OntoreBangladesh

International day for persons with disabilities
2008 Theme: “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and justice for all of us”.

Dignity and justice for all of us is the theme of this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities, as well as for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Independence of Judiciary is not a matter for jurists only but an important pillar of democracy. Many countries across the globe have begun transitions from authoritarian rule to democracy, marking what has become popularly known as the third wave of democratization. Democracy can never be complete without and unless the four pillars are independent and strong. However, there must be links between and among the pillars. The organs of the states are dependent on each other as current British Lord Chancellor rightly pointed out “The independence of the judiciary, as opposed to that of individual judges, is dependent on the willingness of the popular branches of government” . appointed by the new Judicial Service Commission) and the second recruitment by JSC

Rights based approach to development for the (dis)abled people is recent in Bangladesh. The (dis)abled people are extensively deprived of the opportunity of fully participating in the life of the community. In certain cases law forbids (dis)abled people to exercise the rights affirmed on their behalf by international instruments. In other cases (dis)abled persons do not receive the support they need in order to participate. Let’s (dis)cuss some of the key areas where the situation is more susceptible. WHO estimates that (dis)abled people make up 10% of the population as a whole i.e. more than 15 million (dis)abled people live in Bangladesh without fulfilment of their basic needs and with denial of their rights. The government adopts a welfare and charity approach instead of rights based approach for the development of (dis)abled people.

Malpractice – Any professional misconduct.

Mandamus – A writ by which a court commands the performance of a particular act.

Manslaughter – The unlawful killing of another without intent to kill; either voluntary (upon a sudden impulse); or involuntary (during the commission of an unlawful act not ordinarily expected to result in great bodily harm).

Marshal – The executive officer of the federal court.

Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Directory- A publication of several volumes which contains names, addresses, specialties, and rating of United States lawyers; also includes digests of state and foreign statutory law.

Material evidence – Evidence which is relevant to the issues in a case.

Mediation – A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a settlement.

Memorandum – An informal note or instrument embodying something the parties desire to have in written evidence.

Memorialized – In writing.

Ratify the Optional Protocol of CAT

Saira Rahman Khan

Governance in Bangladesh has its own culture of “power politics”, that most leaders do not know how to exercise in a democratic framework. ‘Power’ in Bangladesh society and mindset is linked to ‘control’ and its demonstration in all relationships; as heads of family, organisations, and institutions and in the ‘controlling power’ of ministers and prime minister etc. It is this misuse of ‘power’ that creates corruption and impunity within the government system, regardless of what kind of government. Bangladesh has been ruled by martial law, elected governments and caretaker governments human rights violations by the state have never stopped. In a country known for the torture of accused persons in police remand and for oppressive laws, that will need very, very long and consistent campaign and a significant amount of pressure from all corners for any government to accede to such a process.

Protection of social rights

Thomas Hammarberg

Enormous sums of tax payers’ money have been poured into the banking system in order to prevent a global financial meltdown. Ordinary people have been forced to pay for the reckless practices of a few. On top of this, there are already signs that it is the less wealthy will suffer most from the recession the world is now facing.

The Andhra Pradesh state government should prosecute police officials responsible for the torture of 21 Muslims after a series of bomb blasts in Hyderabad in May and August 2007, Human Rights Watch said in a press release. After the blasts, the authorities detained approximately 100 Muslims for questioning. Of those later charged, 21 were released. On November 13, the Andhra Pradesh government admitted that the 21 had been tortured and announced compensation of US$600 each. It also promised additional financial assistance through government loans. But the state government has not initiated criminal proceedings against any police officers who ordered or carried out the torture. “Acknowledging torture and providing compensation is a good first step,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “But the government has to prosecute those responsible so that those who use torture will not get away with it.”

The Taiwanese parliament passed a resolution on 11 November calling on the Government of Japan to accept historical responsibility and apologise to the victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery system. This follows a resolution passed in South Korea on 27 October.

Integrating Human Rights into WTO!
Fayazuddin Ahmad

As a successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WTO- since ’95 has not only focused on setting rules for trade liberalization, but also for the implementation of these rules through its Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). However, as members of international society are becoming more and more interrelated, decisions of the WTO impact not only on trade relations among member states, but also various other factors such as human rights. Although there is no special onus- as such- on the WTO to consider human rights when they make decisions even so, the responsibility to protect human rights as members of global society is imposed on various international organizations through human rights mainstreaming movement by the United Nations (UN). In addition, member states of the WTO are also members of various international human rights treaties and have responsibilities to protect human rights as well.