The hearing dwelt on the state of human rights in general, singling out the Rapid Action Battalion for its criticism, blaming the elite force for the extrajudicial killings in the country. It cannot be a pleasing testimony for any government that considers itself the flag bearer of democracy, rule of law and human rights, particularly coming in the wake of HRW report that had delivered a scathing commentary on, again, the elite force, among other HR issues in the country. And now the US Senate hearing on Bangladesh labour and HR scenario, does likewise.
We can question the credentials of the US government to conduct hearings on human rights on any country, or for that matter, the moral authority to publish a yearly report card on the state of human rights all over the world when its own record of human rights in its own country or for that matter in those that it is in occupation, sometimes under the umbrella of coerced UN sanctions, makes a sorry and ignominious reading. One could also question many aspects of the testimony of the Director of the HRW, those being mere subjective opinion rather than factual, but can we question the main point at issue of the deliberation where senior US government functionaries delivered their views on the state of human rights in this country.
It is a good sign that the government did not dismiss the proceedings of the hearing out of hand as it has been wont to do, where some of such reports have been summarily rubbished as figments of some fertile mind's imagination. We hope that the government would seriously address the issues brought up at the Senate hearing, both the scenario in the RMG sector and the alleged violation of human rights by RAB.
The RMG sector merited the attention of the US Congress particularly for two reasons, firstly, because of the "failing of the government to enforce its own labor laws and its commitments as a member of the International Labor Organization," and secondly, because of the unresolved mystery of the death of Aminul Islam, head of the US based Bangladesh Center for Workers' Solidarity (BCWS) linked to the US body advancing labour rights in Bangladesh.
Aminul's body was found in a ditch on April 5, 2012, after being picked up, allegedly, by a law enforcing agency a day before from Ashulia. Reportedly, the labour rights advocate was detained previously by the NSI on June 16, 2010. According to Aminul, he was threatened with death and subjected to severe and repeated beatings to give false testimony against his colleagues at BCWS.
These are issue that have serious ramification for our RMG industry. The industry has grown in size despite the less-than-stable political situation in the country, and in spite of the many hurdles that it has had to face, particularly shortage of power. And it has the potential to double the export in the next several years has been forecast by international market research groups. The country can hardly bear any reduction in the demand for our apparel particularly in the US and Europe, something that might just happen as hinted to by the US Ambassador in Bangladesh, if the situation was not addressed.
The mystery of Aminul's death must also be resolved quickly. Regrettably, what one found rather disturbing is the attempt to paint him as an NGO activist rather than a labour leader, as we saw being done recently, as if to suggest that an NGO activist is a fair game for a killer? It does not diminish the importance of the issue whether the murdered person was a labour leader or an NGO activist, nor detract from it the gravity of the fact that a human life has been cut short.
Why should the HR situation come to such a pass that the international bodies are compelled to suggest that Bangladesh be put under watch of the UN? And can any government tolerate its elite force being called a "Death Squad?" The HRW has done so several times in its official documents. As for the RAB and the alleged extra-judicial killings, we did not find any protest from the BNP to the HRW statement in the hearing that, “BNP officials told Human Rights Watch that extrajudicial killings were part of its mandate from the outset because, they argued, corruption in the police and courts meant that powerful criminals could avoid arrest or buy their way out of prison.” The BNP has a lot to answer for if that is true.
Instead of going in a denial mode the government should investigate all the allegations of rights violation by government agencies, and wherever necessary take the errant persons to task. And, if it believes really in what it has publicly preached, that it is committed to "zero tolerance" for human rights violations, it must act sincerely to stop it.
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