
Taqbir Huda
'JUSTICE' IN PRACTICE
The writer is a trainee-advocate at Chancery Chambers in Bangladesh and a legal volunteer at the Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR - Manabadhikar).
'JUSTICE' IN PRACTICE
The writer is a trainee-advocate at Chancery Chambers in Bangladesh and a legal volunteer at the Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR - Manabadhikar).
The need for corroborative or medical evidence to prove rape (and therefore these two rules) violates the global standards set by the UN and the WHO.
Another brutal reminder that worker safety is last on our list of priorities for our progressive and developing country.
Today marks the National Legal Aid Day, which was introduced by the government in January 2013, in an effort to increase public awareness of national legal aid services.
Although we frequently hear calls for justice whenever a grievous crime takes place, the role of public prosecutors, i.e. the very individuals who conduct criminal cases in court on behalf of the state, is seldom—if ever—discussed.
On this year’s International Women’s Day, which is being celebrated across Bangladesh and with much grandiosity in Dhaka, I want us all to think of Yasmin Ara, a young woman from Satkhira, who has been thrown out of her home by her mother-in-law a few months after losing her husband.
Whenever a violent crime like gang rape or custodial torture takes place, we are quick to demand justice for it.
On November 11, 2021, Mosammat Kamrunnahar, judge of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 7 in Dhaka, reportedly asked the police “to refrain from receiving a case if a rape victim comes to the police station after 72 hours of the incident” since “semen cannot be traced after 72 hours.”
Today, October 8, marks three months since the deadly Hashem Foods fire, which claimed the lives of at least 54 people. Out of those killed, at least 17 were children. Out of these 17 children, at least 11 were girls.
What were you doing on a Thursday morning when you were 14?
For almost 24 hours last week, the Hashem Food factory in Naryanganj, where hundreds of workers are employed, was up in flames.
Fifty two workers have so far been declared dead as a result of the horrific fire that engulfed the Hashem Foods factory in Narayanganj, where famous products such as Shezan juice and Nocilla spread were produced.
On June 30, 2021, the law minister announced in Parliament that the government will finally be introducing legislation to remove Section 155(4) of the Evidence Act 1872—which has long allowed defence lawyers to raise questions about a rape complainant’s character, and therefore moral police them in the name of cross examination in court.
In the early hours of Monday morning, when most of us were tucked comfortably in our beds, eight-year-old Meem lost her entire family after the speedboat she was on crashed and overturned in the middle of the Padma river, drowning and killing 26 passengers.
On Labour Day, I am reminded of 22-year-old Jewel Hossain, who in January this year, was conducting his evening shift at a polythene factory when the machine malfunctioned and the blade ripped through him and gouged one of his eyeballs out.
As we face an upsurge of Covid-19 cases, and with the national lockdown being lifted, the need to prioritise effective preventive measures has never been greater.
Today marks eight years since one of the deadliest industrial disasters in modern history killed at least 1,132 workers and injured more than 2,500 others in our own backyard.
On the afternoon of March 3, 2021, three-year-old Ruhit was playing in front of his residential building located inside the Provita Fish Feed hatchery, when he fell into a large septic tank that had been left uncovered.
In keeping with this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, I, as a legal researcher, #ChooseToChallenge how ineffectively our lawmakers have dealt with rape, one of the defining manifestations of gender inequality.
On 13 October 2020, our central law dealing with violence against women, i.e. Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain 2000 (Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000) was amended for the second time since it was enacted, by an ordinance.
On October 25, 2020, a 14-year-old girl from the Kalia village in Basail upazila, Tangail, reportedly died due to excessive genital bleeding after being admitted at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
On October 13, the Women and Children Repression Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 was passed making some changes to our central law on violence against women and children.
On Wednesday, the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Dhaka found three police officers guilty of custodial torture in what is the first known judgment under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013.
On Friday night, a massive explosion took place in Baitus Salah Jame Masjid in Narayanganj, killing 24 people and injuring dozens more, most of whom have sustained over 70 percent burn injuries.
On May 27, 2020, a devastating fire broke out in the corona isolation unit of United Hospital in Gulshan, which claimed the lives of five patients who were receiving treatment there.
On May 9, 2020, the president of Bangladesh sanctioned the operation of virtual courts by the judiciary by passing the Adalot Kortrik Tothyo Projukti Byabohar Odhyadesh 2020 (roughly translated as the “Use of Information and Communications Technology in Court Ordinance 2020”).
The annual celebration of the Mother’s Day brings with it the usual outpouring of love and appreciation for the primary caregivers in our families, but it also tends to bring to the fore some of the deeply ingrained conceptions (and misconceptions) about motherhood in our society.
This year’s International Women’s Day, as the ones before it, comes with a reminder that the culture of impunity for violence against women (VAW) continues to be a concern, despite there being a myriad of laws that are meant to counter VAW in our country.
Despite the frequent media reports of rape in Bangladesh, existing studies suggest that most rape survivors do not take legal action.
The recent rape incident of a second year Dhaka University student has reignited widespread public frustration on the prevailing culture of impunity for rape in our country.
Rape continues to be one of the most prevalent forms of violence against women in the world and Bangladesh is sadly no exception.
On August 19, 2019, Jamir Ullah*, a 45-year-old father of one based in Sreepur, hanged himself from a beam off the balcony of his home after being gang raped by 10 men.
Since its inception in 2017, the #MeToo Movement has been spreading across the world; it has brought to the fore the grave extent to which women from all strata of society face sexual harassment in their daily lives.
Any Bangladeshi with an iota of humanity should still have their conscience reeling over the heinous murder of Nusrat, the brave girl
On the fateful night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army officially launched its campaign of genocide in erstwhile East Pakistan, by unleashing death squads that mercilessly killed 7,000 unarmed, innocent Bengalis in one single night.
On March 10, 2019, the High Court issued a rule demanding the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other concerned authorities to explain why they should not be ordered to pay compensation of Tk 50 lakhs to a young woman who had been raped by two police officers in Manikganj earlier in February.
Recently, the bodies of three "rapists" have been found shot to death with culpatory notes hanging around their necks. On January 17, the first body was found by the police in Savar,
On January 25, 2019, a coal laden truck flipped over and crushed a makeshift workers' shed in a Comilla brick kiln factory, killing 13 people and injuring five others.
Much controversy surrounds the new Road Transport Act 2018 which has been the subject of massive protests by road transport workers who perceive the new law to be unduly harsh on them.
Early in June this year, a women-only bus service named Dolonchapa was launched by Rangs Group in Dhaka with a view to giving women a “safer” and “easier” travel option (The Daily Star).
On 9 August 2018, the Appellate Division upheld a High Court verdict that ordered Bangladesh Railway and Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence to pay Tk 10 lakh each as compensation to the parents of Zihad, a four-year boy who died after falling into a shaft.
On 19 June 2018, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a speeding SUV near Mohakhali flyover in Dhaka.
Bangladesh is hardly any stranger to road deaths and injuries but this past month has been particularly poignant since certain road injuries and subsequent deaths in Dhaka have garnered nationwide attention due to their tragic and gruesome nature.
On 29 March 2018, a seven year old child was killed due to a lift malfunction in her own home in Shantinagar, Dhaka. The victim,
The recent tragic air crash of the US-Bangla Flight BS211 in Kathmandu, which killed more than 50 passengers and injured around 20 others, is rife with potential liabilities in tort law. This incident can, hence, serve as yet another reminder about the burning necessity of having an effective legal framework for tort and the opportunity cost of not having one. Indeed the tortious implications of the US-Bangla air crash
Currently, the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UN Women Bangladesh are jointly drafting a National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP) with a view to implementing the UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for increasing women's participation in efforts to maintain peace and security. The NAP shall aim to ensure women's meaningful participation in the prevention of conflict
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 which allowed girls under 18 and boys under 21 to be married off under “special circumstances” was undoubtedly the country's most controversial law of 2017.
On December 12, 2017, Bangladesh Police arrested Abu Musa, an imam of a local mosque in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia district, for issuing a fatwa prohibiting women from going out of their homes to work in farm fields.
On 3 December 2017, the High Court Division (HCD) awarded Tareque Masud's family Tk 4.6 crores in damages
The need for corroborative or medical evidence to prove rape (and therefore these two rules) violates the global standards set by the UN and the WHO.
Another brutal reminder that worker safety is last on our list of priorities for our progressive and developing country.
Today marks the National Legal Aid Day, which was introduced by the government in January 2013, in an effort to increase public awareness of national legal aid services.
Although we frequently hear calls for justice whenever a grievous crime takes place, the role of public prosecutors, i.e. the very individuals who conduct criminal cases in court on behalf of the state, is seldom—if ever—discussed.
On this year’s International Women’s Day, which is being celebrated across Bangladesh and with much grandiosity in Dhaka, I want us all to think of Yasmin Ara, a young woman from Satkhira, who has been thrown out of her home by her mother-in-law a few months after losing her husband.
Whenever a violent crime like gang rape or custodial torture takes place, we are quick to demand justice for it.
On November 11, 2021, Mosammat Kamrunnahar, judge of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 7 in Dhaka, reportedly asked the police “to refrain from receiving a case if a rape victim comes to the police station after 72 hours of the incident” since “semen cannot be traced after 72 hours.”
Today, October 8, marks three months since the deadly Hashem Foods fire, which claimed the lives of at least 54 people. Out of those killed, at least 17 were children. Out of these 17 children, at least 11 were girls.
What were you doing on a Thursday morning when you were 14?
For almost 24 hours last week, the Hashem Food factory in Naryanganj, where hundreds of workers are employed, was up in flames.