SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2192Political activists also reportedly engage in extortion from businesses and individuals(see Section 1.a.).Under constitutional amendments enacted in 1991, the country changed from apresidential system to a parliament-led system. The changes stipulated that an M.P.who resigns from his party or votes against it in Parliament automatically loses hisseat. BNP member Major (retired) Akhtaruzzaman lost his seat in Parliament ashe joined the parliamentary session in violations of his party’s decision to abstain.In practice this provision solidifies the control of Parliament by the Government andthe Prime Minister. The lack of democracy within the political parties that haveformed governments since 1991 has resulted in a concentration of political powerin the office of the Prime Minister, regardless of which party is in power. In practicethe Prime Minister usually decides on major governmental policies, with little or noinvolvement by Parliament. Parliament’s effectiveness as a deliberative body is underminedfurther by the country’s narrow, partisan politics. Since July 1999, themajor opposition parties have abstained from parliamentary sessions. However,members of the opposition continue to participate in parliamentary standing committeeson government ministries, which were formed in 1998. These committeesare headed by M.P.’s rather than the ministers concerned, increasing the committees’effectiveness in overseeing government work.Women are underrepresented in government and politics. Thirty parliamentaryseats are reserved for women chosen by majority vote in Parliament; critics chargethat these seats act far less to empower women than to enhance the ruling party’smajority. The constitutional provision that provides for these 30 reserved seats expiresin April 2001, unless a new parliament sits before that date. A Governmentsponsoredbill to extend this provision cannot be passed unless the opposition endsits ongoing boycott of Parliament and supports the bill. In addition to these seats,women are free to contest any seat in Parliament. Seven current women M.P.’s wereelected in their own right.Seats are not specifically reserved for other minority groups, such as tribal people.Of the 300 elected M.P.’s, 3 are Tribal Buddhists from the Chittagong Hill Tractsand 5 are Hindus. The rest are Bengali Muslims. The Jamaat-i-Islami, the country’slargest Islamic political party, had 18 seats in Parliament after the 1991 elections,but only 3 after the 1996 elections.Section 4. Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigationof Alleged Violations of Human RightsThe Government generally permits human rights groups to conduct their activities.A wide variety of groups publish reports, hold press conferences, and issue appealsto the Government with regard to specific cases. While human rights groupsoften are sharply critical of the Government, irrespective of the ruling party, theyfrequently practice self-censorship, particularly on some politically sensitive casesand subjects. In the past, the Government has consulted with human rights groupson some draft legislation and taken their views into account. In January after discussionsbetween the Government and some women’s rights groups and NGO’s, Parliamentpassed the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. However, theGovernment continues to refuse to register the Bangladesh Section of AmnestyInternational, which since 1990 has applied several times for registration under theSocieties Registration Act. Without this registration, a voluntary organization cannotreceive funding from abroad.The Government is defensive about international criticism regarding humanrights issues. However, the Government has been open to dialog with internationalorganizations and foreign diplomatic missions regarding issues such as traffickingin women and children. Legislation to establish a National Human Rights Commissionremained in abeyance for yet another year. Earlier the Government formed acabinet subcommittee to review the draft legislation.In the past, the Government has put pressure on individual human rights advocates,including by filing charges that are known to be false. Such pressure also hasincluded long delays in issuing re-entry visas for international human rights activists.Missionaries who advocate human rights have faced similar problems.In the past, human rights organizations have reported that the Government hasput pressure on them usually in the form of harassment by the intelligence agenciesand threats from activists of the ruling party.During the year, the Government acceded to the U.N. International Covenant onCivil and Political Rights.VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1