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grievous offences like rape, murder or dacoity. So, we have learned lessons from that and have stopped identifying ourselves as victims or witnesses. I think this enforces the argument about the needs of victim and witness protection. Every country has the same story, the same history, and the same sufferings of the victims. Firstly we have to conceptualize what do we need to do to protect the witnesses and victims. I think one interesting document is the UN Declaration dealing with basic principles of the victim and crime, in which it is clearly written that victims need to be treated with compassion and respect. And they are also entitled to justice and prompt redress. The Rome Statute and Section 3 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, find that victims and witnesses need many types of protection, which must be ensured. This includes adequate reparation; 'reparation' is not only the reinstitution of the property but also compensation and rehabilitation. And the compensation must be ensured from the perpetrator/ criminal himself. The victims must be afforded to the right to security, the right secrecy during the investigation level and must give the right to participate in the court proceedings. There are other documents that have also provided for the institutional arrangements. They have talked about the victim and witnesses unit, they have talked about the victims participation and reparation unit and also thrust funds. If we compare our national legislation with one role model of international law, we all understand to what extent we are lagging behind. The only provision I find which is relevant with the victim and child protection issue is the Legal Aid Law, which talks about giving some type of help to the victims of crime, and to some extent the witnesses as well. Hasan Arif is here and he can tell us what is happening with this scheme and how this scheme is being misused by parties and lawyers. First we need to change the social mindset, we must think about the plight and sufferings of the victims and witnesses of serious crimes. Before I finish I want to say something about the role of the media. If we look at popular papers such as The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, they are doing fine, they are reporting crime, doing follow-ups, exposing the criminal, I thank them from the core of my heart. But these two national dailies do From right to left: AED Chief of Party Susan Ward, USAID Bangladesh Director for Democracy, Governance and Education Todd Sorenson, USAID Program Officer Habiba Akhter and other participants Report 2005 83
not constitute the whole media in this country. Today, news has been published that a middle aged person tried to assault a female student of Shahjalal University. This person has four wives and two maidservants at home, with whom he can do whatever he wants. But four newspapers published the name of that girl. If a newspaper reveals a victims name, the department she studies in, you can easily understand that media is subjecting that girl to further social isolation and stigmatization or even social degradation. This is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. The other day in another seminar we were talking about the victims of trafficking. And we agreed on that issue that there should be some guidelines, some code of ethics in case of covering their news. We have scanned several newspapers and it is quite alarming that the names and identity of the victims of trafficking have been exposed in those newspapers. In one of the most well established and well-circulated dailies in Bangladesh the pictures of the victims were even printed. That newspaper published a story of an 18-year-old girl who was trafficked to the Middle East and was rescued afterwards. What benefit is the paper giving her by printing her story with her picture? Isn't it a further victimization of the girl again? Syed Fahim Munaim: Thank you for your speech and definitely you have provoked me to speak. We have told the reporters to not to print the names, identity or pictures of any rape victims. We don't even print any picture of any gruesome murders. No point of victimizing the victim again. However,as you say, there are both good and bad elements of the media. Believe me we are also a part of the society, we have relatives all around, we are part of the whole country. So, what we print we can be subjected to that as well. I will definitely talk to other editors when I will get time. It is also true that newspapers never ever get the chance to know the entire system, the laws, the procedures and the whole process. Our honorable judges are here, this is there subject, and they know all those things associated with it. A media person or a reporter is not specialized in this particular area and they don't know everything. May be you would say that it is your problem, not ours. Why don't you get people specialized in this sector? We are looking into the matter and we are definitely focusing on that. Because it is not an issue of one person versus another, it is an issue of the country, human beings and justice. Maqsudul Haque: Firstly I will disagree a little with Subodh Pyakurel. I am known as a cultural activist and columnist to the public but professionally I am a risk analyst and my risk covers all areas from Afghanistan to Vietnam on a daily basis. To be entirely honest I think that the media in Nepal is free. I get to read almost all the online newspapers on a daily basis, because it is my job to read them. We do not get any information on the extent of the violence and the plight of victims because of the fact that the Nepalese media is so badly censored on the internet. It is the free media blockers of Nepal that tell the world what is going on in Nepal. Similarly when there is a bomb attack in London, the people were not reading The Observer or the mainstream media, they were reading what the blockers were saying and who were giving more information than the mainstream. Consequently here we are in such a situation where the role of media is far more serious. By implication I think that the media not only in Bangladesh but also in the whole world is a part and parcel of the whole system of oppression. It is a trickle down process. It may begin by a compilation of a couple of Ps together: first it is the politician, secondly it is the police, third is the PR and finally the press. They have the same character. The character is oppression, the character is demeaning, and they do it with a sort of impunity that is unheard elsewhere in the world. In Bangladesh, I was the victim of both the state as well as politics. If you want to read my case, it is available on the website of <strong>Odhikar</strong>. There you will 84 Report 2005
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Odhikar Report 2005 Published by Od
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2005 sees the third, and final year
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Synopsis of Activities Covering the
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laws of Bangladesh, particularly th
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they find the monitor writing notes
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Problems faced during thana monitor
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After the 2004 High Court directive
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(4) Sumon Tortured to Death by Rapi
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through a Government Order issued o
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22 Persons Reportedly Killed by Law
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iii. Conflicts with political right
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Chapter-3 Odhikar's work involving
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Environment of the custody cell Fin
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Police’s behavior towards accused
Page 30 and 31: 4. Motijheel Thana During the monit
Page 32 and 33: In all, the findings from the monit
Page 34 and 35: Children were seen kept with the ad
Page 36 and 37: 1. If any domestic animal is slaugh
Page 38 and 39: Chapter 4 Fact Findings in 2005 One
Page 40 and 41: General findings It becomes difficu
Page 42 and 43: Recognising the need for laws to pr
Page 44 and 45: * Second Working Session (2:00-4:00
Page 46 and 47: focus on legal agencies and human r
Page 48 and 49: due to insecurity providing protect
Page 50 and 51: We are in such a situation that you
Page 52 and 53: the whole judicial system. Ensuring
Page 54 and 55: threatening looks or gestures at a
Page 56 and 57: concrete suggestions to how to disc
Page 58 and 59: force against basic freedoms and hu
Page 60 and 61: Leave us alone. We will get on with
Page 62 and 63: cultivating and having their liveli
Page 64 and 65: own judicial system. It is a proble
Page 66 and 67: name of eviction, etc., but also be
Page 68 and 69: Farhad Mazhar: Some of the suggesti
Page 70 and 71: come to terms with the emotional im
Page 72 and 73: ecourses, a strong commitment of th
Page 74 and 75: initiative, SAARC cooperation, SAAR
Page 76 and 77: � Police and even powerful local
Page 78 and 79: * To facilitate bilateral agreement
Page 82 and 83: see how the press, the police and p
Page 84 and 85: 2. Victims must be given some compe
Page 86 and 87: Susan Ward, AED: I have just two fe
Page 88 and 89: Chapter 6 Other Major Achievements
Page 90 and 91: Annexture: 1 Fact-finding reports 2
Page 92 and 93: A Medical Officer of Mymansingh Med
Page 94 and 95: However, six of them were held by t
Page 96 and 97: that he was shifted to bed no. 16 o
Page 98 and 99: Alleged fabricated news about the r
Page 100 and 101: at Courtbari in Gabtoli. A sergeant
Page 102 and 103: down the factory, said a senior off
Page 104 and 105: Bangladesh. This is not humanly pos
Page 106 and 107: Medical Offficer of the Roumari Hea
Page 108 and 109: throwing stones at them. Four polic
Page 110 and 111: ecommendations would be made to the
Page 112 and 113: Mr. Mallik Sayeed Mahbub, the Upzil
Page 114 and 115: Death of a young person in prison i
Page 116 and 117: Abul Qulam Azad alias Suman was the
Page 118 and 119: case. The other case was filed unde
Page 120 and 121: was not tortured during remand, he
Page 122 and 123: Masum killed at Crossfire by Detect
Page 124 and 125: Metropolitan Detective Police Nurul
Page 126 and 127: into the room. They were those he w
Page 128 and 129: perpetrators, you need evidence for
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things I am doing in my business, i
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commitment of engaging her in house
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Torture of a Political Activist by
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number of those cases or the laws u
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victim was made one of the accused.
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morning to protest the robbery of a
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judgment, Fazley Rabbi Chowdhury, s
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police and police station simply to
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Annexture: 2 Country Papers that we
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and continues to harm victims and w
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either victims or witnesses tend no
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The Nature and Extent of Witness In
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Gang-Inspired Fear: A Particularly
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Other Forms of Intimidation Less co
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V ictim and witness protection - Sr
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Procedure, made a request to the Sr
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of court". Assistance available to
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6. Acknowledgements and References:
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charges saying 16-year-old Mathura
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National Police Journal one of the
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At the international level, rights
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law are maxims that Indian state an
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combined with the fact that no inde
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other local boys, including Firoz a
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sorely missing as an utterly callou
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nor India are signatories to the Ro
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(f) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced
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Superior orders and prescription of
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witness are determined by the conse
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is valid because the society is mor
Page 190 and 191:
necessary. Such action plan calls f
Page 192 and 193:
Protection to witnesses The State p
Page 194 and 195:
Monitoring of the protocol The Stat
Page 196 and 197:
attention. Victims have the right t
Page 198 and 199:
Nepal's Human Rights Obligations un
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