ICC Sponsored Story On A most Heinous Crime In Bangladesh
Moyeenul Alam
When Bangladesh govt is beginning trials of people accused of committing "crimes against humanity" in 1971 invoking tutelage of International Criminal Court (ICC), the ICC webpage has released a most shocking story about a heinous crime allegedly going on in Bangladesh which might bring the Bangladesh govt itself under the clutch of "crimes against humanity" allegations.
The shocking story under the headline "Bangladesh's Child Sex Slaves Force-Fed Bovine Steroids to Look Older" written by Amanda Kloer and released on April 5 on ICC webpage has already produced thousands of responses from all over the globe.The story, with photos of Bengalee "child prostitutes" states in the opening paragraph that "in many and massive brothels in Bangladesh" young girls are being "force-fed a steroid used to fatten cattle" to make the girls look older and plump!
Many fear that Bangladesh govt's culpability in that heinous crime might raised in the same way the Pope's culpability is being raised now regarding his alleged inaction against pedophile Catholic priests for their sex crimes against teenage boys.Protests are growing against Pope Benedict XVI's planned visit to UK in coming September and the legal world is debating if Pope's being head of Vatican city-state can shield him from potential prosecution related to sex crimes by pedophile priests, considered crimes against humanity.
Although Pope Benedict has not been accused of any crime, senior British lawyers are now examining whether Pope could be prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction for an alleged systemic cover-up of sexual abuses by priests.
This debate gives rise to an ominous possibility that the present head of Bangladesh government may come under the clouds of prosecution for inaction if not turning its eyes away from this most heinous crime against child prostitutes reportedly going on unabated in Bangladesh.
Amanda Kloer's story on ICC webpage states that bovin-steroids in the Oradexon family of drugs were originally developed by the livestock industry to force-feed cattle to produce more fleshy tissue which will sell for more money in the market. The story states " In Bangladesh the drug is cheap and widely available. So bright brothel owners had the idea to force-feed Oradexon to pre-pubescent girls to grow breasts and hips. But Oradexon is highly addictive for humans. Once hooked getting off the drug is extremely difficult.
The story further says: "The way Oradexon is taken by the girls in Bangladesh's brothels---to force puberty to come, to enlarge breasts, or to make girls look `meatier' for their clients---causes a host of serious health problems. Long-term use of it impairs the kidneys, increases the blood pressure, interferes with normal hormone production and causes widespread swelling throughout the body."
The story emphasizes the responsibility of Bangladesh govt by saying "the government of Bangladesh needs to seriously investigate the ways Oradexon and related drugs are being used and take steps to prevent them from being forced on young girls enslaved in brothels."
Moyeenul Alam: Veteran journalist and columnist, Canada email: moyeenulalam@hotmail.com
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