Bangladesh: Human Rights

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon Excerpts

Tuesday 9th October 2012 Grand Committee

[Baroness Royall of Blaisdon]

My Lords, I, too, must thank the noble Lord, Lord Hussain, for initiating this important debate. Following discussions with some Bangladeshi friends at the beginning of September, it was an issue that I, too, intended to pursue, but I am very grateful to the noble Lord for doing so. These are matters of great concern to many people in this country, including the diaspora, many of whom are not only concerned about individual cases but are deeply ashamed of what is happening in their country.

This debate also provides me with an opportunity personally to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Warsi, to her new post. The noble Lord, Lord Howell of Guildford, was an excellent FCO Minister and I put on record my personal appreciation of his diligent work in the Lords at all times. However, I know that the noble Baroness will herself do a splendid job.

Of course, we celebrate the fact that Bangladesh is a democracy—albeit a fragile one—and there are some good things happening in the country, not least the empowerment of women thanks to the Grameen Bank, which now has projects in Glasgow and on the west coast of Scotland. That is an interesting development in our north-south relationship. We have much for which to thank Mr Yunus, who I believe is a very fine man.

However, this afternoon, we have heard some very disturbing facts and figures about torture, murder and enforced disappearances, including of politicians. Indeed, we have heard of some horrific cases of torture leading to death. This is an intolerable situation in any country but especially in a democracy which is a member of the Commonwealth. The rule of law should be an integral part of any democracy, especially in a country that is part of our Commonwealth family. These are the actions that one might associate with a lawless, despotic state, not a 21st-century democracy.

As we have heard, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organisations believe that there is a pattern of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh, with the abduction and persecution of specific groups of people seeking to protect vulnerable groups or running opposition party campaigns. It is clear that human rights defenders, trade union activists, student activists and opposition party members have been targeted, and it appears that Bangladeshi security forces have been involved in the disappearances—particularly the Rapid Action Battalion. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, I question whether it is any longer appropriate for us to provide training for the RAB, and I would welcome the Minister’s comments on that.

I understand that the Bangladeshi Prime Minister pledged to ensure that extrajudicial executions would be stopped, but the killings and disappearances continue. Indeed, there have been 216 deaths just this year. As my noble friend Lord Harris of Haringey said, there is a culture of impunity no matter who is in power in Bangladesh, and that must be stopped.

The noble Lord, Lord Avebury, drew attention to the violence against minority communities in Bangladesh. For example, more than 20 Buddhist temples and monasteries and at least one Hindu temple, along with scores of homes and shops, were set on fire during attacks in the southern cities of Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong earlier this month, according to Amnesty International reports.

The noble Baroness, Lady Uddin, spoke of laws that have been passed to protect minority communities and to ensure the empowerment of women. However, these laws have to be implemented, and the action of government forces, with the culture of impunity, is counter to the laws that have been passed.

I was interested to learn of the assurance given by Sheikh Hasina to my right honourable friend Ed Miliband. I will discuss that with him to see how we might ensure that the next elections really are free and fair and bring about the necessary changes in Bangladesh.

What discussions are we now having with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister and his Government bilaterally, at EU level and through the Commonwealth to ensure that these abominable practices cease? What progress has been made since the noble Lord, Lord Howell, answered the Oral Question from my noble friend in May?

The noble Lord, Lord Hussain, quite rightly drew attention to the development aid that we give to Bangladesh. While I would certainly not wish to put the poorest people in Bangladesh in harm or to jeopardise their futures, I wonder whether there is any way of linking human rights to the future provision of development aid.

The right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Derby spoke of the excellent work of Christian Aid in capacity-building, among other things. Although I recognise that our aid will be targeted at the poorest people, I very much hope that it also includes capacity-building, because the poorest people need that in order to be empowered. Therefore, I hope that we are able to support the work that Christian Aid is doing.

I was interested to hear what the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said about the war crimes tribunal and the invitation to him and Members of this House, and I very much look forward to the answer from the noble Baroness. Like the noble Lords, Lord Avebury and Lord Harris, I would also be interested to learn whether the UN working party on disappearances has been invited to Bangladesh. If not, we should encourage Bangladesh to issue an invitation and, together with our European and Commonwealth friends, put pressure on the country to ensure that the working party is invited in to do the work that it really must do to ensure that there are no further disappearances and to find out what has happened to those people who so tragically have disappeared.