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EDITOR
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Editorial
‘Fortnightly’
পাক্ষিক |
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More specialist physicians to be created: Prime Minister
Human Rights Report
Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the government will
take effective steps to create more specialist
physicians to provide better medical services in the
country. "We'll take steps so that specialist
physicians are created in all the fields of medical
services, including ophthalmology and ENT (Otorhinolaryngology),"
she said. The Prime Minister said this while
inaugurating Community Vision Centres in 20 upazilas
of eight districts centring Bangamata Sheikh
Fazilatunnesa Mujib Eye Hospital and Training
Institute in Gopalganj through a videoconference
from her official residence Ganobhaban aiming to
provide better ophthalmological services among the
local people. Sheikh Hasina said the government has
established one medical university in Dhaka while
three more will be set up in Chattogram, Rajshahi
and Sylhet as its aim is to establish one medical
university in all the divisional headquarters.
Besides, the Prime Minister said, her government is
setting up medical colleges across the country to
provide healthcare services at the door steps of
people. Hasina said the government will create
expert physicians through giving them training. She
also said the government has taken an initiative to
groom nurses through proper training alongside
providing training to physicians as it is the duty
of the government to provide services to people.
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BHRC & IHRC Human Rights Report on August 2018 in Bangladesh
Total 185 persons killed in August 2018
Human Rights Report:
The documentation section of
Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (BHRC) and
International Human Rights Commission-IHRC jointly
furnished this human rights survey report on the
basis of daily newspapers and information received
from its district, sub-district and municipal
branches. As per survey it appears that 185 peoples
were killed in August, 2018 in all over the country.
It proves that the law and order situation is not
satisfactory. Bangladesh Human Rights Commissions
extremely anxious about this situation. In the month
of August, 2018 average 6 people were killed in each
day.
The Law enforcing agencies and related Govt.
departments should be more responsible so that
percentage of killing August be brought down to zero
level. To institutionalize the democracy and to
build human rights based society the rule of law and
order must be established everywhere. Through
enforcing rule of law only such violation against
human rights can be minimized.
It appears from documentation division of BHRC:
Total 185 peoples killed in August, 2018
Killing for dowry 5, killing by family violence,
Killed due to social discrepancy 61, Political
killing 7, Killed by Law enforcing authority 25, BSF
5, Killed due to doctor negligence 4, Journalist
killing 1, Kill due to abduction 7, Assassination 5,
Mysterious death 29, Women & Chilled killed due to
rape 5, Killed by acid throwing 1.
Killed by several accidents: Killed by road accident
258, Suicide 33.
Besides victims of torture: Rape 17, Sexual
Harassment 9, Torture for Dowry 4.
Haley says US
Rohingya report 'consistent' with UN findings
Human Rights Report:
Department investigation into Myanmar's Rohingya
crisis are "consistent" with those of a report by UN
investigators released this week that called for
Myanmar's commander-in-chief and other generals be
tried for genocide, the US ambassador to the United
Nations said on Tuesday.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Nikki Haley said
"the world can no longer avoid the difficult truth
of what happened." She did not use the term
"genocide" and the State Department has said it had
not yet concluded whether it shared the
determination of "genocidal intent" that Monday's UN
report attached to the attacks on Rohingya Muslims.
However, Haley said that of the more than 1,000
randomly selected Rohingya Muslims surveyed in the
State Department's own report, "fully one fifth"
witnessed more than 100 victims being killed or
injured. She said 82 percent had seen a killing,
more than half had witnessed sexual violence and 45
percent had witnessed a rape. "The report identifies
one group as the perpetrator of the overwhelming
majority of these crimes: the Burmese military and
security forces," Haley said, referring to the US
report. She said the Security Council must hold
those responsible for the violence to account and
added, "The whole world is watching what we do next
and if we will act." Haley's comments provided the
first details of the State Department report
compiled from 1,024 interviews at refugee camps in
Bangladesh and completed in late April.
It remained unclear when US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo planned to issue the full US report, which
could have legal implications of committing
Washington to stronger punitive measures against
Myanmar, particularly if Washington concluded there
was genocide.
The findings were originally due to be announced
ahead of Monday's UN report but have been held up by
internal deliberations. US State Department
spokeswoman Heather Nauert said "genocidal intent"
was "a very specific legal designation."
"It is not one that is easily made," she told a
regular news briefing on Tuesday.
Critics have accused Washington of an overly
cautious response to the Rohingya crisis, but a US
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said
on Monday that the UN findings could increase
pressure for tougher US action.
The release of Monday's UN report marked the first
explicit UN call for Myanmar officials to face
genocide charges over their campaign against the
Rohingya. It said the military carried out mass
killings and gang rapes with "genocidal intent" and
the commander-in-chief and five generals should be
prosecuted.
Washington, which had previously imposed sanctions
on only one regional general over the crisis,
targeted four more military and police commanders
and two army units this month, but
Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
was again spared.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN
meeting that the UN report deserved serious
consideration and that accountability was essential
for genuine reconciliation between ethnic groups in
Myanmar.
Also without using the word genocide, Guterres said
the report by the independent UN experts found
"'patterns of gross human rights violations and
abuses' committed by the security forces, which it
said 'undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under
international law.'"
At least 32 political
murders since December
Human Rights Report:
The killing of 7
people, at least three of them political activists
belonging to the Chittagong Hill Tracts-based United
Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), brought to 32 the
number of such political murders in the region since
December last.
They started the same month as the 20th anniversary
of the signing of the CHT Peace Accords on December
2, and within weeks of the sudden splintering of the
UPDF, that marked the birth of the breakaway UPDF
(Democratic), led by Tapan Jyoti Chakma (alias Borma),
the previous November 15.
Tapan Chakma would eventually turn into one of the
victims of the ensuing turf war, in the bloodiest
single incident prior to Saturday, when he along
with four others were killed as they were on their
way to attend the last rites of the slain Advocate
Shaktiman Chakma, chairman of Naniarchar upazila
parishad and a leader of Parbatya Chattagram Jana
Sanghati Samity (MN Larma), which itself is a
breakaway faction of the Shantu Larma-led PCJSS, and
is said to ally itself with the UPDF (Democratic).
Prior to those killings, the majority of the victims
were members or supporters of UPDF. Two of the
victims included in the count were members of the
Awami League's local units. The first actual victim
of the turf war was actually UPDF activist Anal
Bikash Chakma, who was shot dead on December 16.
This was the first death that UPDF attributed to its
breakaway faction.
Within weeks, top UPDF leader Mithun Chakma was shot
dead on January 3. UPDF again accused UPDF
(Democratic) of the murder, alleging also that the
new group was working in cahoots with the army.
Mithun's murder in broad daylight following a court
appearance drew international attention. Amnesty
International called upon the Bangladesh authorities
to hold a rigorous investigation, without delay,
into the murder of indigenous human rights defender.
A feature of the aftermath to the killings seems to
be that the police investigations go nowhere,
eventually hit a dead end, and die down.
Derrick Brown - USAID Mission Director
Human Rights Report:
After spending 28
years working across the world in developing
countries, I recently arrived in Dhaka as the new
Director of the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) Mission. Even in these first two
short weeks I can already feel the vibrancy of the
city of Dhaka and the friendliness and warmth of the
Bangladeshi people.
Just before arriving in Bangladesh, I spent time in
Angola where I worked with the government and
citizens to deepen democracy, improve economic
growth and trade, expand access to health care and
clean water, and invest in programs that reduce the
impact of disasters.
Now in Bangladesh, I am excited by the prospects of
advancing USAID's long-standing and productive
relationship with the Government of Bangladesh and
all Bangladeshis to achieve the impressive goal of
graduating to a middle income country in the near
future.
Although Bangladesh is well on its way, there
remains much to be done to ensure this positive
trajectory continues. We must all work together to
strengthen systems and remove barriers to progress,
and continue to invest in the innovative people of
Bangladesh.
One global challenge I want to highlight is that of
Trafficking in Persons. July 30 marked the World Day
against Trafficking in Persons, and gives us all an
excellent opportunity to reflect on the magnitude of
this issue, celebrate the hard work of all those
fighting to remove the scourge of trafficking from
the lives of those living in Bangladesh, and
recognize the scope of the challenge that remains.
An estimated 1.5 million Bangladeshis are thought to
be living in this modern day slavery as a result of
being trafficked. Trafficking in persons is an issue
that touches us all, both in the United States and
Bangladesh, and it will take commitment from all of
us to protect potential victims from the criminals
that traffic people.
We at USAID have programs that work with Bangladeshi
citizens, the Government of Bangladesh,
non-governmental organizations, U.S. and
international organizations to prevent this crime
and protect its victims, but also prosecute the
perpetrators of those that take advantage of the
most vulnerable. Because that's what it will take -
all of us focusing on what we can do together.
Thank you for the warm welcome in your country, and
I look forward to working with the people of
Bangladesh on their journeys toward ever brighter
futures.
No impunity for HR
violations in Rakhine: UK
Human Rights Report:
British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific
Mark Field has said the gravity of the UN report on
human rights violations in Myanmar warrants the
attention of both the UN Human Rights Council and
the UN Security Council. He said there cannot and
must not be impunity for such acts, which the
Mission has concluded warrants "the investigation
and prosecution of senior officials in the Tatmadaw
chain of command, so that a competent court can
determine their liability for genocide in relation
to the situation in Rakhine State. "We will discuss
options for bringing the report before the Security
Council with other members once the Fact-Finding
Mission have made their final presentation to the
Human Rights Council in September," he said in a
statement. The British Minister said they commend
the Fact-Finding Mission for its work and look
forward to seeing the full report.
Mark Field said, the UN Fact-Finding Mission's
conclusions on human rights violations in Myanmar
since 2011, in particular the truly horrific
violence from August last year in Rakhine, come as
no surprise.
"Anyone like myself who has been engaged directly in
this terrible crisis, or has spoken to Rohingya
refugees, knows the Burmese military is primarily to
blame for such appalling human rights violations as
the widespread rape and murder of the Rohingya
people," he said.
The Fact-Finding Mission provides yet more damning
evidence of their culpability, according to the
statement UNB received from the FCO. There also
remains an urgent need for domestic acceptance and
accountability in Myanmar, he said.
"It's now essential the Burmese government sets out
how its Commission of Inquiry will be able to
investigate these crimes with full impartiality and
how it will be linked to a judicial process to hold
those responsible to account," he added. Meanwhile,
British Minister of State for the Middle East at the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister of
State at the Department for International
Development Alistair Burt will visit Rohingya camps
in Cox's Bazar district on Wednesday morning.
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