wr2014_web_0

ASIATannery workers in the Hazaribagh neighborhood of Dhaka, one of the world’smost polluted urban sites, continue to face highly toxic working conditions.Some 150 leather tanneries operate in the area, producing leather primarily forexport and discharging 21 thousand cubic meters of untreated effluent into thenearby Buriganga River each day. The government’s planned relocation of thetanneries to a dedicated industrial zone, delayed numerous times since 2005,was again put off in mid-2013.The Department of the Environment fined two tanneries for their failure to treatwaste in 2013, the first time environmental laws have been enforced againstHazaribagh tanneries. Enforcement of environmental and labor laws is otherwiselacking, with negative consequences for the health and well-being of tanneryworkers and local residents.Women’s RightsLeading human rights groups in the country had discussions with doctors torevise medico-legal protocols for the treatment and examination of rape victimsto exclude degrading practices like the two-finger test to draw conclusionsabout a woman’s “habituation to sex.” Such groups are challenging the practiceas a violation of the fundamental rights to life and health with dignity in theHigh Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.Key International ActorsIndia, Bangladesh’s most influential international interlocutor, remained largelysilent on the human rights situation. Bangladesh and India continued to holdtalks on issues linked to their shared border including illegal trade and the useof excessive force by Indian border guards leading to deaths and injuries toBangladeshi and Indian nationals.Bangladesh’s donors were more vocal, pressing the government to end itscrackdown on critics. Donors were swift in denouncing the arrest of AdilurRahman Khan, with members of the international community observing courtproceedings. However, donors were largely silent on the lack of fair trials at theICT.303