By EuAsiaNews,
Brussels : Human rights defenders from Bangladesh are expressing alarm at what they say are deteriorating human rights situation in their country.
Over the last 16 months, more than half a million people have been arrested in Bangladesh and many of them are being held under emergency power rules, according to Abdual Gaffar Chowdhury, a London-based Bangladeshi writer and journalist.
Speaking at a hearing titled “SOS Bangladesh” held at the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels Thursday, Chowdhury described the present caretaker government in Bangladesh as a “puppet regime” because the real power, he said, lies in the hands of the “corrupt” military.
Similar views and sentiments were expressed by other speakers at the forum organised by two Belgian Members of the European Parliament, Johan Van Hecke and Bart Staes.
Van Hecke who belongs to the Liberals’ group in the EP said the event was organized to enable people to express their concerns.
The eurodeputy stressed that he was not linked to or favoured any political party in Bangladesh.
Bazlur Rashid Bulu, co-organizer of the event, said the activities of the caretaker government are causing huge political and fanancial problems in Bangladesh.
Bulu, who owns a restaurant called Darjeeling in Brussels, said he is grateful for the keen attention shown by the EU Parliament to the issue of human rights in Bangladesh .
Paul Manik of the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) called for an end to what he said were human rights abuses that continue to be perpetrated against the religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous people of Bangladesh.
He urged the EP to take “effective steps” to protect the rights of minorities in his country.
The hearing focused on three topics (1) violations of human rights in Bangladesh, (2) the deficit of democracy and rule of law and (3) environmental problems and the humanitarian situation in Bangladesh.
William Sloan, Canadian lawyer and member of the International Association of Democratic lawyers, said the overall picture is “that of a military government that hides behind a supposed anti-corruption campaign to impose its political will on the country, to remodel the political landscape of Bangladesh much as was done in Pakistan with the exclusion of Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif.”
Bangladesh’s ambassador to Brussels, Abu Humayun Mohammad Moniruzzaman, said he was “very surprised” to hear the the human rights situation in his country was alarming.
He defended the reforms of the caretaker government and stressed that its main task is to conduct free and fair elections by end of December.
“We always had a very good human rights record,” said the ambassador and referred to a recent EP resolution on Bangladesh.
The forum recommend that pressure must be put on the “military backed government to show respect to the people’s expectations and to expedite the election process.”