Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
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Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Page 1 of 10 Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Home > Research Program > Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests (RIR) respond to focused Requests for Information that are submitted to the Research Directorate in the course of the refugee protection determination process. The database contains a seven- year archive of English and French RIRs. Earlier RIRs may be found on the UNHCR's Refworld website. Please note that some RIRs have attachments which are not electronically accessible. To obtain a PDF copy of an RIR attachment please email [email protected]. 31 August 2015 BGD105262.E Bangladesh: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), including its structure, leaders, membership and membership documents, factions, associated organizations and activities; treatment of members and supporters by authorities (September 2012-2015) Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa 1. Overview According to sources, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) [Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Dal] was established in 1978 (BNP. n.d.b; PHW 2014, 114). Sources describe it as the main opposition party (Al Jazeera 5 Jan. 2014; Jane's Intelligence Review 2 July 2015; The Wall Street Journal 1 Aug. 2013). Sources further describe the party as "center-right" (ibid.; UCAN 5 Jan. 2015; IRGAmag 7 Aug. 2013). According to the BNP's Constitution, as posted on the party's website, their objectives include: increasing democracy through "mass unity based on Bangladeshi nationalism"; protecting Bangladesh from "colonialism"; advancing economic development through a "free market economy"; and "preserv[ing] the…human values of the Bangladeshi people through the teaching of Islam" (BNP n.d.a, Art. 2). According to sources, the BNP leads an 18-party alliance (PHW 2014, 115; South Asia Monitor 27 July 2015; Al Jazeera 5 Jan. 2014). According to the BBC, the ruling Awami League (AL) and BNP have "alternated from government to opposition for most of the last two decades" (BBC 3 Jan. 2014). Sources state that the BNP were elected to government from 1991-1996 and from 2001-2006 (ibid.; PHW 2014, 111-112). A 2014 monitoring report by Human Rights Watch on pre and post-election violence describes the relationship between the ruling AL and the BNP as "longstanding, bitter, personal, and [which] often turns violent" (Human Rights Watch Apr. 2014, 10). Sources describe the relationship between the leaders of the BNP and AL as a "personal feud" (The Guardian 6 Jan. 2014) or a "personal vendetta" (The Economist 2 Feb. 2015). 1.1 Structure and Leaders The BNP website describes the structure of the party as being guided by the Standing Committee at the top. There is an Executive Committee elected by the members of district committees. The district committees are responsible for organizing committees at the lower level … at the unions and villages within the relevant district. (BNP n.d.b) For further information on the structure of the party, including information on the Executive Committee's structure, roles and responsibilities, see Response to Information Request BGD104933. According to sources, the main leaders of the BNP are http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/RirRdi/Pages/index.aspx?doc=456079&pls=1 10/20/2015 Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Page 2 of 10 • Khaleda Zia, former Prime Minister and head of the BNP, who served as Prime Minister in 1991- 1996 and again in the 2001 term (BBC 3 Jan. 2014; BNP n.d.b; PHW 2014, 114); • Tarique Rahman, Senior Vice Chair (ibid., 115; The Wall Street Journal 12 Jan. 2015); and • Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Secretary General (PHW 2014, 115; BBC 6 Jan. 2015). 1.2 Membership Documents The BNP's Constitution states the following regarding applications for party membership: Membership: 5. (a) Qualification for membership 1. Any Bangladeshi citizen of the age of 18 years or above can be primary member of this party. The aspirants have to declare adherence to the party’s proclamation, constitution and programmes. 2. The application at schedule 1, form ‘a’ of the constitution will be filled up for primary membership. This form will be available at the party office. No other form will be accepted for membership but when not available, printing of same form will be allowed for application of membership, 3. If the form is accepted for consideration, identification (Schedule 1, Form ‘kha’) will have to be collected as evidence. 4. Subscription fee is 5 [Bangladeshi Taka, BDT] [approximately C$0.09] only for primary membership. Annual subscription fee after getting membership is 5 [BDT] only. The subscription from the members will be taken by receipt and the receipt will be provided from the party’s central office. 5. Every upazila or thana office at its own locality will preserve the list of members of the party. The party’s central office in Dhaka will preserve as per rules the total number of members, name of members and their address. (BNP n.d.a) Information on the appearance of, and procedures for obtaining membership documents for BNP party members could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. 2. Factions According to a July 2015 article in the Dhaka Courier, an English-language news magazine, infighting is spreading within the BNP and there are signs of "factionalism" and defection among the grassroots-level leaders (Dhaka Courier 30 July 2015). Without providing further detail, according to a July 2014 human rights monitoring report by Odhikar, an "organisation of human rights defenders in Bangladesh" that monitors and reports on human rights violations (Odhikar 1 July 2014, 2), between January and June 2014, two people were killed and 129 injured during internal conflicts within the BNP (ibid., 12). According to the US Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014, there were thirteen incidents of violence within the BNP, in which three people were killed and 83 injured (US 25 June 2015, 3). The same source further states that the violence was "often linked to criminal activities rather than to political motives" (ibid.). In July 2015, Odhikar reported that between January and June 2015, one person was killed and 69 injured as a result of intra-party violence within the BNP (ibid. 2015, 2). Without providing further detail, sources published in July 2015 stated that "some" members of the BNP are leaving the party to join the AL (Jane's Intelligence Review 2 July 2015; Dhaka Courier 9 July 2015). 3. Allied Organizations 3.1 Jamaat-e-Islami Sources state that the BNP is allied with Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party (The Economist 5 Mar. 2015; The Hindu 28 July 2015). Sources further state that in 2013, a high court panel ruling canceled the electoral registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, preventing them from running in the 2014 elections (The Guardian 1 Aug. 2013; Al Jazeera 1 Aug. 2013; The Wall Street Journal 1 Aug. 2013), ruling that some elements of the party's Charter were incompatible with Bangladesh's Constitution (ibid.). 3.2 Front and Associate Organizations http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/ResRec/RirRdi/Pages/index.aspx?doc=456079&pls=1 10/20/2015 Responses to Information Requests - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Page 3 of 10 The BNP's Constitution states that "front organizations" for the BNP have their own "proclamation, constitution, flag and office," but "fall under the discipline" of the BNP (BNP n.d.a, Art. 13). The party's Constitution also states that all front organizations require the approval of the chairman of the BNP and that one secretary from each front organization will be included in the national BNP executive committee (ibid.). The purpose of front organizations is to support the "implementation of party programs" and as such, front organizations will "formulate [their] own programmes for the aim of creating influence in its own arena and extending the party ideology" (ibid.). The party's Constitution provides that the following front organizations have "received approval from the chairman": 1. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal 2. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal 3. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal 4. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha 5. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal 6. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sechchasebak Dal 7. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Tanti Dal 8. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Olama Dal 9. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Matshayajibi Dal (ibid.). According to the party's Constitution, professional groups that "believe in the principles, ideology, objectives and programmes of the party" can be organized to protect their interests as an "associate organization" of the BNP (ibid.). The BNP notes that the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra [Chartro] Dal and the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik [Sromik] Dal are associate organizations of the party (ibid. n.d.c), and according to the party's Constitution, these organizations will operate according to their own constitutions (ibid. n.d.a, Art. 13). 3.3 Youth and Student Organizations of the BNP Sources indicate that the Jubo Dal is a "front organization" of the BNP (ibid. n.d.a.; The Indian Express 2 Jan. 2014; The Daily Star 8 Mar. 2015). Others describe it as a "youth wing" of the BNP (Odhikar 15 Apr. 2014, para. 226; Human Rights Watch Apr. 2014, 25; New Age 28 Dec. 2014). Without providing details of the charges, Bangladeshi daily newspaper the New Age reports that Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, President of the Jubo Dal, was arrested in late December 2014 (28 Dec. 2014). According to another Bangladeshi newspaper, the Daily Observer, an arrest warrant was issued for Alal in June 2015 "in a sabotage case"; the source notes that the court rejected his "time petition" and that he did not appear before the court (23 June 2015).