Tomorrow, the nation, like the rest of the globe, will commemorate International Human Rights Day with the appropriate theme, “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.”
To commemorate the day, various organisations and human rights advocates created intricate programs.
In the meantime, speaking with BSS, scholars and right-wing activists emphasised the necessity of finishing the trial of earlier human rights violations and giving justice to all victims who endured years of waiting.
“One of the key conditions to safeguard the human rights in Bangladesh is to conduct the trial of each incident of human rights violation and ensure justice to all the individuals and families whose rights were violated in the last 15 years,” said Dr Samina Luthfa, of Dhaka University.
She said justice must be ensured to the incidents of killing and torturing and in the cases of extreme violation of human rights during the July-August student-led mass uprising.
When addressing the concerns of minorities and marginalised people, Samina urged the government to consider the opinions of all people, regardless of their caste, religion, or culture, in order to avoid being swayed by the opinions of the majority.
The protection of the rights of every faith, culture, community, and minority group is a prerequisite for the establishment of human rights. She went on to say that the government needs to make explicit declarations and take action in this area.
Renowned rights advocate Nur Khan Liton spoke about how the July popular rebellion has altered the country’s human rights situation.
“Before the uprising, we were shrouded by fear and thus the stories of torture remained suppressed for 16 years”, he said. Nur Khan said, “About fifteen hundred people were disappeared in the last 16 years. Among them, some families are yet to find any trace of their beloved one. Some families received dead bodies while the rest remained silent till getting freedom on August 5”.
But after the interim administration established the Enquiry Commission on Enforced Disappearances, which has been a long-standing demand from rights groups, people began to openly share their stories, he noted.
“The nation is witnessing another development,” he remarked.Newspapers don’t report on murders committed in the name of crossfire, although there are a few instances occurring in the name of mob justice, primarily harming the followers of the overthrown government.
“As a right activist, I think the government should conduct inquiry into each extrajudicial killing which were carried out under the cover of crossfire and other ways during fascist regime targeting the oppositions and descents,” he added.
Nur Khan also mentioned that the overall practices of human rights in the country have significantly improved after August 5 except for a few isolated incidents and hoped that the situation will improve further the way the government is working. Mayer Dak coordinator Sanjida Islam Tuli emphasized on giving equal importance to each case of human rights violation and said, “Government’s effort in addressing the case of human rights violation doesn’t suit victims’ expectations.” The victims of forced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killing by law enforcement agencies and people killed in Shapla Chhattar should get the same importance as it is being given to the martyrs and injured of July movement, she noted.
Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December – the day on which the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
