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<\/a>Fifty years ago, in 1966, the UN adopted two covenants \u2013 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted earlier in 1948. Together, these three covenants are regarded as the International Bill of Human Rights. It was initially supposed to be a single bill thinking that the UN would formulate a complete document on human rights that would be unanimously accepted, but for reasons unknown, three separate documents had to be produced.<\/p>\nThe theme of this year\u2019s Human Rights Day is \u2013 \u201cOur Rights. Our Freedoms. Always.\u201d The UN has also planned year-long campaigns centering the day. In this year\u2019s theme, the UN has stressed on the idea that our freedom to exercise our rights remains unhindered as the international human rights bills put the greatest emphasis on the freedom of exercise of rights.<\/p>\n
But we see freedom of exercise of rights blatantly ignored in Bangladesh this year. Ranging from the freedom of life to freedom of livelihood, from the freedom of thoughts to freedom of expression, and from the freedom of holding dissenting views to peacefully expressing those have been flagrantly disregarded. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Beginning of 2015 was marked by political violence like that of 2014. The opposition parties called a rally for January 5 this year to demand fresh national elections by cancelling last year\u2019s January 5 polls that were boycotted by the main opposition. The government was adamant not to permit Bangladesh Nationalist Party to hold rally while the BNP chairperson was confined to her office.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s claim for not allowing BNP to hold the rally and also preventing the BNP Chief from going out was that they did it to avert possible acts of subversion. The indefinite blockade called by the opposition came into force across the country the following day and it was characterised by unprecedented violence. The blockade was carried on for 66 consecutive days. 70 people died of bomb attacks during this period. No one, even women, children and older people were not spared from the attacks. Educational institute including children\u2019s schools were made targets of their attacks. Transports carrying textbooks were also set to fire. Almost all who died and were injured were commoners, mostly poor bus drivers, truckers, helpers and people who had no direct involvement in politics.<\/p>\n This was also the period when law enforcement agencies exerted excessive force. According to our account, 47 people were subjected to enforced disappearance between January and October. As of November 2015, 153 people were killed in the so-called crossfires and gunfights. The majority of the victims of extrajudicial killings were opposition activists. Law enforcement agencies as usual have denied responsibility for the killings but families of most of the victims claimed that they [victims] had been picked up by men identifying themselves as law enforcement officials.<\/p>\n The overall picture of freedom of expression and press freedom was worrisome this year. Not only writers promoting freethinking and publishers publishing such works were killed in heinous attacks, there had also been attempts to silence dissenting voices through legal, administrative and judicial means. There has been no measure to discourage the intense intolerance towards dissenting opinions. Rather, such intolerance has been allowed to grow.<\/p>\n Science writer and founder of Mukto-mona Blog Avijit Roy was hacked to death while returning from Amar Ekushey Book Fair on February 26. His wife and co-writer Rafida Ahmed Bonya was also critically injured in the attack. Police were present near the scene of the attack but they failed to act promptly. Avijit\u2019s killing apparently turned the country into a death valley for freethinking authors and publishers as five such writers and publishers were brutally killed one after the other. As of November, two were injured and many are living with a constant feeling of fear. Luminaries such as Dr Anisuzzaman, Hasan Azizul Haque and many other eminent writers and intellectuals have received threats.<\/p>\n Suspects have been arrested in connection with the murders but law enforcement officials could not confirm if the arrestees are the real killers. The trials of the cases are progressing at a snail\u2019s pace while criminals have reasons to be incited by the comments of many government high-ups.<\/p>\n We have repeatedly voiced our concern about the Information and Communication Technology Act\u2019s Section 57, which contains elements for putting a stop to dissenting opinions and curtailing the freedom of expression. The arrest and remand of journalist Probir Sikdar under this Act and later his hasty release on bail was the most talked about incident. It was alleged that Probir Sikdar was arrested and remanded under this Act as he took a stand against the interests of influential people, but he was later granted bail after an order from the highest level of the state machinery.<\/p>\n Another incident where the legal system was arbitrarily used was the arrest and remand of volunteers of Adamya Foundation, which works for street children. They were bailed after nearly two months at the intervention from the highest level of the government.<\/p>\n The fact that the victims were bailed in both incidents brought relief but the manner of involvement of legal institutions as well as the authorities concerned in the incidents is a cause for grave concern. As I write this, it has been nearly a month since social media platforms such as Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp have been blocked.<\/p>\n This year, we were exposed to a shocking picture of human trafficking that included the discovery of numerous mass graves of Bangladeshis and Myanmar\u2019s Rohingya people in Thailand and Malaysia, and the loss of more than a hundred lives during scuffles at sea near Indonesia\u2019s Aceh coast. We saw reports of starving migrants, who became very sick and were adrift at sea.<\/p>\n These are the reports that remind us how unemployed, fortune-seeking Bangladeshis are embarking on perilous journeys to Malaysia after falling prey to human smugglers or because of the lack of initiatives that allow them to go abroad legally. Sadly, we do not see that legal measures have been taken against traffickers.<\/p>\n This year, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has evaluated the child rights situation in Bangladesh. We have been hailed for a number of steps taken for the welfare of children but this year will be particularly remembered for horrendous cases of child killing. It is not merely the number of children killed but the cruelty they were subjected to indicates how sick the society has become. Most of the children killed were engaged in child labor. Seven children were killed in seven days from July 29 to August 4. We have however seen how rapidly justice was served in cases filed over the killing of Rajon, Rakib and Sayeed, but all these child abuse cases remind us of the necessity of being more aware of how we should treat children.<\/p>\n A matter of serious concern this year was the reckless behavior of government officials and influential politicians, and the attempt by the state to give them impunity. There were several incidents that reminded us of the sad reality that not all citizens are equal before the law. The incidents include Chhatra League and Jubo League infightings, a child getting injured in her mother\u2019s womb during a political clash and another shot by a lawmaker, and the underage nephew of an influential politician injuring pedestrians during reckless driving and the subsequent attempt by police to save him.<\/p>\n As for freedom to hold political meetings and rallies, the picture is sadly the same. In essence, opposition parties were not allowed to hold any meeting or rally while the party activists were arrested randomly on different grounds and were rejected bail.<\/p>\n Protests against different incidents have also been foiled by police who resorted to the use of force and this is completely unacceptable. These include protests against sexual harassment of women during Bangla new year celebrations, protests by teachers to press home their demands, students protesting against question paper leaks, protests against the government\u2019s decision to set up Rampal power plant and rallies arranged by the indigenous communities, be it for protecting their lands or celebrating festivals.<\/p>\n The use of excessive force by police during a protest against the assault of a woman in the presence of her son in Tangail\u2019s Kalihati on September was beyond proportion. Three people were killed and many were shot when police exerted force on the protesters.<\/p>\n The rise of religious extremism is this year another issue that has been a cause for concern. Bangladeshi and foreign nationals have been killed and threatened in the name of different militant groups and the Shia community has been attacked for the first time in the country\u2019s history. The government\u2019s dominant reaction involved either denial or attempts to blame the opposition, and we have been very concerned about this.<\/p>\n One of the significant events of this year was the long-awaited ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement with India. After the ratification of the agreement, a total of 162 enclaves were exchanged between the two countries and it was similar to achieving independence for some 59,000 enclave residents. But the extent to which these people can now enjoy basic rights, and get political and economic facilities remains to be seen.<\/p>\n We have noticed with concern that the state and its institutions are getting intensely intolerant. The state is resorting to repression in the name of ensuring sovereignty and security.<\/p>\n But we need to be mindful that the sovereignty of the state is ultimately related to the sovereignty of its people. The state can truly ensure security by completely including the people with decision making processes instead of isolating them. This integration is not possible unless people\u2019s freedom and human rights are safeguarded.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Sultana Kamal
\n<\/strong>Executive Director, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)
\n<\/strong>Former advisor to the Caretaker Government<\/strong><\/p>\n