'Life Is Not Ours'
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'LIFE IS NOT OURS' LAND AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS BANGLADESH THE REPORT OF THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS COMMISSION MAY 1991 Copyright © The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission - 1991 All parts of this report may be freely reproduced provided the source is quoted. Cover photo The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission Distribution Organising Committee Chittagong Hill Tracts Campaign P.O.Box 11699 1001 GR Amsterdam The Netherlands fax : +31-20-6645584 e-mail: [email protected] and International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) Classensgade 11 E 2001 Copenhagen O Denmark fax: +45-35-270507 e-mail: [email protected] Note Due to document size considerations, the pictures from the printed version are not included in this electronic version. 2 CONTENTS PREFACE ..................................................................................................................................................4 Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................8 THE POLITICAL AND LEGAL HISTORY .............................................................................................. 10 MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS: "THE TIME HAS COME FOR US NOT TO TELL ANY LIES" ...................................................................................................................... 33 LAND: DISPOSSESSION AND DEPENDENCY ................................................................................... 48 DEVELOPMENT, LAND AND ECOLOGY ............................................................................................. 62 CULTURE AND RELIGION IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS..................................................... 71 “LIFE IS NOT OURS”: SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS................................. 82 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................... 91 CONCLUSIONS.................................................................................................................................. 91 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 94 THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS ..................................................................................................... 100 GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................................................... 103 ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................................................. 104 MAP 1: Location of the Chittagong Hill Tracts ..................................................................................... 105 MAP 2: Administrative Divisions in Southeastern Bangladesh............................................................ 106 MAP 3: Itinerary of the CHT Commission (Northern Sector)............................................................... 107 MAP 4: Itinerary of the CHT Commission (Southern Sector) .............................................................. 108 3 PREFACE The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission is an independent body established to investigate allegations of human rights violations in the hill region of southeast Bangladesh. In November 1990, the Commission received permission from the governments of India and Bangladesh to visit the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the camps in Tripura where people forced to flee their homes in the Hill Tracts now live as refugees. For over 20 years non-governmental organisations have reported disturbing accounts of killing, torture, rape, arson, forced relocation and the cultural oppression of the hill peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Since 1983, these accounts have increased considerably with reports published by Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, the Organising Committee Chittagong Hill Tracts Campaign (Netherlands), Gesellschaft fur Bedrohte Volker (Germany), International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (Denmark), Parliamentary Human Rights Group and Survival International (UK), among others. International fora such as the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) have regularly received statements on the human rights situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Indeed, it was an unsatisfactory visit by the ILO in 1985 that marked the beginnings of access to the CHT by international missions. However, whereas the reports from the ILO are not publicly available, a 1988 mission of Amnesty International did publish its findings. The mandate of the mission was limited: "to seek information from the authorities about measures taken to protect the fundamental rights to life and security of the person for the tribal people living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts... It was neither the intention nor possible for Amnesty International, during such a short visit (two days in the Hill Tracts) to conduct fact- finding on all aspects of the current situation of human rights observance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts". There has therefore never before been such an open fact-finding mission to the CHT as the visit of the Commission in 1990-1. Data for the reports written on the Hill Tracts have been gathered either by the victims and smuggled out of the country or by journalists and enquiring missions who have had restricted access to the hill peoples. The CHT Commission was established to bridge the gap between these two sources of data by talking to the victims in relief camps in Tripura and conducting a fact-finding investigation in the Hill Tracts itself. The idea for a Commission arose during December 1985 when the then Bangladesh Minister of Finance announced to a meeting at the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen that the Bangladesh government would be delighted to welcome a mission to the CHT. Ten months later, at an international conference on the CHT in Amsterdam, after suggestions from NGOs and indigenous peoples, the meeting passed a resolution to form an International Commission of investigation into the situation in the Hill Tracts. Three years later the Commission members were ready, the itinerary planned and background information gathered. The International Commission on the Chittagong Hill Tracts was established at the end of 1989. Joint chairs of the Commission are Douglas Sanders (Professor of Law) from Canada and Wilfried Telkaemper (Vice President of the European Parliament) from Germany. The other Commissioners are 4 Rose Murray (Aboriginal Community Worker) from Western Australia, Leif DunfjeId (Sami lawyer) from Norway and Hans Pavia Rosing (Representative in the Danish Parliament) from Greenland. The Commission sought permission from the Indian and Bangladesh governments to enter Tripura and the Hill Tracts during 1990. Both governments accepted the idea in principle, but the final approval came from the then President Ershad of Bangladesh who personally invited Wilfried Telkaemper as Commission Joint Chairman to come to Bangladesh in October 1990. The Commission was ready to travel in November. Four resource people were requested by the Commissioners to be present for the trip to India and Bangladesh: Teresa Aparicio (Denmark), Jenneke Arens (Netherlands), Andrew Gray (UK) and Wolfgang Mey (Germany). Unfortunately, at the Iast minute, two Commissioners, Leif Dunfjeld and Hans Pavia Rosing, were unable to accompany the Commission, the former because of ill-health and the latter because of a general election in Denmark. The Commission decided to travel first to Tripura in India and interview refugees in the six camps there. This was to obtain first hand statements of the situation in the Hill Tracts. The group then planned to continue to Bangladesh, visit aIl three districts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, gather additional information and review the statements in the light of conditions there. For their trip to India and Bangladesh the Commissioners and the resource people were all known as 'the Commission' or 'members of the Commission'. The Commission met in Delhi on November 15th and arranged with the Indian Home Ministry for permission to visit the camps. This was given when the Indian government was satisfied that the Bangladesh government would allow the Commission into the Hill Tracts. The Commission indicated that it was not part of its mandate lo assess conditions in the relief camps. The Commission travelled to AgartaIa on November 21st. The Tripura government welcomed the Commission and provided accommodation in government guesthouses. The Commission refused Tripura government offers of transportation and security protection. The Commission travelled in Tripura with public hired transport and local Chakma interpreters from Agartala. There were certain constraints. The Commission had originally applied for 10 days in Tripura, but was only permitted to be in the State for five days. The Commission was accompanied by two liaison officers from the State government. The liaison officers attended the welcoming ceremonies in the camps and remained in the camps during the time Commission members were working. They were not present during interviews. Commission members were not allowed to take tape-recorders into the camps and so all interviews were written out in longhand. Although increasing the Commission's labour, these restrictions had no effect on the quality