chtnews.com
News No. 28/2014,
Friday, June 13, 2014
THE INTERNATIONAL
Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission has condemned the 11 June attack on
indigenous Jumma villagers in Babuchara by BGB’s 51th Battalion and called for
an independent investigation and justice, according to a press release issued
by it.
It said “there are
allegations that both the BGB and nearby police attacked and injured local
indigenous people who protested the setting up of the battalion and also used
tear gas on them.”
“It is completely
unacceptable for state authorities to use such brutal force against
protesters.” the Commission added.
It urged the authorities to carry out a fair, thorough
and independent investigation into this attack and arrest those responsible for
abusing their power as law-enforcers.
The statement, issued
on 12 June, has been signed by the Commission’s co-chairs Eric Avebury, Sultana Kamal and Elsa
Stamatopoulou.
The full text of the
Commission’s press statement follows:
CHT Commission
Condemns BGB & Police attack on indigenous villagers in Dighinala;
Calls for urgent
action for independent investigation and justice
Dhaka: June 12,
2014. The International Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) condemns the
alleged attack by the 51 Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) on indigenous
villagers in Babuchara Union in Dighinala Upazila of Khagrachari district in
the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh in the afternoon
of June 11, 2014. The CHTC calls upon the Government to take immediate
action to ensure fully independent and impartial investigation and bring the
guilty to justice in a manner to prevent any further recurrence.
According to news
reports, between 14 to 17 people have been injured in this attack which was
over a long-standing dispute over land which the BGB has been trying to use to
set up a new battalion.
There is a Court Stay
Order over the land which says that no one is to use the piece of land in question until the Court has given its verdict over the
ownership of the said land. Local indigenous people have been using this land
for cultivation for many years and it was only in 1991, during the insurgency
and before land ownership issues were settled, that the Government of
Bangladesh took the initiative to build a BGB Battalion there, to which the
locals protested as they had customary ownership of the land. It is most regrettable and unacceptable that members of the
discipline forces like BGB and
police defy the Court Order and
involve in gross violation of human rights of the innocent people of the
indigenous
community.
In the incident of
June 11, there are allegations that both the BGB and nearby police attacked and injured local indigenous people who protested the
setting up of the battalion and also used tear gas on them. It is completely unacceptable for state authorities
to use such brutal force against protesters. We immediately urge the
authorities to carry out a fair, thorough and independent investigation into this attack and
arrest those responsible for
abusing their power as law-enforcers. Those found guilty in the due process must be brought to justice failing which such
violations will go on unabated. CHTC also calls upon the Government to urgently amend the Land Commission Act and appoint
an able, credible and fair
person as the Chairperson of
the Land Commission to settle all land disputes in the CHT to prevent further
violence and human rights violations in the area.
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