held on the 19th and 20th September 2014. Despite the fear of political instability, the participants attended the conference spontaneously. More than 150 people including BNAD students, teachers and parents attended the conference from 13 districts.

In the first day of the conference, the program began with the inaugural session. The Vice Chancellor of Jahangirnagar University Dr. Farzana Islam inaugurated the conference as the Chief Guest and Executive Director of ASK advocate Sultana Kamal was the chair.  In addition, director & actor Azad Abul Kalam also attended the session as guest speaker. Dr. Farzana Islam mentioned in her speech about the importance of drama in making people aware of their rights and social problems. Advocate Sultana Kamal said, “We have a dream of having the life of full human being and to fulfill the dream we need to know ourselves, our language and our culture which is not much difficult task. We should begin the task from early period of our life.”

Just after the opening session, Nishat Majumdar, the first Bangladeshi woman to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, shared her experience regarding conquering the Everest with the participants. It was a very interactive session in which participants enjoyed a lot. In the afternoon, BNAD students participated in cultural events and all BNAD from each district presented their yearly progress reports. In the report, they revealed the success and barriers of BNAD. And majority of them mentioned that the awareness on human rights is increasing gradually but the negative attitudes of some teacher and school governing members are the main obstacle in promoting their activities.

BNAD from each district highlighting their success amd barriers in yearly progress reports

On the second day of the conference, the 5^th national performance evaluation session was held, where 12 BNAD champions from 12 districts competed on human rights based instant speech, solo performance & quiz competition. In the session, Associate Professor from Dhaka University, Dr. Samina Lutfa Nitra, Director and Actor Aminur Rahman Mukul and Kazi Toufuqul Islam Emon were the judges. BNAD students performed in the competition on several human rights issues such as violence against women, border killings, present context of education system, liberation war, ongoing judicial process of war criminals etc.

In the afternoon, freedom fighters Shirin Banu Mitil and Z. I. Khan Panna were present as the speakers of the ending session. After their speeches, winners’ names were declared. This year, Arifa Khatun from Sirajganj became champion. Polash Hossain from Naoga and Priya Saha from Kishorganj became second & first runner-ups. Through this award giving ceremony, the fourth National BINAD Conference & fifth National Performance Evaluation Award was concluded.

Champions of fifth National Performance Evaluation Award & all BNADS with guest speakers

According to different media reports, seven people including the City Corporation Councillor and a Lawyer were abducted at Narayanganj on 27 April 2014. Later their dead bodies were retrieved on 30 April 2014 and 1 May 2014 from the Shitalakhya River. It is quite apparent from the state of the dead-bodies that they were being killed by a class of trained people.

We have been observing that these kinds of abduction and killings have taken an increasing toll in recent time. According to ASK documentation, based on different sources and media reports, 54 people have allegedly abducted by the law-enforcing agencies all over the country in the last four months of 2014. Among them only 8 people have returned, 15 dead-bodies were found and the rest are still missing. The recurrence of abduction incidents strongly proves the deteriorating law and order situation of the country which has pushed citizens into extreme fear and unprecedented insecurity.

Although few measures, like the transfer of the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Police Super (SP) as well as RAB and Police officials of Narayanganj district, the decision to remove black or tinted glasses from all vehicles have taken, we think that the government should do lot more to hold the perpetrators accountable to stop recurrence of such crimes.

We would like to recall Article-32 of the Constitution of People’s Republic of Bangladesh which ensures that ‘no person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty.’ Hence, we want to emphasize that, whoever is involved in this brutal crime, the State cannot deny its responsibility to protect its citizens.

 Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) urges the Government to take immediate action to find out the perpetrators through proper and independent investigation and take legal action against them. We also strongly urge the Government to ensure the safety and security of everyone in Bangladesh. 

Press Statement_ ASK_ 2 May 2014_PDF

”Ain o Salish Kendra Executive Director Sultana Kamal said extra judicial killing, widely known as crossfire by the law enforcement agencies, was one of the barriers in establishing good governance in the country. Such type of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearance must be stopped immediately, she added”   See Full Story

Cases in 2014

1. 2 Killed in ”Gunfight” in City House.
2. Murder, Extrajudicial Killings on the Rise – Post Election 
3. Opposition Men Fall Victim to Extra judicial Killing 
4. Sultana Kamal: Crossfire, a threat to humanity and good governance 

Alleged Death by Law Enforcement Agencies Q1 2014

State Responsibility

In the Universal Periodic Review of Bangladesh, held on 29 April 2013, United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva, Dipu Moni, Foreign Minister of the Bangladesh government at the time claimed the government had a ”Zero Tolerance” policy on human rights violations by law enforcement officers.

The Minister also claimed that there is no scope for impunity for Law enforcement agencies under Bangladesh laws and the Codes of Conduct and Rules of Engagement of the concerned agencies. Any incident of human rights violation or use of excessive or firearms is subject to investigation, prosecution, legal and disciplinary actions. The Minister reported that 1,678 Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members have so far been subjected to prosecution and conviction, including imprisonment and dismissal.

The government were  made numerous recommendations by member states to undertake further steps to effectively investigate alleged human rights violations by Law Enforcing Agencies and to bring to justice to police or other security personnel who were allegedly engaged in acts of brutality and torture

In a National Seminar (see details)  the Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) held on 29 July 2013 with Government representatives, HRBF made the following proposals for the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) :

• GOB should acknowledge the incidents of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances and provide clear commitment and procedure to hold those accountable. GOB should also provide time-bound commitment to bring legal reforms to address those human rights violations.
• GOB should make commitment specifying the process of establishing an independent commission to ensure transparent and accountable investigation and prosecution of alleged human rights violations by state as well as non-state actors, and reparations for victims.
• GOB should commit to initiate both criminal and departmental proceedings immediately after the allegation of human rights violation by LEAs.

There has been no response from the government since.