Images of Bangladesh rural and Dhaka...
Voice OVER [TC: 00:04]
Bangladesh - The world's eighth most populous country.
Bangladeshi Peacekeepers/UN helmets
VOICE OVER
Its military provides the biggest share of UN peacekeepers in the world, earning billions for the government.
Poverty of people...
Voice over (CONT'D)
But it's also a nation of endemic poverty and rampant corruption.
A country born of a bloody war.
Archival footage of War for independence.
SHARIAR KABIR [TC: 00:42]
It was the most horrendous genocide since Second World War. During the liberation war, we have seen some Bangladeshi political parties, Islamist political parties, collaborated with Pakistani occupation army for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
MOSQUE, and HINDUS - Christian Church Armenian, and Buddhist Older Monk, and Buddhist young boy monks...
Voice OVER [TC: 01:09]
Now an Islamic state, religious minorities - Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and others are under threat; and crimes against them are rarely punished.
Police and Flames...
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 01:22]
Whenever such violations take place, the ethnic and religious minorities are automatically more vulnerable. We have signed many international treaties, but there have been systematic violations of those commitments in any case.
VoicE OVER [TC: 01:39]
Indigenous people killed - and removed from lands sacred to them.
Images of indigenous people...A Buddhist temple burned from Rangamati case
Chakma monk [TC: 01:50]
As Jerusalem is to the Jews, I believe Rangamati is to the Chakmas, to the Chakma community.
MODERN FOOTAGE of Bangladesh
VoiCE OVER [TC: 02:03]
Yet despite its human rights violations, the country still receives European and international aid.
Now, with elections looming, is the country in danger of becoming an extremist haven
or is there hope for a democratic and secular future?
Current footage of Bangladeshis, Muslim, and Hindu and Indigenous...
TITLE: CULTURE OF IMPUNITY, Bangladesh
Images of Satkhira:
VO [TC: 02:45]
Satkhira, a stronghold of the most powerful extremist party of the country, Jamat e-Islami. In late March, 2012, a local newspaper alleges that the Prophet Muhammed is insulted in a school play in a Hindu and Muslim neighborhood. Local extremist leaders urge followers to defend their religion against enemies of Islam. For three days, hundreds of followers riot, burning down houses in Hindu neighborhoods and looting. But police don't intervene, as rioters prevent fire brigades to come to people's rescue.
A Hindu man walks the streets of Dhaka alone. And houses burned down.
Hindu man [TC: 03:34]
Everything is burned, all our documents of land. All our clothes, all our belongings. Only ashes and the walls are left. I am in fear. I am afraid of what will come in the future. I don't know what fate will have in store for me.
Hindu woman walks down the street, passersby stare.
Hindu woman [TC: 04:13]
When I saw the fire, I started to take all my jewelry and clothes out. At that moment, eight to ten men grabbed me; some tore off my clothes, and showed me to the others. While they were pulling me, I pushed them away from me.
And I ran away. It was horrific, some pulling my arms, and some my legs.
I was in fear for my life. They wanted to kill me.
Some of them said let's strip her. They said they wanted us to leave, asking why we are still here.
"India is your neighbouring country. Leave this country and go there. "
Even police and military were present at the time when the incident was taking place.
But they didn't try to stop it.
They said to the perpetrators, you carry on; we are with you.
Question [TC: 05:41]
What do you think would happen if you filed a case?
Hindu womaN [TC: 05:44]
They would come at night and kill me.
Voice OVER [TC: 05:50]
Over ten years earlier, in the 2001 elections, the same party Jamat-E-Islami got into power as part of a coalition.
IftEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 05:58]
The 2001 election has gone down in history of Bangladesh as one of the worst form of violences that took place. Those violations mostly took place against religious and ethnic minorities, particularly religious minorities, Hindu communities and other smaller religious communities. And that had linkage with the party that came to power in coalition with Jamaat-E-Islami; they were alleged to have been part of that violation process.
Shahriar kabir [TC: 06:24]
We have recorded more than 3000 incidents of minority persecutions that killing, rape, arson, plundering, looting.
Hundreds of people were forced to leave Bangladesh, particularly the members of Hindu community.
I went to India and I shoot their testimonies. And while coming back to Bangladesh I was arrested at the airport; they filed a case against me and charged me for treason.
Voice OVER [TC: 07:03]
After international pressure, Shahriar Kabir was released.
Newspaper election ... Image Iftekhar in his office at his computer. And Transparency website.
VoICE OVER
During the years when the extremists were sharing power, corruption thrived.
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 07:16]
Bangladesh was ranked on top of the list of the countries where corruption is seen to be highest by Transparency International in the corruption perception index from 2001-2005 ... In subsequent years, the situation has improved; the score has gone up a little now. But nationally everybody recognizes that corruption remains a major challenge.
In 2010, we conducted a survey, a national housing survey on corruption based on experiences of the people. 84% of the people had been victims of corruption in one way or another. Which is a huge indicator on how corruption is deep and wide. You can be involved in corruption either in high positions or low positions but you can get away from being brought to justice. So it's promoting a culture of impunity, which is a potential threat not only for the economy but also for our progress towards democracy.
A farm and the man thrashing the land, the train... LAND SEQUENCE.... Rural Bangladesh images...
Voice over [TC: 08:24]
Like the Netherlands, Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated nations on earth. Land is a highly valuable asset.
Since 1965, seven million people, mainly Hindus, have lost their land under a law that allowed so-called "enemies of the state" to have their land seized by the government. Though a law was enacted to return people's land, it has never been implemented.
And landgrabbing has become a common practice.
Hindu farmer [TC: 08:57]
Mohammed Shohidul Master and Rojjob Ali, powerful local people,
conspired a long time to remove us from our land. The men who are trying to remove us, send us to India and destroy our temples. They are the leaders of local government, (the Awami League), their names are Mohammed Shohidul Islam and Rojjob Ali.
Muslim Farmer [TC: 09:31]
There was a land case by the Narayans (Hindu). I was a witness
that their houses had been broken. The perpetrators were furious. They threatened to beat me. They turned the villagers against me. Why did I help them? All these lands are rightfully the Hindus and indigenous people,
my neighbors. Why should the rich people take away and feed themselves with those lands?
The Muslim man and Hindu man hold hands...
Khushi Kabir [TC: 10:06]
It's a lot of political power also associated to the amount of land and what land you use. And land grabbing shows that you have the ability and the power to be able to go beyond the law, with impunity.
Images of a woman in the country, and a minority group...Chakma...
Khushi Kabir
So - if you are vulnerable, and you are vulnerable because you may be a woman who doesn't have a strong male protector, if you are vulnerable because you are from a minority religious community, then it is very easy for people who are powerful to be able to take away your land. The administration and the police etc who are supposed to protect all citizens turn a blind eye when it comes to influential people grabbing land.
VOICE OVER [TC: 10:59]
When ordinary people do try to get justice from Police, regardless of the issue, they can face disastrous personal consequences.
Photos of a Woman having been beaten...
Beaten Woman [TC: 11:06]
At half past midnight on 15 August 2010, hoodlums attacked
my husband with the intention to kill him. While the case was going on, I went to the Superintendent of Police to ask for a proper verdict of the attempt to kill my husband. The Superintendant ordered me to withdraw the case. He then grabbed me, disrobed me
and kissed me on both cheeks. I tried to break free. When I threatened to scream, then
he started beating me. When I came to, he said not to tell anyone what happened or he would kill my husband in crossfire. He threatened me in many ways not to tell the story.I was tortured badly by the Superintendent,
but he was not punished, only transferred.
Images of Chakma/Jumma people
VO [TC: 12:28]
Another group under threat are the indigenous people - the little known Jumma in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Like many indigenous people worldwide, the Jumma believe in communal land ownership, and there are at least 500,000 of them in the Hill Tracts. Around half have had no formal schooling.
Chakma Woman Farmer [TC: 13:08]
If Chakma people become educated, prosperous we all could be benefited, for example we could have contact with other countries, foreigners could visit us and we could visit them.
Voice OVER [TC: 13:41]
The Jumma are a mix of different ethnic groups, with their own languages and cultures, with the majority being the Chakmas; they claim to be the living clan of the Buddha.
Chakma Buddhist Monk [TC: 13:56]
The CHT Chakmas are living in a desperate situation as they have no freedom.
They are living in great fear, they are in a very delicate situation.
Their situation is very dangerous.
VOICE OVER [TC: 14:21]
Here too, land is an issue - as poor Muslim settlers were moved by the government from other parts of the country onto Jumma land.
Peace accord stills...
VOICE OVER
In 1997, a peace accord between the indigenous political party and the government was finally signed. But it was never implemented.
Images of Attacks on Buddhist temples/Pictures...
VOICE OVER (CONT'D) [TC: 14:40]
While the Jumma are only one percent of the total population, 1/3 of the military is stationed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
And over the last 15 years, with the military protecting the settlers, there have been numerous attacks on Jumma people.
Kapaeeng Foundation has a meeting... and Kapaeeng Foundation people walk on street...
VoiCE OVER (CONT'D) [TC: 15:24]
The Jumma people started their own foundation. They are based in a small office in the capital Dhaka.
Kapaeeng Foundation man [TC: 15:32]
There are many Human Rights Organizations in Bangladesh and they had been working with their own people and own ways. But we did not have any organization working for the Indigenous People.
Hill WomEn's Federation Woman [TC:16:12]
Jumma women were tortured and teased by Bengalis. So we decided to establish an organization to fight collectively and raise our voices.
Image of Chakma woman sad on top of hill.
Hill's Women Federation Woman
[TC: 16:29]
The Hill Women's Federation works for the women who've been raped, tortured by Bengalis and the army.
raped women are usually not accepted in the society. Men do not want to marry raped women. That is why they sometime commit suicide.
Footage of Chittagong
VoiCE OVER [TC: 16:57]
Iftekhar Zaman is also on the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission, to monitor the implementation of the peace accord.
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 17:04]
There are allegations of violations of human rights by the military itself. But the military is quite strongly still present there.
One should also look at it from the point of view of the Bangladeshi armed forces playing a very significant role in the Global Peace keeping efforts. Bangladesh has become the largest contributor globally.
The soldiers and the officers who take part in the peace keeping forces, they are paid by the United Nations which is a much larger package. And also as a part of that, the government gets a certain revenue which is also contributing to the economy.
Voice Over [TC: 17:42]
Recently, the UN has been urged to forbid security forces who've violated indigenous people's rights from joining peacekeeping operations.
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 17:54]
As a reaction to that, this theory came up from some quarters within the government, that if you say that there are no indigenous communities within Bangladesh, then you can sell the idea that the Bangladesh military is not violating the human rights of the indigenous communities. If there are no indigenous communities, how can you violate the rights of the indigenous communities?
VoICE OVER [TC: 18:25]
At the very least, the Jumma people and Commission members believe, the peace accord needs to be implemented, and the violence ended.
London footage of demonstrators
Lord Avebury [TC: 18:36]
There is a particular concern about the Chittagong Hill Tracts of course. And during this parliament the progress towards the implementation has been far too slow. And of course we are concerned about the violence against people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Lal [TC: 18:51]
And killings.
Lord Avebury [TC: 18:52]
And killings.
Lal [TC: 18:52]
And burning houses and taking the properties, everything is still going on.
Lord AVEBURY [TC: 18:55]
These are all matters of great concern.
Lal [TC: 18:56]
And not only that, sir. You can see the foreigners are blocked from going to the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the army are still there. So how can we expect that Chittagong Hill Tracts accord will be implemented very soon?
Buddhist monk...
Buddhist monk [TC: 19:13]
Rangamati, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts is the motherland of the Chakmas. We do not wish to go elsewhere.
Voice Over [TC: 19:28]
As with other minorities, the attacks on the Jumma are rarely if ever prosecuted, in line with what is said to be the country's culture of impunity. Critics say today's problems of violence have their roots in the country's painful past.
Images of B&W Footage from Indepence and war....
Voice over
In 1971, in its war for independence from Pakistan, Bangladesh endured what one high U.S. official claimed was "the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland."
Images of Shahriar Kabir in his study
Shahriar Kabir [TC: 20:03]
Three million people were killed in the name of Islam in Bangladesh so far as government statistics are concerned.. They have raped 200,000 women. 10 million people were forced to leave Bangladesh, took shelter in India, and during the war, the leader who led the liberation war, mentioned categorically that Bangladesh is going to be secular democracy. So after the victory of the war, we adopted a magnificent Constitution in 1972 that enshrined secularism, democracy, nationalism and socialism as a basic principle of the republic and it continued, you know, and the trial of the war criminals also started.
VO: [TC: 20:47]
However, by 1988, Bangladesh officially became a Muslim state, like Pakistan the country it had revolted against. The war crime trials were cancelled. Shahriar and others have since tried to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Shariar kabir 2001 election violence - intercut...
Shahriar Kabir [TC: 21:07]
Islamist political parties, they collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army for committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity but still these Islamists they have huge influence over the society in ...administration, civil administration and the military. And when they were in power, particularly from 2001 to 2006 it was Jamaat-e-Islami sharing power with BNP. At that time we have seen alarming rise of Islamic militancy in Bangladesh. At that time 125 militant organisations flourished like mushrooms. Those Islamic militants they have spread their network in the regional countries, countries of South Asia, as well as they have their links in Europe and North America also.
Footage of people marching
Voice OVER [TC: 21:54]
One step forward, many say, is to hold accountable those guilty of atrocities during the war of independence.
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 22:03]
This would be a very good, very strong signal, that no crime can go unpunished. And this is one of the worst forms of crimes against humanity that has been conducted and that has remained unpunished for more than 40 years now. This is a challenge for the nation itself. If they can be brought to justice this will definitely be a good example and precedence for any similar crime, not only in Bangladesh but also in a global context. This has taken place in the Second World War in Germany, in the case of Cambodia. And why not in the case of Bangladesh?
VOICE Over [TC: 22:35]
Though criticized for not meeting international standards, war crime trials have finally begun.
Shahriar KABIR [TC: 22:42]
You should support the trial of the war criminals, perpetrators of the genocide. If you don't try the perpetrators of the genocide, this kind of genocide will repeat again and again.
VoICE OVER [TC: 22:56]
Another proposed solution to make Bangladesh safer for everyone is to return to its original secular constitution with no mention of a state religion. Even Bangladeshis living in the West have gathered here outside of the House of Parliament in London to make this demand.
Image - protestors in UK...
Mihir Sarkar [TC: 23:16]
The 1972 constitution has been amended in such a way that over the years the rights of the minorities has been eroded. And there is no fundamental rights in the constitution any more. Because if you start the constitution by saying in the name of one particular God, it is always giving preference to one rather than the minority.
Shahriar KABIR [TC: 23:48]
By my name, you can see that it's a Muslim name. I was born in a Muslim family. And I think that religion is a very personal matter, not for me, you know for everybody, it should be a personal matter. Not for It has nothing to do with politics, it has nothing to do with state affairs, because a state is for all.
Image of Polices... Dakka police...
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 24:25]
Obviously the return to a secular constitution is definitely an answer, but that may not be the full answer. Because we have many constitutional commitments. We have many international commitments...
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN (CONT'D) [TC: 24:34]
We have signed many international treaties, and we have had one of the best democratic constitutions in the world, but there have been systematic violations of those commitments in any case. On the one hand, it's important to have those commitments restored in the constitution, the restoration of the secular constitution.
Hearing at Dutch Parliament GHRD/European Parliament Taslima Nasreen speech...
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN
But also be able to have the political commitment in the top leaderships to enforce those commitments without fear and favor to anybody, to prevent the culture of impunity and to enforce the law and enforce the constitutional commitments.
KhusHI KABIR [TC: 25:10]
There are many policies, there are many programs that are supposed to support and favor those who are marginalized. And if you go singly and individually, you are not going to be listened to or heard. But if you are aware of your rights and if people around you are an organized force collectively you can make a noise.
Montage of people marching.
Rabindra Ghosh [TC: 26:00]
This is our appeal to stop these atrocities immediately.
Shahriar Kabir's son plays guitar in his room, with a Metallica poster.
VOICE OVER [TC: 26:07]
There are millions of new voters in the coming election. Shahriar Kabir's son is part of this new generation. He hopes for a different future.
Shahriar Kabir with son
ShahrIAR KABIR Son [TC: 26:35]
I am going to vote for the first time in the next election, so I know the secularism and defense for secularismÉ fundamentalism. (03:34) So I should vote for secularist parties.
Secular democracy I think talks about humans and not about religion. They treat people as humans, not as Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists.
Images of empty streets and then people on streets/Jamaat-e-Islami/Prime Minister's Office
VO: [TC: 27:11]
The struggle between the ruling party and the opposition is growing. What happens if any government gets into coalition with the extremist parties? And should the international community be concerned?
Shahriar KABIR [TC: 27:24]
If they succeed to assume power, you know, grab power by any means, Bangladesh will become another Pakistan. Bangladesh will become another disastrous country.
IfTEKHAR ZAMAN [TC: 27:48]
It does matter to the rest of the International Community because we are talking about some of the basic international standards, which is about promotion of democracy, it is a global world today, it is one world and a challenge of democracy in any place is a challenge of global democracy. A Challenge of human rights violations in any place on the earth is a challenge for the International Community.
Whether it is an issue of basic rights and entitlement of the people of Chittagong Hill Tracts and the indigenous communities there or a violation of basic human rights for anybody anywhere in Bangladesh from economic, financial, diplomatic consideration, it is important that problems faced by Bangladesh are problems faced by the international community.