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European Parliament Adopts Resolution
Allow int’l probe into bomb attacks, ensure free EC, caretaker govt

The European Parliament in a resolution on Bangladesh has condemned repeated bomb attacks in the country and urged the government to ensure full access of ‘international investigators assisting local intelligence forces’ to all evidence regarding the incidents in accordance with the government’s promises.

The resolution was adopted on Thursday with 92 votes in favour, two against and three abstentions, according to the European Parliament’s official website www.europarl.eu.int.

It also urged the government to publish the investigation reports in full.

The European Parliament said that in view of the parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2006/early 2007, systematic reforms were necessary to re-establish the principles of good governance so that the election commission and the caretaker government could operate independently.

“A coordinated approach by all donors worldwide will be necessary to support such reforms,” it noted.

The European Parliament called upon all sides to refrain from undemocratic practices and to enter into an all-party dialogue through full participation in the democratic process in parliament.

It called, in particular, upon the opposition parties to end the boycott of parliamentary activity, since agitation and violence caused suffering to the people of Bangladesh, the resolution said.

The European Parliament highlighted, among other issues, the need for putting an end to anti-crime operations by the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), trial of the war criminals of 1971 and ensuring the rights of religious minorities.

The resolution came on the same day when Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, back from an international roundtable in Sweden, told newsman that overall impression about Bangladesh was now excellent across the world. Referring to his meetings with European parliamentarians, Saifur said they had showed a very positive attitude towards Bangladesh’s development.

In an instant reaction to the resolution, Law Minister Moudud Ahmed last night told BBC radio that its contents were not ‘against us, rather these are about us’.

The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) called upon the government to respect the instructions given by the High Court to avoid abuse of legal instruments in detaining opposition demonstrators and to refrain from repressing peaceful political protests through detention and torture.

Blaming the Rab for ‘extra-judicial’ killings, the MEPs urged the government to put an end to the anti-crime operations by the ‘paramilitary force’. They referred to the figures provided by a Bangladeshi human rights organisation — Odhikar— to say there that were 90 publicly reported custodial deaths due to torture in 2004.

The MEPs reiterated their support for the demand that those known to have participated in the massacre of Bangladeshi citizens and other war crimes during the Liberation War in 1971 be brought to trial.

The resolution expressed support for the principled steps which the European Union (EU) representatives had taken last year in defence of the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, such as physical presence of the Ahmadiyya Muslims at a complex in October 2004, when fundamentalists had prepared to stage a mass assault on it.

It called for a review of the application of the human rights and democracy clause of the EU-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement and to ascertain whether the Government of Bangladesh is making sufficiently strong efforts to fundamentally improve the human rights situation.

The European Parliament noted that recent modest steps taken by the government to improve the political situation would help establish a situation respectful of law and order, and would support any substantial progress on issues like good governance, freedom of press, the fight against corruption and respect for human rights.

The MEPs encouraged the government to enable the population to participate in traditional cultural events and to provide security measures so that these events, which reflect a tradition of tolerance and secularism, could be implemented safely, the resolution said.

It also called upon the government to take preventive steps against what said is the Muslim paramilitary groups that have spread violence and intimidation in rural areas of Bangladesh.

In his reaction, Moudud told BBC radio that many such resolutions were adopted on various non-developed nations in the past.

He said he did not mind if they (European Parliament) express concern as a well wishes of Bangladesh. But they would commit a mistake in thinking that Bangladesh would act as per their desires.

On reforms and caretaker issue, the law minister said it was not the Europeans’ business. “Caretaker government is our achievement and we’ll look into it.”

Turning to human rights, Moudud wonderd why they focus so much on the poor nations’ human rights situation said while there are human rights problems also in the developed countries.

The European parliament in a latest resolution on Bangladesh called for ‘systemic reforms’ to allow the Election Commission and the caretaker government to operate independently.

   ‘…in view of the parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2006/early 2007, systemic reforms are necessary in order to re-establish the principles of good governance, so that the election commission and the caretaker government can operate independently,’ it said.

   The resolution, passed on Thursday with 92 votes in favour, 2 against and 3 abstentions, observed that ‘a coordinated approach by all donors worldwide will be necessary to support such reforms’, according to the Press Office of the EU parliament.

   The EU parliament called on ‘all sides to refrain from undemocratic practices’ and to enter into an all-party dialogue through full participation in the democratic process in parliament. They also urged the opposition parties to join parliamentary activity saying ‘agitation and violence cause suffering to the people of Bangladesh’.

   It condemned the bomb attacks and urged the government to ensure that international investigators assisting Bangladesh’s intelligence forces would have full access to all evidence regarding the attacks in accordance with the government’s own promises. It also urged the government to publish the investigation report in full.

   The resolution expressed concerned about repeated bomb attacks on key opposition politicians, minority religious groups, journalists and NGO representatives, ‘in particular about the two recent grenade attacks where two prominent opposition politicians were targeted — Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League and former prime minister, on 21 August 2004, and Shah AMS Kibria, a former finance minister, on 27 January 2005, who was assassinated’.

   It also expressed concern about recent political developments in Bangladesh, ‘where the risk of fundamentalism seems to be growing and where poor governance, corruption and nepotism have severely undermined the rule of law, including safeguards in the constitution to protect fundamental rights in Bangladesh’.

   The resolution urged the government to respect the instructions given by its High Court to avoid abuse of legal instruments in detaining opposition demonstrators and to refrain from repressing peaceful political protests through means of detention and torture.

   The European parliament further urged the government to put an end to the anti-crime operations by the paramilitary Rapid Action Battalion, which come down to ‘extra-judicial killings’.

   They pointed out that a human rights organisation — Odhikar — has stated that there were 90 publicly reported custodial deaths due to torture in 2004.

   They encouraged the government to enable the people to participate in traditional cultural events and provide security measures so that these events, reflecting tradition of tolerance and secularism, be held safely.

   ‘Parliament also calls for the Government of Bangladesh to take preventive steps against Muslim paramilitary groups which have spread violence and intimidation in rural areas of Bangladesh.’

   It reiterated support for the demand that those known to have participated in the massacre of Bangladeshi citizens and other war crimes during the liberation war of 1971 be brought to trial.

   The EU parliament also expressed its support for the principled steps, which EU representatives have taken in 2004 in defence of the rights of religious minorities in Bangladesh, such as their physical presence at a complex of the Ahmadiya Muslims, in October 2004, when fundamentalists had prepared to stage a mass assault on the complex.

   It called on the council to review the application of the human rights and democracy clause of the EU-Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement and to ascertain whether the Bangladesh government is making sufficiently strong efforts to fundamentally improve the human rights situation.

   The EU parliament noted recent ‘modest steps’ taken by the government to improve the political situation in the country and would encourage the government to establish a situation respectful of law and order and will support any substantial progress on issues like good governance, freedom of press, the fight against corruption and respect for human rights.

   Since 2000 to March 2005, the European parliament has adopted 7 resolutions on internal affairs and human rights situation in India, 8 on Pakistan, 10 on Nepal; 3 on Sri Lanka, and 1 each on the Maldives and Bangladesh.

Source: http://www.newagebd.com/2005/apr/16/front.html#2 http://www.newagebd.com/front.html#2