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Why did the people of Bangladesh want independence? The nation, longing for democracy, the rule of law, political and economic freedom and social security, fought for years against exploitation by its colonial tyrants. However, today Bangladeshis are still continuing their struggle to achieve these goals after 37 years of independence.
Moreover, Bangladeshis abroad and at home are asking a series of important questions. What, for instance, is wrong with Bangladesh that it has not developed as a strong nation? In the past, did policymakers try to understand the deeply rooted problems of the country? Has there been any comprehensive plan for the nation's development formulated in the past few decades?
Do politicians and bureaucrats have a minimum degree of honesty and commitment to their duties to the nation, and do they have the competence to do their jobs? Do they have any respect for those heroes that sacrificed their lives for the nation's liberty? Why has the government and its organs been using poverty as a shield to engage in corrupt practices and to abuse their power to exploit the common people instead of performing their responsibilities? Bangladesh's citizens are asking these questions as they witness the vast inconsistencies between the pledges and practices in the domestic arena.
Among South Asian nations, however, the country is highly advanced in one area: its participation in international human rights treaties and instruments. Bangladesh is party to more than a dozen major U.N. conventions, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the first and second optional protocols, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The governments of Bangladesh over the years have ratified these international instruments to show the world how "friendly" the country is toward global visions of human rights. The government's policymakers and bureaucrats, however, only exhibit the capacity to "show" their commitment to human rights without doing anything to actually promote and protect people's rights. Hundreds of examples of this tendency -- to show concern but do nothing -- are visible throughout the country.
For instance, on June 26, two important international events will be observed in the world: the U.N. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Although both of these events are important, the Bangladesh government in the past has been eager to observe the annual day set aside for the drug abuse issue but has ignored the day for torture victims, as it would be a reminder to the nation of the blood on the hands of the country's law enforcement system.
The government has refused permission for local human rights groups to hold any program on the occasion of the U.N. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, according to local sources. The military-backed, bureaucratic interim government, which has already made the nation voiceless, is ready to obstruct any observation or discussion about torture. According to concerned sources, about 200,000 people have been arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured in the last six months under the country's state of emergency, although the real figure could be even higher if there were any mechanism through which the issue could be properly examined. Meanwhile, there is no institution available to support the victims of the brutalities of the military and law enforcement agents.
Ironically, in 2006 Bangladesh was elected to the U.N. Human Rights Council, making a large number of voluntary pledges before the international community. Among them, it promised to "Intensify its efforts, while framing its national policies and strategies, to uphold the fundamental principals enshrined in the Constitution, those of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as those of the international and regional human rights instruments to which she is a party."
However, torture has not been criminalized in compliance with international human rights instruments, despite the country's pledges, and torture victims have received no compensation for the injuries they have sustained due to torture by Bangladesh's law enforcers.
Moreover, one year after the "celebration" of Bangladesh's membership on the UNHRC, human rights conditions have deteriorated. Thus, in one scene abroad, bureaucrats show their gentlemanly manner by signing and ratifying U.N. human rights covenants and conventions; but in another scene at home, they act just the opposite.
Bangladesh's ongoing pledges abroad contrast sharply with the plague experienced at home by the country's citizens. Much of the population is being tortured and exploited by those who wield political and economic power in the country since the inception of the state.
Torture and human rights abuses have been institutionalized in the law enforcement system of the country, and are a basic obstacle to achieving the goal of the war for liberation. This sick system requires adequate treatment immediately. It is very late to remember that the people of this nation fought tyrants many times in the past in order to realize and enjoy their basic rights -- democracy, the rule of law, political and economic liberty and social security. It is thus time to support the victims of torture as well as the people in general. Bangladesh has 140 million people who can extend their hands to each other in friendship and who can work together for the common good. If people begin to change the manner in which they relate to each other, Bangladesh could be a very different country.
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(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human right defender living in Sylhet in Bangladesh who has been working on human rights issues in the country for more than a decade and who was a journalist in Bangladesh in the 1990s.)
