The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission has called upon the United Nations to intervene in Bangladesh to hold ‘credible and transparent elections’.
In an ‘open letter’ to UN assistant secretary-general Oscar Fernandez-Taranco now on a tour of Bangladesh, the AHRC’s executive director Bijo Francis said the UN must play in Bangladesh similar to the one it played in Kenya .
“The AHRC strongly feels that the UN should urgently intervene in normalising the situation of Bangladesh, as soon as possible, for the sake of saving lives, livelihood, and liberty of a poverty-stricken nation,” Francis said in the ‘open letter’.
“We are aware of the UN’s appreciable role in holding elections in Kenya, which was in a civil war in the last decade. The UN must play a key role in holding a credible and transparent election in Bangladesh drawing upon its experiences in Kenya and other countries.”
Francis said the Bangladesh government, as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has an obligation under Article 2 to take ‘administrative, legislative and judicial’ initiatives to guarantee the rights of the people.
“Sadly, it is not agreeing to create a level playing ground for the upcoming general election. The authorities appear to be determined to hold a farcical election excluding the major parties. The excuse of ‘protecting the constitution’ is not going to solve the problem on the ground.”The ‘open letter’ says: “The feuding political parties are waging war against each other using the state agents and non-state actors to establish their muscle power. Both political groups are well aware of the powerlessness of the Election Commission.
“Nobody in Bangladesh believes that the existing Election Commission is capable of holding a credible and transparent general election, as scheduled on January 5, 2014.”
The AHRC executive director primarily blames Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the situation and accuses of pursuing a diabolical strategy.
“The government provokes the opposition to retaliate violently so that the latter’s public standing is gravely damaged, which may benefit the ruling parties, despite the loss of public legitimacy due to endless corruption and misrule for the last five years. Subsequently, the situation has become violent resulting in numerous deaths; and physical, psychological, economic, educational and social impairments and impediments,” the AHRC letter says.
It blames Hasina for ‘interference’ in the judiciary, for ‘manipulating’ the Election Commission, for ‘undermining’ the human rights situation’ in the country and much else, all to perpetuate her power.
So the AHRC wants the UN to intervene and organise an inclusive and fair election, free of violence, to help Bangladeshis exercise their mandate.
Earlier in the month, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has warned warring political leaders behind the current violence in Bangladesh saying that those responsible for such actions elsewhere have ‘faced prosecution’.
In a statement on Dec 1, she said: “In other situations, we have seen cases of political or election related violence where the perpetrators of such acts – including political leadership – have faced prosecution.”
The statement issued from Geneva warned Bangladesh politicians for was pushing the country “dangerously close to a major crisis”.
“Instead, they must fulfil their responsibility and use their influence to bring this violence to an immediate halt and seek a solution to this crisis through dialogue,” she said.
Source: bdnews24