Govts failed to protect HR defenders
Bangladesh has not progressed in the area of human rights due to failure of successive governments to protect the rights defenders including journalists, said Amnesty International yesterday.
Speakers made the observation at a press conference, jointly organised by Amnesty International and Odhikar, a human rights watchdog in protest at the recent harassment of Shampa Goswami, an Odhikar activist.
Shampa, an activist in Satkhira, was subjected to blackmail and threats as she persistently advised a rape victim to lodge a case against the criminals who gang-raped her. The criminals began sending her death threats after Shampa filed a case on November 15.
"Every government in this country has failed to defend its human rights defenders despite the fact that it is the government's responsibility," said Abbas Faiz, a researcher at Amnesty International, South Asia.
"If cases like Shampa recur it is a failure of national women development policy, which is nothing but mere regulations on a piece of paper and never gets implemented," he said.
Faiz held both the current and previous governments responsible for failing to live up to their promise of bringing the killers of the eight journalists to justice.
The eight include Manik Saha, a correspondent of New Age and Humayun Kabir Balu, editor of Dainik Janmabhumi who were bombed to death in 2004.
"The incident is not limited to the case of Shampa but threatens all our 400 activists working across the country. It is not an isolated incident as we have been experiencing different forms of harassment every moment," said Prof CR Abrar, president of Odhikar.
"I am calling upon the government for taking action regarding the incident of Shampa. If the government fails to do this, it will fail to implement all the promises it has made so far," said Faiz.
Rumana Anam, programme officer of Odhikar and Tim Molyneux, research and campaign assistant of Amnesty International spoke among others at the conference held at the National Press Club.
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