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For example, on May 11, 2007, members of the armed forces arrested Tasneem Khalil, a consultant in Bangladesh for the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch and a journalist for both local and international media, for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
In a recent report that included Khalil's experience and feelings, the HRW exposed how heartlessly he and others were treated in detention. He fortunately was able to escape from the military detention center and leave the country to ensure his survival following the brutality he had to endure in the custody of the Directorate General of the Forces Intelligence.
During his detention, he was humiliated and tortured in the most inhuman ways. Khalil was quoted in the report about his interrogation:
"I worked with Human Rights Watch on a report about extrajudicial killings by RAB. That suddenly infuriated them (officers of the armed forces) so much that all of them started hitting the table with hands and sticks and started shouting at me, saying that RAB executed Picchi Hannan. 'How dare you write against our brothers in RAB? You are a burden on society. You are an immoral, unethical insect, an anti-state criminal. We will hand you over to RAB.' Someone came around the table and started punching me on my head again."
The saddest irony is that many people who document stories relating to arbitrary arrest, torture and other forms of human rights violations as part of their moral responsibility and commitment have become the victims of the same or even worse abuse, like Khalil. However, not a single person who was involved in the arrest and torture of Khalil has been prosecuted or punished thus far.
In another example, a Sri Lanka-based online news Web site circulated a story entitled "Bangladesh High Commissioner behind Scholarship Scam" on March 28. The report described how the Bangladeshi high commissioner in Sri Lanka cheated students seeking a medical scholarship that is available for people in neighboring countries.
The Lanka-e-News, quoting the secretary of Intellectuals for Human Rights, reported:
"The applications were called for the scholarships through announcements published two times, and five persons were selected accordingly…the High Commissioner himself inserted two names of those who were not interviewed for the scholarships…the five students have been subjected to an injustice and seek remedy."
Moreover, in the same incident, the country's diplomatic mission was accused of "undiplomatic" actions while a Sri Lankan minister questioned why his ministry was asked to select suitable students if Bangladesh's high commission would be using another selection procedure.
The ambassador, who is officially responsible for upholding and improving the image of the country abroad, is instead destroying it. However, no news of this incident has been reported by the media regarding the Bangladesh government's actions in Sri Lanka.
These two examples reflect the ways in which government officials and institutions of the state are molding the nation's image at home and abroad.
The first example is a very small part of the fabric of the daily suffering of the nation, suffering produced by the arbitrariness, hatred and disrespect exhibited by officials toward its citizens along with the government's denial of its responsibilities to protect its own people. Moreover, people who raise issues and provide facts illustrating the failures of the government are portrayed as a burden on society as well as traitors and are detained for allegedly tarnishing the nation's image.
The government and its policymakers in Dhaka do not appreciate the meaning behind a nation's image. They equate image with illusion and propaganda. It has little to do with reality in their minds.
For others, however, a nation's image is created through the policies and actions of the governments and the attitudes of its officials. If the government of Bangladesh wishes to improve the country's image with its people and members of the international community, it would be wise to replace rhetoric with actions that uphold their people's rights, actions that reflect respect for human life and people's dignity.
Thus, if the country is to have an improved image, the practices of the government will have to profoundly change. Professionals, like journalists and human rights defenders, do not destroy the country's image, for government officials and the agencies of the state are already doing more than enough to tarnish people's perceptions of Bangladesh. Instead, the government must concentrate on the day-to-day actions and policies of its officials, like the high commissioner in Sri Lanka, if it is really concerned about its image.
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(Rater Zonaki is the pseudonym of a human rights defender based in Hong Kong working at the Asian Human Rights Commission. He is a Bangladeshi national with a degree in literature from a university in Dhaka. He began his career as a journalist in 1990 and engaged in human rights activism at the grassroots level in his country for more than a decade. He also worked as an editor for publications on human rights and socio-cultural issues and contributed to other similar publications.)
