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Editor:Light House Media web:http://azad- President:Bangladesh Journalist union in France
Shocking video and photos with truthful news and evidences of the violations of human rights and genocides committed by the current Awami League government in Bangladesh. Every Human Rights Activists and patriot Bangladeshi worldwide must see this www.awamibrutality. com Thanks to Mr. M. A. Mannan Azad for sharing with us. Anis Ahmed
----- Original Message ----- From: Abdul Mannan Azad Sent: Thursday, February 18, 2010 1:59 PM Subject: [notun_bangladesh] New Web- awamibrutality
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Médecins Sans Frontières [Doctors Without Borders] founded in 1971 sends medical personnel to some of the most destitute and dangerous parts of the world and encourages them not only to save lives, but also to condemn the injustices they see. The group was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. In a campaign that seems to have accelerated since October, the groups say, ethnic Rohingya refugees who have been living for years in Bangladesh are being seized, beaten and forced back to Myanmar, which they had left to escape persecution and abuse and which does not want them.
"Over the last few months we have treated victims of violence, people who claim to have been beaten by the police, claim to have been beaten by members of the host population, by people they've been living next to for many years," said Paul Critchley, who runs the Bangladesh program for the aid group.
"We have treated patients for beatings, for machete wounds and for rape," he said, quoting a report issued Thursday that describes the situation as a humanitarian crisis. Some had escaped after being forced into a river that forms the border with Myanmar, formerly Burma. "This is continuing today."
In its report, Médecins Sans Frontières said that a year ago 90 percent of the people in the makeshift camp were already running out of food.
"Malnutrition and mortality rates were past emergency thresholds, and people had little access to safe drinking water, sanitation or medical care," the report said.
The Rohingya is a Muslim ethnic group of the Northern Arakan State of Western Burma. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated in two bordering townships of Arakan to Bangladesh, namely Maungdaw and Buthidaung, and is spread in three townships of Akyab, Rathedung and Kyauktaw. It is thought, according to Rohingya history, that in the beginning of the 7th century AD, merchants from the Arab World, Mughal Empire and neighbouring Bengal began to settle in Arakan territory. In the 19th century, the British captured control of Arakan after the first Anglo–Burmese War and many more Bengalis from British East Bengal came to settle in Arakan.
According to Amnesty International, the Muslim Rohingya people have continued to suffer from human rights violations under the Burmese junta since 1978, and many have fled to neighboring Bangladesh as a result.
"The Rohingyas' freedom of movement is severely restricted and the vast majority of them have effectively been denied Burma citizenship. They are also subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced eviction and house destruction; and financial restrictions on marriage. Rohingyas continue to be used as forced labourers on roads and at military camps, although the amount of forced labour in northern Rakhine State has decreased over the last decade."
"In 1978 over 200,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, following the 'Nagamin' ['Dragon King'] operation of the Myanmar army. Officially this campaign aimed at "scrutinising each individual living in the state, designating citizens and foreigners in accordance with the law and taking actions against foreigners who have filtered into the country illegally." This military campaign directly targeted civilians, and resulted in widespread killings, rape and destruction of mosques and further religious persecution."
"During 1991-92 a new wave of over a quarter of a million Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh. They reported widespread forced labour, as well as summary executions, torture, and rape. Rohingyas were forced to work without pay by the Burmese army on infrastructure and economic projects, often under harsh conditions. Many other human rights violations occurred in the context of forced labour of Rohingya civilians by the security forces."
As of 2005, the UNHCR had been assisting with the repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh, but allegations of human rights abuses in the refugee camps have threatened this effort.
Despite earlier efforts by the UN, the vast majority of Rohingya refugees have remained in Bangladesh, unable to return because of the negative attitude of the ruling regime in Myanmar. Now they are facing problems in Bangladesh as well where they do not receive support from the government any longer. In February 2009, many Rohingya refugees were rescued byAcehnese sailors in the Strait of Malacca, after 21 days at sea.
Over the years thousands of Rohingya also have fled to Thailand. There are roughly 111,000 refugees housed in 9 camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. There have been charges that groups of them have been shipped and towed out to open sea from Thailand, and left there. In February 2009 there was evidence of the Thai army towing a boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees out to sea. A group of refugees rescued by Indonesian authorities also in February 2009 told harrowing stories of being captured and beaten by the Thai military, and then abandoned at open sea. By the end of February there were reports that of a group of 5 boats were towed out to open sea, of which 4 boats sank in a storm, and 1 boat washed up on the shore. February 12, 2009 Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were "some instances" in which Rohingya people were pushed out to sea.
"There are attempts, I think, to let these people drift to other shores. [...] when these practices do occur, it is done on the understanding that there is enough food and water supplied. [...] It's not clear whose work it is [...] but if I have the evidence who exactly did this I will bring them to account."
The prime minister said he regretted "any losses", and was working on rectifying the problem.
Bangladesh has since announced it will repatriate around 9,000 Rohingya living in refugee camps in the country back to Burma, after a meeting with Burmese diplomats. Steps to repatriate Rohingya began in 2005.
It is thought, according to various indigenous ethnic groups of Burma, the local Arakanese people and the Burmese military government that waves of later Bangali migrations to Arakan started in the 19th century after the British occupation.
Bangladesh, like India, Thailand and Pakistan, is not one of 147 nations to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, the global treaty that defines who is eligible for refugee status and what rights they are guaranteed. As a result, Dhaka has not registered a single refugee since 1991, and, as one of the most impoverished nations in the world, does not have the financial resources to cope with such a huge number of people. "We are a poor country and we have our own issues to deal with," says one local from Cox's Bazaar district, where the greatest concentration of Rohingyas lives.
From 1991 to 1992 almost 250,000 Rohingyas from the Arakan state in Burma fled to Bangladesh to escape from forced labor, rape and religious persecution at the hands of Burmese military. Although repatriation was enforced from 1993 to 1997 the outflow continues. According to Bangladeshi officials and NGOs, there are about 100,000 undocumented Rohingyas in Bangladesh taking daily wage jobs as farmers, vendors, rickshaw drivers, and construction workers. Images Asia, a Thailand-based NGO, conducted research on the situation of Rohingya women. The report reveals stories of Rohingya women being trafficked from the camps to Bangladesh and then into Pakistan. The lack of a durable solution to the problem continues to make the Rohingya population vulnerable to abuses, both in Burma and in Bangladesh.
http://www.weeklyblitz.net/536/rohingya-persecution-in-bangladesh
Homage paid to language movement martyrs
Friends
My respectful Salam n regards Barrister Rafiqul Haq, the pioneer n patriot in establishing truth, who does nor fear uttering the truth against the heinous "gentle faced Lawyers(AG)" n other hoodlums including the criminals of the `1/11.
Had Bangladesh had few more such sharp tongue honest fighters who do not fail to establish the rule of LAW n JUSTICE in a country. The criminal politicians has stampeded n strangulated all the Government machinery including the Judiciary. The BAAAAAAL has not only undermined the sanctity of judiciary but also put the sacred entity at the mercy of the BAAAAL hoodlums led bypartisan AG.
Should the invaders not forget that it is ultimately the JUSTICE prevails at any cost n the untruth disappears like smoke.
BANGLDESH ZINDABAD
ZINDABAD BANGLADESH ZINDABAD
Let the heroic sacrifice of the Martyrs remain ever glowing in the "Akash Batash Nodi Prantor" of BANGLADESH n the Lal Sabuj Pataka to fly high with right dignity n honour forever n ever.
Barrister RAFIQUE-UL HUQ
A lawyer through and through
HE WAS an activist of the Juba Congress, led by the late Indira Gandhi, when he was a student. He was elected social secretary to the Calcutta University Central Students' Union, twice. However, his involvement in politics ended with his days at the university. 'I had to struggle to establish myself. I had to be busy in earning my livelihood,' says Rafique-ul Huq.
Born in 1935 in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Rafique became a barrister-at-law in 1961, came back to Dhaka in 1962 and started practising law at the High Court. He became an advocate to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1965.
As is the case with all success stories, he got a couple of lucky breaks. In 1965 his senior Ashraful Hossain was busy with the arbitration on the dispute between Pakistan and India over Rann of the Kutch island. Rafique had to seek time for the hearing in a series of cases due to the absence of his senior counsel. He started moving the cases after the court had asked him to.
Allah Buksh Khoda Buksh Brohi, a legendary lawyer of the time, also gave him a break in the same year. Brohi hired him as a senior counsel in a tax-related case. As Brohi was moving the case before the Supreme Court, presided over by the chief justice Cornelius, Rafique tried to make some points to Brohi but failed. Eventually, Rafique was allowed to present his arguments. Not only did he win the case but his arguments impressed Justice Cornelius so much that the chief justice made him an advocate to the Supreme Court.
Rafique became widely known during the two-year rule of the emergency regime. He does not normally practise criminal law although he was top of the class in criminal law at Calcutta University in 1957. However, during the tenure of the interim government, he started moving criminal cases filed against the Awami League president, and now prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and other political heavyweights.
He was widely acclaimed after securing a series of High Court orders and verdicts including bail and suspension of proceedings against high-profile politicians and businessmen. As amicus curiae, he secured a High Court verdict that observed that the court had the power to grant bail in cases under the emergency power rules.
Rafique had to move the criminal cases of the politicians during the emergency regime as 'most of my friends who have name and fame as lawyers had either gone into hiding or did not dare to move the cases.' Rafique did not face any threat from the emergency regime for moving the emergency cases, rather 'the DGFI men used to send me gifts.'
'Moving the cases of Hasina, I could pay my gratitude to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman...Similarly, I am lucky to defend Khaleda Zia,' he says.
Rafique does not consider his legal battle against the emergency regime as a battle against the army as an institution. Against the backdrop of political turmoil, the army came to the scene on January 11, 2007 through the declaration of the state of emergency. The regime launched drive against graft. 'But, some army officers broke records in corruption. They extorted businessmen. The army, as an institution, was, however, not involved. The army should bring those ambitious officers to book.'
The politicians, he believes, should take lesson from the sufferings they had to face during the emergency regime and institutionalise democracy.Rafique recalls how his move during the emergency rule to bring Hasina and Khaleda across the table 'in the interest of democracy and for an end to the culture of mudslinging between the two parties' ran into resistance from within the political establishments.
Syed Ashraful Islam, then the AL spokesperson, pointing at Rafique, had said, 'Politics is none of their business…They should not try to meddle in politics….'Both Hasina and Khaleda agreed to sit together, Rafique says. 'But Hasina phoned me from abroad after Ashraf's comment and told me that she would consider the move after her return.' Although his move was foiled, Rafique still thinks the two top leaders should sit together on every national issue.
He is also dissatisfied with the justice delivery system. He blames the emergency regime for the downfall of the judiciary. 'During the regime, kangaroo courts were set up which were competing to jail people. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court had become "stay court" to halt the High Court orders that had given some respite to the people. The High Court, however, played a proactive role.'
He is also dissatisfied with the present scenario in the courts. 'Today, the state attorneys, especially the attorney general, are threatening Supreme Court judges.' A senior High Court judge, who is scheduled to deliver verdict in a case moved by Rafique, told him a few days back, 'Do you think I would be allowed to deliver the verdict.'
'If senior judges express such despondency, how can the judiciary run?' he laments. 'The state attorneys are acting not as the counsels for the state, but as the party activists. The lawyers, especially the state attorneys, also have the duty to ensure justice in the courts. I was also the attorney general and that too under Ershad. But, I never played the role the attorney general is now playing.'
Rafique was made attorney general in 1990. 'Before assuming the office of the attorney general I had told Ershad that he must not give any illegal instruction to me. As attorney general, in many cases, I had argued that the government did wrong. During that period, only three detention orders were finally upheld by the High Court and the court had declared illegal the rest of the detention orders as I pleaded those were illegal.'
Rafique was an elected member of the executive committee on International Taxation of the World Association of Lawyers. He was also member of the world executive committee of Foreign Trade and Investment (Washington) and of the Bangladesh delegation to the UN General Assembly (1990).
He was a member of the National Commission on Money, Banking and Credit and chairman of the sub-committee on banking laws (1984) under the commission which drafted the current banking laws of Bangladesh, chairman of the corporate laws committee (1990), member of the company law reforms committee (1977) and member of the committee for improvement of the stock exchange market in Bangladesh.
During the era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, he drafted the laws on nationalisation. The same Rafique was asked by Ziaur Rahman to draft the laws on denationalisation. This time Rafique wrote the laws sitting in Bangabhaban and he used to go there through the backdoor.
Once Zia asked him, 'You wrote the laws on nationalisation and again you wrote the laws on denationalisation…Do you not have any principle?' Rafique replied, 'I am a lawyer and I work for my client.' He did not take any fees for drafting those laws on nationalisation and denationalisation.
Rafique hails from Subarnapur village under Barasat in West Bengal of India. 'My family was a doctors' family,' he says.His father Momenul Huq was a physician. His paternal uncle was the principal of Dhaka Medical College. One of his brothers is a physician.
Rafique had to became a barrister to marry, and that too, a doctor, Farida Huq, a renowned microbiologist. The marriage was settled at their early ages. His mother-in-law, Mrs Ameena Rahman, wife of the late Habibur Rahman, who was the owner of Paramount Press, had told him that he would have to become a barrister so that he could earn a lot of money.
Rafique had to do job in London to bear the costs of obtaining his bar-at law. He earned Tk 50 as fees for moving the first case in 1962. That was a civil case of some Sattar. He started earning a lot in 1968, when AK Brohi engaged him in a case at Tk 7,500 per day. With the money he earned from the case, Rafique built his house at Purana Paltan. Before building the house, he had been using the piece of land to cultivate paddy.
Since then, Rafique has earned a lot materialising the dream of his mother-in-law. He spends most of his earning in charities. Ameena Rahman recently died at 'Ameena Rahman Coronary Care Unit' at the BIRDEM Hospital. The CCU was set up in March 2009 after her name at a cost of Tk 1 crore, donated by Rafique.
His involvement in charitable works began in 1972, when he established the Dhaka Shishu Hospital. The hospital started operation in a tent at Dhanmondi. Later Sheikh Mujibur Rahman allotted a plot at Agargaon area, where the hospital is now situated. As Rafique refused to take any fees for drafting the laws on denationalisation, Ziaur Rahman gave Tk 50 lakh for the hospital and with the money the trust of the hospital was formed.
In 1986 he established Subarna Clinic at Chandra crossing in Gazipur for the poor. A family can get free medical treatment at the clinic with a health card to be obtained from the clinic at a cost of Tk 10 only.
He is the pioneer of the Ad-Din Women's Medical College and Hospital at Moghbazar in Dhaka. He is life member and vice-chairman of the Diabetic Association of Bangladesh and member of its national council (since 1976), life member of the Bangladesh National Society for the Blind, chairman of Society for Education and Care of Hearing Impaired Children of Bangladesh, chairman of the Management Committee of BIRDEM Hospital and secretary general of the Management Board of Dhaka Shishu Hospital.
Rafique has also started construction of a 12-storey building at Ashulia for the establishment of a modern cancer hospital.His only son Faheemul Huq is also a barrister. Faheem's wife is a non-practising lawyer. 'I have told my son that all my money will go to charities and he needs to earn for his family.'
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