Abstract
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was established to give international legal recognition to individual rights, challenging unjust state law or customary practices. The Declaration forms the foundation of international human rights law and establishes the parameters of human rights today. Although international human rights standards may seem to be embraced by states on the surface, they remain largely ineffective as they are not properly implemented on a national level by many states, including Bangladesh. The human rights situation in Bangladesh has quickly deteriorated under the highly repressive, authoritarian regime led by the Awami League (AL). The AL-led government has received widespread criticism from many international human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, for committing countless human rights atrocities across the country through its security forces. Through analyzing the current political context in Bangladesh and articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I argue that the current Bangladeshi government is a gross violator of international human rights standards. In order to forcibly remain in power, they carry out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and restrict freedom of expression.
Keywords: Bangladesh; International Human Rights; Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Human Rights Violations
Introduction
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Declaration was established as a protective measure after the human rights atrocities of World War II and intended to give back agency to individuals in light of increasing state control and aggression. The adoption of the Declaration gave international legal recognition to individual rights, which were used to challenge unjust state law or customary practices.[1] One of the Declaration’s main intentions was to act as a body of protection for individuals whose civil and political rights were taken away by the state.[2] While many parts of the world were still under colonial rule, the Declaration received worldwide endorsement, with newly independent nations adopting and embracing it later on.[3] Jack Donnelly suggests that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is now seen as “a standard of political legitimacy”, where states seemingly upholding the Declaration are viewed as legitimate on the world stage.[4] International human rights standards set out in the Declaration impose obligations on sovereign states, but although these human rights standards may seem to be embraced by states on the surface they remain largely ineffective as they are not properly implemented on a national level by many states, including many Western democracies that were at the forefront of establishing and implementing these standards of human rights. Gross human rights violations are found to be even more common in countries, such as Bangladesh, with pseudo-democratic governments. I analyze the current political context in Bangladesh and articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and argue that the current Bangladeshi government is a gross violator of international human rights standards, in order to forcibly remain in power, through carrying out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and restricting freedom of expression.
Human Rights and the Universal Declaration
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights forms the foundation of international human rights law and establishes the parameters of human rights today.[5] Human rights refer to “goods, services, opportunities, and protections” that each individual is entitled to as human beings in order to ensure their human dignity and agency, protecting against injustices and leading to individual empowerment.[6] Human rights are not abstract values, but rather social practices intended to recognize those values.[7] The Declaration views internationally recognized human rights as an indivisible structure where certain rights can only be ensured by the presence of many other rights.[8] Thus the Declaration must be implemented and practiced by states in its entirety in order to be an effective protection for injustices committed against individuals. However, Michael Ignatieff points out that the states that signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights only adopted it in principle, believing that it would never restrict their behavior due to a lack of enforcement measures in place.[9] For many states, including Bangladesh, the Declaration is merely a declaration and does not have the same effect as a state treaty or convention requiring national ratification.[10] The lack of enforcement measures especially hinders the ability of the Declaration to pressure the Bangladeshi government into acting justly towards its citizens and the absence of a freely functioning political opposition in the country also contributes to the attack on human rights throughout Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s Current Political Context
The 2014 general elections in Bangladesh were marked by intense political turmoil and violence throughout the country as the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and their allies boycotted the elections due to the refusal of the ruling Awami League (AL), led by Sheikh Hasina, to hand over power to an impartial caretaker government ahead of the elections. This led to the AL essentially running uncontested and winning the elections with a voter turnout of only 22%.[11] Opposition protests against the elections were met with violent clashes with the police and rival political party supporters, resulting in many deaths from bullet injuries after the police opened fire on opposition protestors.[12] However, there were no independent investigations made into these and the unlawful killings, many committed by the police and security officials through their abuse of power, were conveniently ignored and remain unpunished. Gaining a majority in Parliament, through what many would consider unfair elections, the AL-led government pushed for new laws and policies, amended the Constitution and became “a highly centralized bureaucratic regime”, exercising complete control over the Parliament, the judiciary and local tiers of government.[13] Having extensive control over the country allowed the Bangladeshi government to commit countless human rights violations against its citizens without being held accountable, and constantly breaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Extrajudicial Killings, Arbitrary Arrests, Enforced Disappearances and Torture
A major challenge to human rights and democratic practices in Bangladesh includes the government’s use of the police or Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), an elite government security force, especially against opposition political activists.[14] Bangladeshi security forces carried out numerous arbitrary arrests throughout the country and the Bangladesh-based human rights organization, Odhikar reported at least 287 enforced disappearances from January 2009 to July 2016.[15] The exact number of enforced disappearances is likely to be much higher and many of those abducted were known to be critical of the government or supporters of opposition political parties, such as the BNP or Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Whether opposition political activists are abducted by the police or RAB and remain in secret detention or are eventually shown arrested or found dead, security forces using torture and treating individuals in an inhuman manner outside of the protection of the law is widespread in Bangladesh. The countless torture techniques of Bangladeshi security forces violating human dignity include beatings, suspension from the ceiling, electric shocks to the genitals and shooting detainees in their legs.[16] These practices all violate article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.[17] Although in power through what many consider to be unlawful means, the current Bangladeshi government still has a responsibility towards its citizens to protect them from any form of harm and abuse. However, to remain in power through any means necessary, the AL-led government has been routinely sanctioning these human rights violations through security forces that in turn receive complete immunity from the government.
The police or RAB are regularly implicated in testimonies from eyewitnesses and the families of individuals subjected to enforced disappearances. Men carrying weapons and traveling in vehicles used by police or RAB personnel and, in many cases, also identifying themselves as police or RAB officers are described by the families and eyewitnesses as being responsible for abducting or arbitrarily arresting individuals without any reason or criminal charges.[18] Even after repeated requests to police, the families of those who are abducted receive no information on their whereabouts and when attempting to file complaints against the police or RAB, the police do not accept their complaints.[19] Under the current AL-led government, there has been a rise in incidents were individuals known to be critical of the government are especially targeted and taken into secret detention, by men who appear to be members of law enforcement agencies, without being brought to court within 24 hours of their detention as required by Bangladeshi law.[20] These cases point to the violation of article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which prohibits “arbitrary arrest, detention or exile”.[21] They reflect the clear lack of human rights protections in place in Bangladesh under the current AL-led government, which fails to safeguard the human rights of its citizens, especially those with opposing political views.
Although in principle the Bangladeshi Constitution guarantees the right to life of all citizens in articles 31 and 32, government sanctioned extrajudicial killings carried out by Bangladeshi security forces is an extremely common practice.[22] Extrajudicial killings or executions are any unlawful deaths caused by law enforcement officials in Bangladesh without any legal basis or without the sanction of a judicial process.[23] According to basic principles of justice, an individual is entitled to the opportunity to be heard and make a case for their innocence before being convicted, punished or deprived of their life in any judicial system.[24] However, law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh seldom follow this. Instead, countless individuals are killed either in police custody or through the practice of “cross-fires” which is security forces firing guns from different directions simultaneously in the same area, resulting in extrajudicial murders when individuals are conveniently killed before they are heard in a court of law.[25] The use of government sanctioned armed force illegally against individuals is a strategy adopted by the AL-led government in many cases as an instrument to silence opposition in Bangladesh. This again is a violation of article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which ensures the “right to life, liberty and security” of all individuals.[26] This is an essential right that all individuals should be ensured by their government, regardless of their political views, and is one of the main rights that are conditions for the fulfillment of other rights in the Declaration. Violation of this right points to the fact that the current Bangladeshi government not only regularly violates an essential international standard of human rights, but also its own Constitution.
Restrictions on the Freedom of Expression
Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh has never experienced such unreasonable restrictions on the freedom of expression, speech and writing under a non-military regime as those imposed today. [27] The AL-led Bangladeshi government is well known for constantly violating article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression,” including the freedom to hold opinions without constraints and the freedom to receive and disseminate information and ideas through any form of media.[28] The Bangladeshi Constitution also sets out rights to freedom of expression with “reasonable restrictions”, however national security legislation and sedition and criminal libel laws in the country largely prevent the media, journalists and human rights activists from speaking out against the unlawful actions of the AL-led government.[29] As a result, certain laws of the country, even if contradictory to the Constitution or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are frequently used to arrest and prosecute critics of the government.
The AL-led government abuses its power to limit and restrict freedom of expression and through its use of Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act, it actively threatens human rights advocates, bloggers and media representatives for criticizing the government.[30] Section 57 of the Act criminalizes publication of material criticizing or opposing the government, among other actions, as it is seen “…to deteriorate law and order, prejudice the image of the State…” and has a sentence of a minimum of seven years and a maximum of 14 years in prison.[31] Through this legislation, many human rights activists in Bangladesh writing on government sanctioned extrajudicial executions by security forces were charged and detained under Section 57.[32] Sedition laws in Bangladesh are often used by the government to meet its own interests and destroy any opposition against its rule. Penalties can be anywhere from fines to life imprisonment or even as extreme as the death penalty if an individual is found guilty of undermining the Bangladeshi Constitution.[33] Ironically, there are no such consequences for a regime undermining the Bangladeshi Constitution. The prominent opposition newspaper, Amar Desh faced numerous legal and regulatory threats and eventually the newspaper’s print edition was banned and its owner and acting editor, Mahmudur Rahman was arrested and tortured in custody on numerous charges, including sedition, for publishing material questioning the actions and legality of the AL-led government.[34] Other newspapers, such as Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, were also deemed anti-government in their coverage and as a result the army’s intelligence agency ordered Bangladesh’s largest companies to stop advertising in the newspapers, reducing their income and putting their existence at risk.[35]
Journalists are also frequently arrested and detained for up to 120 days without trial under the 1974 Special Powers Act for publishing material critical of the government and its policies and many reporters face contempt of court charges for being critical of judicial proceedings or personnel in Bangladesh.[36] Bangladesh based British journalist, David Bergman was convicted of contempt of court over articles which he published, criticizing the death-toll figures of the 1971 war presented by the government and the conduct of the war crimes tribunal set up by the AL-led government.[37] Concerned with Bergman’s conviction, 50 journalists, academics, writers and activists signed a statement in his support. However, they were later forced to apologize and those who did not were also charged with contempt of court. The government is known to carry out surveillance on journalists and their work. The police have even gone as far as monitoring the e-mail correspondence of some journalists and when journalists are brought in for questioning by security forces they are asked to give up their passwords to intelligence officers.[38] Many journalists were also threatened and physically attacked by security forces and military intelligence agents in order to prevent them from documenting the unlawful actions of the government.
Other measures taken by the AL-led government against Bangladeshi human rights advocates and journalists critical of the government also include calls by security agencies to news editors or TV talk show producers, threatening them not to invite individuals who are critical of the government to write in their newspapers or appear on their talk shows.[39] Security forces and thugs believed to be hired by the ruling AL even directly attacked some critics publicly known to call out the actions of the government.[40] Clearly, these types of incidents reflect the government’s attack on freedom of opinion and expression as well as journalistic freedom in Bangladesh, which are human rights violations both under the Constitution of Bangladesh as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since the AL-led government forcefully took hold of power in Bangladesh, there have been countless efforts on their part to control the content of newspapers and television talk shows. It has now come to a point where there is not only a restriction of freedom of expression but also constant government propaganda conveniently disseminated in the media, through pro-government newspapers and television channels, to cover up the human rights atrocities of the government and its security forces.
The Ministry of Information in Bangladesh has control over granting broadcast licenses to commercial and community outlets and this power allowed the government to close down television channels for supposedly breaching broadcasting regulations.[41] However, it became clear that the real reason behind channels, such as Diganta TV and Islamic TV, being shutdown was their broadcast of footage incriminating the government and its security forces of carrying out many human rights atrocities and targeted killings of opposition supporters.[42] In addition, private broadcast outlets are required by the government to only air government-produced news segments and official speeches.[43] As a result of the limits to freedom of expression and the climate of fear in the country, many media outlets are forced to exercise self-censorship, inviting only government-approved guests on their talk shows and completely ignoring dissident or opposing views.[44] Recently, there has also been an increase in the censorship of internet-based content by the government: blocking Youtube, Facebook and other social-media sites and messaging apps, such as WhatsApp and Viber. These are particularly blocked when the government is involved in major controversies and has the need to restrict communication tools in order to prevent large-scale protests from taking place across the country.
Conclusion
The human rights situation in Bangladesh has quickly deteriorated with the current AL-led government not only forcibly taking over power in questionable elections, but also transforming into a highly repressive, authoritarian regime where international human rights standards, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are constantly violated by the government and its security forces taking law into their own hands without any consequences. Individuals rely on the state to protect their rights and human dignity through using its monopoly of the legitimate use of force in a just and lawful manner. However, in the case of Bangladesh, to hold a tight grip on power, the AL-led government is using its control over the military, police and other security agencies to crack down on opposition supporters and those critical of the government, essentially crushing any political opposition in the country. In doing so, the Bangladeshi government is responsible and should be held accountable for committing countless human rights atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and torture as well as restricting freedom of expression in the country. These human rights violations not only threaten democracy and contradict the Constitution of Bangladesh, but also violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which sets out international standards that all countries are obliged to follow in order to be considered a legitimate state in the international community.
References
Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016. Freedom House, 2016,
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/bangladesh. Accessed 6 December 2016.
BANGLADESH: We demand justice! Stop enforced disappearances and return the disappeared
to their families! Dhaka: Odhikar, 2016,
http://www.afad-online.org/images/2016/BANGLADESH.pdf. Accessed 6 December 2016.
Bergman, David. “Concern Over Missing Sons of Bangladeshi Politicians.” Al Jazeera 29
August 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/concern-missing-sons-bangladeshi-politicians-160829095028714.html. Accessed 6 December 2016.
Bergman, David. “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the
Elephant in the Room.” The Wire 18 November 2016, http://thewire.in/80996/dhaka-literary-festival-freedom-of-speech/. Accessed 6 December 2016.
Donnelly, Jack. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (3rd edition). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013.
Feldman, Shelley. “Bangladesh in 2014: Illusive Democracy.” Asian Survey, vol. 50, no. 1,
2015, pp. 67-74.
Habib, A.Z.M. Arman.“Extrajudicial Killing in Bangladesh: A Murder of Human Rights.” OIDA
International Journal of Sustainable Development, vol. 8, no. 2, 2015, pp. 69-80.
Ignatieff, Michael. Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, edited by Amy Gutmann,
Princeton University Press, 2001.
Islam, Arafatul. “Bangladesh Government ‘Incapable of Tolerating Dissident Views’.” Deutsche
Welle 18 December 2015, http://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-government-incapable-of-tolerating-dissident-views/a-18926085. Accessed 6 December 2016.
Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of
Expression. London: Amnesty International, 2014, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa13/005/2014/en/. Accessed 6 December 2016.
The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948.
The content of this article does not represent the positions, research methods, or opinions of the Synergy Editorial Committee. We are solely responsible for reviewing and editing submissions. Please address all scholarly concerns directly to the contributor(s) of the article.
Mehran Shamit is currently an undergraduate student studying Social Cultural Anthropology and Sociology at the University of Toronto.
[1] Ignatieff, Michael. Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, edited by Amy Gutmann, Princeton University Press, 2001. p. 5.
[2] Ibid, p. 78.
[3] Donnelly, Jack. Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice (3rd edition). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2013. p. 26.
[4] Ibid, p. 12 & 32.
[5] Ibid, p. 26.
[6] Ibid, p. 29; Ignatieff, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, p. 57.
[7] Donnelly, Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice, pp. 10-11.
[8] Ibid, p. 31.
[9] Ignatieff, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry, p. 8.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Feldman, Shelley. “Bangladesh in 2014: Illusive Democracy.” Asian Survey, vol. 50, no. 1, 2015, p. 67.
[12] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression. London: Amnesty International, 2014, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa13/005/2014/en/. Accessed 6 December 2016. pp. 1-2.
[13] Feldman, “Bangladesh in 2014: Illusive Democracy,” p. 67.
[14] Ibid, p. 68.
[15] BANGLADESH: We demand justice! Stop enforced disappearances and return the disappeared to their families! Dhaka: Odhikar, 2016,
http://www.afad-online.org/images/2016/BANGLADESH.pdf. Accessed 6 December 2016.
[16] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, p. 1.
[17] The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948, art. 5.
[18] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, p. 4.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Bergman, David. “Concern Over Missing Sons of Bangladeshi Politicians.” Al Jazeera 29 August 2016, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/concern-missing-sons-bangladeshi-politicians-160829095028714.html. Accessed 6 December 2016.
[21] The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 9.
[22] Habib, A.Z.M. Arman.“Extrajudicial Killing in Bangladesh: A Murder of Human Rights.” OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, vol. 8, no. 2, 2015, p. 70.
[23] Ibid, p. 72.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 3.
[27] Bergman, David. “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the
Elephant in the Room.” The Wire 18 November 2016, http://thewire.in/80996/dhaka-literary-festival-freedom-of-speech/. Accessed 6 December 2016.
[28] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, pp. 15-19; The United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, art. 19.
[29] Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016. Freedom House, 2016,
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/bangladesh. Accessed 6 December 2016.
[30] Feldman, “Bangladesh in 2014: Illusive Democracy,” p. 68; Bergman, “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the Elephant in the Room.”
[31] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, p. 15; Bergman, “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the Elephant in the Room.”
[32] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, p. 16.
[33] Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House.
[34] Ibid.
[35] Bergman, “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the Elephant in the Room.”
[36] Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House.
[37] Ibid.
[38] Ibid.
[39] Stop them, now! Bangladesh: Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Restrictions on Freedom of Expression, Amnesty International, p. 17.
[40] Ibid, pp. 18-19.
[41] Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House.
[42] Bergman, “At the Dhaka Literary Festival, Restrictions on Free Speech Will Be the Elephant in the Room.”
[43] Bangladesh: Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House.
[44] Islam, Arafatul. “Bangladesh Government ‘Incapable of Tolerating Dissident Views’.” Deutsche Welle 18 December 2015, http://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-government-incapable-of-tolerating-dissident-views/a-18926085. Accessed 6 December 2016.
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