BANGLADESH COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION (COI) REPORT COI Service Date 30 September 2012 BANGLADESH 30 SEPTEMBER 2012 Contents Go to End Preface REPORTS ON BANGLADESH PUBLISHED OR FIRST ACCESSED BETWEEN 31 AUGUST AND 30 SEPTEMBER 2012 Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 1.01 Public holidays ................................................................................................... 1.06 Maps of Bangladesh ............................................................................................. 1.07 Other maps of Bangladesh ................................................................................. 1.07 2. ECONOMY ....................................................................................................................... 2.01 3. HISTORY ......................................................................................................................... 3.01 Pre-independence: 1947- 1971 ............................................................................ 3.01 Post-independence: 1972 - April 2010 .............................................................. 3.02 Government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, 1972-75 ............................................. 3.02 Government of Ziaur Rahman, 1975-81 ............................................................. 3.03 Government of Hussain Mohammed Ershad, 1982-90 ...................................... 3.04 Government of Khaleda Zia, 1991-96 ................................................................ 3.05 Government of Sheikh Hasina, 1996-2001 ........................................................ 3.06 Government of Khaleda Zia, 2001-2006 ............................................................ 3.07 Caretaker Government and state of emergency, October 2006 -January 2009 . 3.10 Restoring democracy in Bangladesh ................................................................. 3.12 General Election of 29 December 2008 ............................................................. 3.12 Political parties which contested the general election ........................................ 3.13 Results of the general election ........................................................................... 3.15 Reaction to the results ........................................................................................ 3.16 International observer reports ............................................................................ 3.18 Post-election violence ........................................................................................ 3.21 Sheikh Hasina 2009 to May 2010 ..................................................................... 3.22 Local elections ................................................................................................... 3.24 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutiny ......................................................................... 3.28 War crimes committed in 1971 ............................................................................ 3.35 Trial of murderers of ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ........................ 3.36 War crimes tribunal .............................................................................................. 3.40 Natural catastrophes ............................................................................................ 3.42 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: JANUARY 2011 TO AUGUST 2012 .............................................. 4.01 5. CONSTITUTION ................................................................................................................ 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM .......................................................................................................... 6.01 Caretaker Government ......................................................................................... 6.05 Local government ................................................................................................. 6.09 Supervision of elections ...................................................................................... 6.11 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 7.01 8. SECURITY FORCES ........................................................................................................... 8.01 Police and paramilitary forces ............................................................................ 8.02 ii The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 31 August 2012. 30 SEPTEMBER 2012 BANGLADESH Police Reform Programme ................................................................................. 8.05 Armed forces ........................................................................................................ 8.09 Other government forces ..................................................................................... 8.11 Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) ............................................. 8.11 Human rights violations by the security forces ................................................. 8.12 Arbitrary arrest and detention ............................................................................. 8.12 Torture ................................................................................................................ 8.16 Odhikar Torture Prevention Project ................................................................ 8.20 Extra-judicial killings ........................................................................................... 8.21 Corruption in the law enforcement agencies ...................................................... 8.26 Avenues of complaint .......................................................................................... 8.27 Accountability and impunity ................................................................................ 8.32 9. MILITARY SERVICE ........................................................................................................... 9.01 10. ABUSES BY NON-GOVERNMENT ARMED FORCES ............................................................... 10.01 11. JUDICIARY .................................................................................................................... 11.01 Organisation ......................................................................................................... 11.04 The Truth Commission ....................................................................................... 11.12 Informal systems of justice: Village Courts and Shalish ..................................... 11.13 Independence ....................................................................................................... 11.14 Fair trial ................................................................................................................. 11.18 Corruption in the Judiciary .................................................................................. 11.22 12. ARREST AND DETENTION – LEGAL RIGHTS ....................................................................... 12.01 Preventive detention and its legislative framework .......................................... 12.01 The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC): Section 54 ......................................... 12.02 The Special Powers Act (SPA) ........................................................................... 12.03 Pre-trial detention ................................................................................................. 12.07 Bail ......................................................................................................................... 12.08 13. PRISON CONDITIONS ...................................................................................................... 13.01 14. DEATH PENALTY ............................................................................................................ 14.01 15. POLITICAL AFFILIATION .................................................................................................. 15.01 Freedom of political expression .......................................................................... 15.01 Freedom of association and assembly ............................................................... 15.05 Opposition groups and political activists .......................................................... 15.07 Political violence ................................................................................................. 15.07 Charges against, and restrictions on, the main party leaders ............................. 15.09 Student political groups and violence ................................................................ 15.11 16. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND MEDIA .................................................................................... 16.01 Journalists ............................................................................................................ 16.07 17. HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS AND ACTIVISTS ......................................... 17.01 National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) .................................................... 17.03 Treatment of human rights NGOs ....................................................................... 17.06 18. CORRUPTION ................................................................................................................