BANGLADESH

The cabinet, led by prime minister Sheikh Hasina, on Monday gave provisional approval to the amended draft of Bangladesh Workers' Welfare Foundation Act-2012.

Once implemented, the law will make it mandatory for companies to deposit 5 percent of profit to workers' welfare funds.

"The attendees of the meeting also decided to include penalties for those who violating this law," Cabinet Division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said while giving details on the cabinet decision.

He said the legislative division of the law ministry has been asked to formulate the kind of penalties to be given on violation. "The law ministry will finalise a proposal on this matter and send it back for placing in the cabinet," he said.

The cabinet also endorsed the draft on Public Servants (Retirement) (Amendment) Act 2012 aimed at passing it into a law in parliament the ordinance promulgated by the president for extension of the retirement age of the civil servants, from 57 years to 59 years.

"The prime minister at the meeting directed the appropriate authorities to take quick steps to turn the ordinances promulgated during the last three years of the present government into laws," the Cabinet Division official added.

The cabinet meeting also accepted a proposal for exchange of land with Turkey for construction of own embassy buildings in the capitals of the two countries.

Though the draft of Bangladesh Pure Food (Amended) Act-2012 was scheduled to be placed before the cabinet for approval, the health ministry withdrew it at the last moment. The law will be placed in the next cabinet meeting after further modification and addition, he said.

89% DECISIONS IMPLEMENTED

Mosharraf said the cabinet was pleased with the rate of implementation of its decisions taken during the last three years.

The meeting was informed that the council of ministers had taken 901 decisions in 134 meetings in its first three years against 488 decisions in 131 meetings during the same period of the preceding government.

The execution rate is around 89.3 percent in comparison with 71 percent of the past government.

The number of laws passed by the present government during this time was 153 while it was 102 during the previous government, he added.

The Maldivian ambassador to Dhaka, Ahmed Sareer, on Monday confirmed that SAARC secretary-general Dhiyana Saeed has resigned.

"I can confirm that her resignation has been accepted. Ahmed Naseem, chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives, has already informed the SAARC countries about this development," he told .

Saeed was previously the Maldives' attorney general, and also served as the Maldivian government's envoy for South Asia.

The Maldives will also appoint a new secretary-general soon to complete the rest of the four-year tenure of the country.

She took over as the SAARC secretary-general in March last year and is the first to resign from the post before the end of her term.

The resignation comes over the recent controversy that arose with her participation in a lawyers' news conference condemning the recent arrests of the country's chief criminal court judge Abdulla Mohamed and senior opposition leaders.

The Maldivian president's spokesperson Mohammad Zuhair accused her of 'clearly contravening' with the SAARC Charter by stating her "personal and private position" on TV, the Male-based Haveeru newspaper reported.

"I did not interfere with any internal affairs of the Maldives and I will submit my resignation to Ahmed Naseem, Chairman of the SAARC council of ministers and foreign minister of Maldives today," she was quoted as saying.

She had also added that she had 'not' violated the SAARC charter.

Saima Hossain Putul, the prime minister's daughter who spearheads disability issues in Bangladesh, has said the country is making progress to ensure "equality" for such special people, and that state mechanism should take the issue forward.'

Talking to on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Shafallah Forum at Qatar's capital, she affirmed that Bangladesh was working in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"We have not only signed the Convention but ratified it," Saima said. "How many countries will you find (that has) ratified the convention? We did it.

"We have a policy on disability, which is being updated. We hosted the global conference in Dhaka (and) you will not find many countries that could make this progress.

"We have also launched a South Asia Network on autism."

According to the UN, 153 countries, including Bangladesh, have signed the Convention that demands access to healthcare, education, employment and all other fundamental rights for persons with disabilities. But only 109 nations have ratified it thus far.

A US-licensed psychologist and a global advocate for the US-based research organisation 'Autism Speaks', Putul brought the disability issue to the forefront in Bangladesh in July last year when she organised first autism meet in South Asia. Among global leaders who took part in the event was Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress party.

'NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE'

While Bangladesh's political culture has made people sceptical whether the issue would see any progress if the Sheikh Hasina government does not return to power and archrival BNP comes in, Saima said, "It should not be hindered."

"It's not a political issue. The government mechanism will work (and) it's their responsibility to carry out the programmes," Putul said, referring to bureaucrats.

Having dismissed any possible foray into politics in a previous interview with , Putul said she can use her "political connections" for the welfare of persons with disability.

At the opening of the forum on Sunday, Shafallah Centre chairman Hassan Ali said many countries are not abiding by the UN Convention.

Putul said: "This year, we discussed what we should do in any crisis for people with disability. People forget them during disasters and crises. They cannot stand up in a queue for relief."

THE SHEER NUMBERS

She stressed that the conference discussed their plight in detail and said, "It is a very relevant conference, as we are a disaster-prone country and have (many) people with disabilities."

Preliminary results of the latest census suggest 16 million people live with disabilities in Bangladesh, which is 9.07 percent of the population.

Suggesting ways to ameliorate the life of this significant section of population, Putul said: "We should make policies to build wheelchair-friendly buildings so that they can move everywhere. We should consider their numbers and they can contribute (to society and the economy) if we can make them part of the mainstream."

She said the conference discussed how policies could help to that end.

Besides panel discussions, there was a closed-door meeting of the first ladies attending the forum. Though details of the meeting were yet to emerge, it is learnt that Putul spoke there.

Ali, the chairman of Shafallah Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for children with special needs, meanwhile, told that they could assist Bangladesh in "training people and also brining people for training".

Putul said she was also interacting with the global centre to train Bangladeshis.

As part of that, she said, three principals of special schools will be sent to the US for a one-month training. Talks are underway with a Saudi Arabian centre as well.

"We have to go and learn. We will work on every possibility," she said.

Putul had earlier told that "creative utilisation" of resources can bring smiles to the children with special needs in such resource-starved countries as Bangladesh.

Zingers flew in the second half of the proceedings at the International Crimes Tribunal on Monday once the prosecution began replying to the defence.

The war crimes tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, heard arguments of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's defence throughout the day.

Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum was then asked to counter the defence arguments.

At one point of his deliberation, Malum mentioned the accused as "Saka Chowdhury" as is commonly written in Bengali newspapers taking the initials of the BNP MP's first two names.

Justice Nizamul Huq, chairman of the tribunal, stopped him immediately and said, "Although newspapers often refer to him as such, do speak out his full name as Mr Chowdhury does not approve of it."

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's loud boom could be heard from the dock at the back of the courtroom, "Thank you sir, thank you!"

At this point the prosecutor, who has been faced with regular barbs of the feisty MP as he argues the case, complained to the court, "But Salauddin Quader Chowdhury calls me 'Halum', my lord."

There was the booming voice again from back, "What? Halum? No, no never. I never call him that."

The entire court cracked up at this exchange.

The obviously homonymous 'halum' elicited much laughter since it is the Bengali expression for what tigers or lions are supposed to say when they growl before jumping on a prey. The tiger's 'halum' is like the sheep's 'baa'.

But Malum was to face even more embarrassment when the tribunal came back with its queries regarding certain individuals mentioned in the charges against Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.

Tribunal member, judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed, reminded him that the tribunal had only a few queries that the prosecutor could not satisfactorily answer.

Malum kept insisting that the prosecution still had the scope to fill in on the gaps there were in its cases, when asked whether certain individuals were alive or dead, especially relating to one Sobhan, a supposed aide to Salauddin Quader, as mentioned in the first charge.

At one point judge Zaheer Ahmed said, "It is a very simple query. Is this Sobhan alive or dead?"

According to the charge, Sobhan was Salauddin Quader's aide and had abducted individuals, apparently at his behest.

The judge asked why then there were no charges against this Sobhan who was actively involved in the abduction if he was still alive.

Malum then said the prosecution had dropped seven charges against Salauddin Quader because it did not consider them legally authentic enough. "But the 25 that we have brought are solid and we will be able to answer all your queries."

Zaheer Ahmed returned, "If this is the situation with your first charge, I wonder what those seven were like."

At this Malum reacted saying that such remarks would be widely reported in the media and the news outlets would be rife with news that he was unqualified as a prosecutor and so forth.

Malum then went on about how certain media outlets were carrying reports that reflected adversely upon the tribunal as well as the prosecution.

"Although a large portion of the media report correctly, there are a handful that have a rather negative tone."

Justice Nizamul Huq reassured him that the media was there only to cooperate and there was nothing to be scared of.

Judge Zaheer Ahmed said, "But the media is the mirror of the society. And what difference does it make if one or two houses report negatively?"

Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar has sued former officer-in-charge of Khilgaon Police Station Helal Uddin for torturing him in custody and framing him after his arrest last year.

Kadar, a student of biochemistry and molecular biology, filed the case on Monday afternoon, Khilgaon OC Sirajul Islam Sheikh told .

According to case details, plainclothes police personnel arrested him in the early hours of July 15 last year while he was returning to Fazlul Haque Hall of Dhaka University from one of his relatives' residence at Eskaton in the city.

Kadar in his case alleged that he was severely tortured in police custody.

KADAR CLEARED OF CARJACKING

Earlier in the day, Dhaka metropolitan magistrate M A Salam cleared Kadar in the carjacking case following an appeal submitted by the Detective Branch (DB) of police.

DB police inspector Abdur Noor, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the final probe report to the court on Jan 19 excluding Kadar's name.

The report says the charges brought against Kadar were found "false and fabricated".

Controversy and confusion swirled over the police version of Kadar's arrest as they said they held him at Khilgaon on July 15 when he was about to commit robbery.

Khilgaon police lodged two cases, accusing him of robbery and possessing sharp weapons.

The carjacking case in which Kadar was implicated was filed with Mohammadpur police on July 14, a day before his arrest.

Mirash Uddin, the duty police officer at Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, told reporters that though Kadar was shown arrested in the carjacking case his name was not mentioned in the case details.

Police faced massive criticism when the Dhaka University students launched protest movements demanding Kadar's release claiming that he was arrested on false charges.

The High Court on July 28 ordered suspension of three police officers – OC Helal Uddin, a sub-inspector and an assistant sub-inspector – as they reportedly tortured Kadar.

The court also issued order asking authorities concerned to launch an investigation into the allegation and the police chief to carry out a departmental enquiry and submit their findings in four weeks.

The Dhaka court on Monday fixed Jan 26 to pass its judgment on the probe report submitted by DB inspector Mohammad Shahjahan in connection with a robbery case.

Bangladesh Power Development Board and National Thermal Power Corporation of India are set to float a joint venture for the 1320 MW power project in Khulna by the end of this month.

The NTPC chairman-cum-managing-director Arup Roy Chaudhary said that an agreement to set up the joint venture would be signed by Jan 29 next.

"It would be a 50:50 joint venture between NTPC and the Bangladesh government," Roy Chaudhary told journalists in New Delhi on Monday.

The NTPC and PDB on Aug 30 last year signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint venture project in Khulna.

The power plant is likely to be run on imported coal and operated by the NTPC that is also exploring cooperation with PDB for another power project in Chittagong.

New Delhi recently said that Bangladesh was welcome to take part in the power projects in north-eastern India.

"India has a liberal policy permitting 100% FDI in respect of projects relating to electricity generation, transmission and distribution. In this regard, the participation of Bangladesh in power projects in India, particularly in the north-eastern states of India adjoining Bangladesh, would be welcome," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued on Jan 11, around the same time prime minister Sheikh Hasina arrived in Agartala – the capital of northeastern Indian state of Tripura – for a two-day visit.

New Delhi referred to Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in Sep 2011 and said that India and Bangladesh had agreed to promote trans-border cooperation in the management of shared water resources and hydropower potential as well as eco-systems and in the area of connectivity.

"It was also agreed (during Singh's meeting with Hasina in September 2011) that arrangements for cooperation in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, including electricity from renewable or other sources, would be established," said the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

New Delhi said that such joint ventures in the power sector involving the two countries would also facilitate the evacuation of power from north-eastern India to Bangladesh and into other parts of India through Bangladesh.

"Details of such cooperation can be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Steering Committee on Power held at the level of secretaries between the two countries," it added.

According to the joint statement issued after the two prime ministers had met in Dhaka on Sept 7 last year, Hasina and Singh had called for expeditious conclusion of Power Purchase Agreement between Bangladesh Power Development Board and India's state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation for purchase of 250 MW power from India by
Bangladesh.
"It was agreed that Bangladesh would procure the additional 250 MW of power from the open market in India utilizing the full capacity of the power transmission line being established through inter-grid connectivity at Bheramara and Behrampur," read the joint statement.

Hasina and Singh had asked officials concerned to undertake necessary steps for conducting feasibility reports for the setting up of a similar 1320 MW coal based power plant at a suitable location in Chittagong.

A 400 KV high-voltage power transmission line is being constructed between Berhampur in India and Bheramara in Bangladesh and works could be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

Although India offered 250 MW power to Bangladesh according to the January 2010 MoU, the transmission line will have an initial transfer capacity of 500 MW. The transmission systems of India and Bangladesh, which are based on 400 KV Alternate Current (AC) and 230 KV AC respectively, are proposed to be synchronised by installing a back-to-back HVDC link.

Singh had thanked the Hasina government for allowing passage of over-dimensional cargo for the Palatana power project in Tripura through Bangladesh.

The High Court has declared illegal the dismissal of 29 police officers, including two deputy inspectors general (DIG).

The bench of justices Naima Haider and Farid Ahmed passed the order on Monday after a final hearing of some of its rules that had earlier been passed upon the government seeking explanation.

The counsel for the petitioners Salahuddin Dolan told that the police officials had been dismissed on different occasions between 2002 and 2003 when the BNP-led four-party alliance government was in power.

One petition was lodged in 2002, five in 2010 and four last year challenging the dismissal orders.

The High Court had passed rules upon all the petitions, asking the government why the dismissal orders would not be declared illegal.

Salahuddin said the court in its order asked the government to reinstate the police officers, aged below 59 years, to their jobs with all facilities.

"The government has also been asked to provide all facilities and outstanding payments to the police officers who are already more than 59-year old considering them in service from their compulsory retirement to usual retirement age limit," he added.

Of the 29 petitioners, two are DIGs and five are SPs. The DIGs are Ruhul Amin and Abdul Manna and the SPs Kazi Anwar Hossain, Mojibur Rahman, Ahmed Jalil, Shah Alam and Washiquzzaman Khan.

The remaining 22 others are inspectors and sub-inspectors.

Deputy attorney general Moklesur Rahman argued for the state during the hearing.

Forced disappearances increased sharply last year in Bangladesh as security agencies replaced one form of abuse with another, according to Human Rights Watch.

The New York-based human rights organisation in its World Report 2012 said the number of extrajudicial killings by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has dropped following criticisms at home and abroad.

Moreover, the government took no significant steps to investigate and prosecute torture in custody and extrajudicial killings in 2011 and showed an increasing intolerance for criticism, it said.

The organisation, in its 676-page World Report 2012 published at Cairo in Egypt on Monday, expressed its concern over 'the change of form to abuse by security agencies'.

The report said the government violated the rights to a fair trial of thousands of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutineers.

A bloodbath in the headquarters of the Border Guard Bangladesh, formerly known as Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), killed at least 74 people, including 57 army officers deputed to the paramilitary force, on Feb 25-26, 2009. The trial of the mutineers is on in several special courts across the country.

Human Rights Watch said it thinks human rights organisations, journalists, trade unions, and civil society activists remain at risk in the country, with some suffering attacks.

The World Report assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined.

RAB HAVE NO EXPLANATION

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, "The government of Sheikh Hasina has made repeated promises to end abuses and ensure justice and accountability, yet the security forces remain above the law."

"In the past year the government has moved from saying it would take action against abusive forces to denying abuses or defending the actions of the same abusive security forces that it complained about when it was in opposition," he added.

"Despite clear and voluminous evidence of Rapid Action Battalion responsibility," Adams said, "the government has not held anyone in RAB accountable for the large numbers of extrajudicial killings."

EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS SPREADING

According to the report, Bangladeshi human rights groups have documented nearly 1,600 extrajudicial killings since 2004.

"Many were disguised by law enforcement institutions as 'crossfire killings'." The organisation thinks RAB is the unit mainly responsible for such killings.

"…same culture of violations and impunity is infecting other security forces as members rotate back to their parent units in the police or intelligence departments," the report said.

Quoting the Asian Human Rights Commission, the report said that its representative, William Gomez, was abducted by plainclothes security personnel in May and tortured and verbally abused during an interrogation.