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Chance to turn the tide in Bangladesh

8 January 2008, 03:47PM

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Irene Khan © AI

Irene Khan, our Secretary General, told a meeting of NGOs in Bangladesh that Amnesty International was in the country to push for lasting human rights reforms.

"As Amnesty International's Secretary General and a Bangladeshi, I feel there is a window of opportunity that can turn the trend from which this country has suffered. In this country, there has been a culture of impunity," said Irene Khan, speaking in Dhaka on 5 January about the organisation's next global campaign on human dignity.

Irene Khan said impunity meant there was no accountability for human rights violations committed by the state. "This culture of impunity goes back to 1971; we feel it is an institutional problem. There needs to be a strong independent judiciary, police reform, action to address torture and ill-treatment."

She said the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the military need to be held accountable for human rights violations. As well there needs to be an effective National Human Rights Commission and freedom of information legislation, so people know what is happening and can make informed decisions.

"We believe there should be freedom of the media and protection for human rights defenders and social activists. These are some of the areas we will be discussing."

Irene Khan told the gathering that the organisation had a long history of work relating to Bangladesh. "We have done work [about] human rights defenders, journalists, press freedom, torture and ill-treatment by police, RAB and others. These are issues for which Amnesty International is well known."

Explaining our upcoming campaign on human dignity, Irene Khan said the issue of equality and dignity for all had become a fundamental part of our work.

"As we developed our work on women's rights, we became involved in other human rights. Human rights mean all rights: civil and political and economic, social and cultural.

"We are also working on evictions, maternal mortality, people being forced off their land because of big business projects, for example in Nandigram, India. Meanwhile, we continue to work on traditional areas. Right now, Amnesty International has a delegation in Pakistan looking into issues of rule of law and independence of judges and lawyers."

Irene Khan was due to meet representatives of the country's political and legal authorities on 8 and 9 January.

For more details read the speech here, and for more information on the visit see the feature story published on 4 January.

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