PSPD in English Int. Solidarity 2013-08-19   1882

[Open letter] Grave Concern over Repeated Human Rights Violations In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)

Today (19 August 2013), People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD), together with other South Korean civil society organisations, sent below open letter to Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Embassy in South Korea. In the letter, South Korean civil society organisations expressed our deep concerns on repeated human rights violations in the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT). 

Grave Concern over Repeated Human Rights Violations In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)

 

Dear Prime Minister,

 

We, a group of peace-loving people living in the Republic of Korea, write to you with grave concern over the recent brutal communal attack on the indigenous Jumma people by Bengali settlers in Matiranga, under Khgrachari district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) on 3 August 2013. We believe you must be fully aware of that brutal attack.

 

We express our deep concern over the continuous human rights violations being perpetrated against the indigenous Jumma people and the recent settler attack on Jumma villages and people in Matiranga, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) on 3 August 2013, during which around 50 houses were burnt down and around 200 houses including two Buddhist temples belonging to indigenous Jumma communities in the villages of Taindong, Bandor Sing Para, Boga Para, Monu Das Para and Laku Headmanpara were looted and ransacked by Bengali settlers. As a result, thousands of people have been made homeless and had to flee to the adjacent Indian border. It has been reported that 12 villagers were severely beaten and one elderly woman is missing. What is especially concerning is that the attack has been proven to have been premeditated. The attack was initiated by the settlers who had heard a rumour of Jumma men kidnapping a Bengali man. Despite having been aware of this, neither the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) nor the police took preventive measures to protect the Jumma people amidst their presence in the places of occurrence. According to a reliable source, this is the fifth barbaric attack on the indigenous Jumma people in the same area (sub-district of Matiranga) since January 2013.

 

Amnesty International, the US State Department’s report on human rights in Bangladesh for 2012, and other reliable sources have acknowledged that massive organized communal attacks (massacres) against Indigenous Jumma people had already taken place on 13 occasions before the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) Accord in 1997 and documented innumerable large and small scale attacks since this accord was made. On that account, thousands of Jummas have been killed and hundreds of their villages burnt down.

 

We notice with grave concern that the Bangladesh government and law enforcement authorities have repeatedly failed to contain sectarian violence in the CHT despite being aware of the fact that conflict between Jumma and non-Jumma is likely to lead to communal conflict. Perpetrators have never been brought to justice. The culture of impunity has set in as a kind of structural problem in Bangladesh, which enables offenders go free and causes the unremitting recurrence of human rights violations in the Chittagong Hill tracts.

 

Therefore, we strongly urge the honorable prime minister to:

 

1. Take immediate and appropriate measures to stop violence against the indigenous Jumma people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT)

2. Bring the perpetrators of communal attack to justice and compensate the victims of violence for their losses.

3. Withdraw all temporary military camps, and withdraw Bengali Settlers and honorably rehabilitate them outside the CHT. 

4. Show respect to the UN declaration on the rights of the indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and recognize the rights to self- determination of the indigenous peoples in the Chittagong Hill tracts. 

 

Sincerely,

Advocate for Public Interest Law(APIL)

Buddhist Academy

Buddhist Coalition for Economic Justice

Buddhist Solidarity for Reform(BSR)y

Eco-Buddha 

Engaged Buddhist Monks and Nuns Association in Korea)

Gimpo Immigrant Center 

Gyujassi Church

Human Asia

Imagination For International Solidarity

Indramang

Jumma People’s Network-Korea(JPNK)

Korea Institute For Religious Freedom

Korea Youth Buddhist Association

Maha Council for Supporting Migrants 

People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy(PSPD)

Share The World 

The Good Friends

The Korean monks group for clean sangga

The refuge PNAN

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