(Through the courtesy
of Bangladesh High Commission, London)
October 25th, 2007
To
Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Advisor
Interim Caretaker Government
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Subject: Continuous
land-grabbing, false imprisonments in Chittagong Hill Tracts;
Dear Chief Advisor,
The Jumma Peoples Network UK,
would like to congratulate the taking of office of your government
for the purpose of eliminating corruption, crime & injustice from Bangladesh society and for the
establishment of a truly democratic, accountable and transparent country.
At the same time we regret to
observe that the indigenous people are not being able to enjoy the success of
your government. They are facing dispossession of their lands, eviction,
extra-judicial killings and suppression of their activities.
We are saddened to learn that
illegal settlers with the help of the military have intensified the process of
confiscating lands belonging to the Jumma indigenous people after the
imposition of Emergency Rule in January 2007.
For your information, we’d like
to mention the following cases & incidents:
- In March 2007 Ruma cantonment
acquired about 7,570 acres of ancestral land belonging to indigenous people for
extension of its garrison and ordered more than 400 families to leave the area.
In Bandarban district alone, 40,077 acres of land have been given in lease to
illegal settlers while a total of 94,066 acres of land were acquired for
so-called afforestation projects and 75,686 acres were acquired for
establishment of military bases in the district.
In another recent case of
land-grabbing, illegal settlers have reportedly taken over 59 acres of land
belonging to 17 Jumma people in Kobakhali mouza (No. 51) under Dighinala police
station in Khagracahari district. In an operation lasting from 1st to 15th
August 2007, large groups of settlers led by former Union Parishad (UP) member
Mohammed Abu Taleb of Hashinchonpur village and former UP member Mohammed Kader
of Kobakhali bazar took control of the hilly lands belonging to Chakma people
with the direct assistance of the army, the para-military forces and the local
Village Defence Party (VDP) members.
Due to the presence of the
security forces, that provided protection to the illegal setters, the people
could not offer any resistance. Presently, works for construction of houses
on lands seized from indigenous peoples
are reportedly underway. The army has reportedly planned to settle 200 plain
settler' families in the same mouza.
-In June 2007, the military
reportedly settled down at least 200 Bengali settler families at Dhankupya
village under Khagrachari district after forcibly evicting 12 indigenous
families from their ancestral lands. Earlier, on 8 March 2007, an army camp was
set up on the land of Prithviraj
Chakma at the same village to protect the settlers.
You will also be aware about
the on-going activities of the Bangladesh military that has unleashed a reign
of terror across the CHT by carrying out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary
arrests, illegal detention, lodging false cases and terrorizing the people by
frequent raids, military operations, torture, threats and intimidation.
-On 5 August 2007, Rasel
Chakma, son of Paritosh Chakma of Dewan
Para village under Naniarchar upazilla (sub-district) in Rangamati district was
arrested by the security forces and killed in custody. The security forces
claimed that he died of a heart attack but the body reportedly bore injury
marks of torture.
-Earlier, on 3 March 2007, a
group of army personnel from Ghilachari camp under Naniachar Thana arrested
Suresh Mohan Chakma, son of Phedera Chakma at Choichari village in Rangamati
district without any warrant or reason. The victim was tortured at Ghilachari
army camp in Rangamati district and he died on 7 March 2007, a day after being
released.
It has also been observed that
Jumma activists have been unfairly targetted by the military that are taking
advantage of the Emergency situation. Since the declaration of Emergency on 11
January 2007, at least 50 Jumma activists have been arrested, including 20
members of PCJSS (Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity) and 10 members of
UPDF (United Peoples Democratic Front).
False cases such as extortion, kidnapping,
murder etc have been lodged against the arrested activists. During raids, the
military plants weapons and ammunition and claims to have recovered the same
from the houses of the detained persons to show a ground for arrest. Most cases
have been filed under Section 16(b) of the Emergency Power Rules of 2007, which
denies release on bail to the accused during the enquiry, investigation, and
trial of the case. Many have been indicted by courts under the Arms Act.
Persecution of indigenous
leaders
-In July this year, Satyabir
Dewan, general secretary of PCJSS; Ranglai Mro, chairman of Sualok Union
Parishad and headman of Sualok mouza
and Bikram Marma, president of Kaptai
upazilla PCJSS branch were sentenced to 17 years of jail for each by a court in
Chittagong under the Arms Act for allegedly possessing illegal arms. Another
indigenous leader, Sai Mong Marma, organizing secretary, PCJSS Kaptai upazilla
branch was sentenced to 10 years in
jail under the Arms Act.
It has been widely alleged that
these leaders have been falsely implicated under the Arms Act for protesting
against the injustices committed by the Bangladesh military in CHT.
For example, UP chairman
Ranglai Mro was targetted for protesting against the eviction of 750 families
of the Mro indigenous community from their lands to make way for an army
training centre in remote villages of the Bandarban Hill District in December
2006.
-On 3 June 2007, human rights
defender, Santoshito Chakma alias Bakul (age 52), who also serves as the general
secretary of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Jumma Refugee Welfare Association was
arrested by the police from the Chengi Square in Khagrachari town. His arrest
was totally unlawful and politically motivated. He was arrested when he was
returning home after attending a meeting of the Task Force on rehabilitation of
the returnee Jumma refugees at the Circuit House. The police did not give any
reason for his arrest.
-On 29 May 2007, Milton Chakma, assistant co-ordinator of the
Hill Watch Human Rights Forum and also a leader of United Peoples Democratic
Front (UPDF), was arrested from Chengi Bridge in Khagrachari without any arrest
warrant. Mr Chakma was shown arrested on the basis of a First Information
Report (FIR) filed by Mohammed Shahidul Islam, Sergeant (No. 3998686) of 24th
Bengal Regiment. In the army records, he has been shown arrested on 31 May
2007, although the Bangladesh army had picked him up on 29 May 2007 from Chengi
Bridge area. He was implicated in a false murder case.
-On 5 May 2007, Tatindra Lal
Chakma, central committee member of PCJSS, was arrested in connection with
false extortion case filed by Mohammed Fuyad Hussain, manager of Grameen Bank
of Babuchara branch with Dighinala police station in Khagrachari district. The military allegedly compelled Mr. Hussain to
file the false case against T. L. Chakma. This was proved when the complainant
denied involvement with Mr. Chakma before the court and the court granted bail
to Mr. Chakma in June 2007. But the bail was cancelled on 23 July 2007 as Mr.
Hussain was forced to withdraw his statement under tremendous pressure from the
military. Again on 2 August 2007, two false cases of murder have reportedly
been filed against Mr. Chakma with the Dighinala police station to ensure that
he is not released from jail. Presently, he has been kept at Khagrachari jail.
It is indeed a shame that the
present government has failed to respect the rights of indigenous people
worldwide (estimated to be around 350 million) & in particular Bangladesh
by abstaining from voting on the United Nations Resolution on September 13th
this year on the rights of indigenous people which was passed recently. Your
government continues to ignore the presence of millions of indigenous people on
Bangladesh soil.
Seeing all norms and practices
of this rejection and ignorance of
indigenous people’s presence implies putting them in more danger in
their own land. Therefore, indigenous people of Bangladesh feel more insecure
for their lives than ever before.
You are well aware that the
Bangladesh government has signed a Peace Accord in 1997 with PCJSS, who
represent the whole of Chittagong Hill Tracts. But it is very shameful for the
government for not implementing its’ very important clauses. If the accord were
fully implemented, the indigenous people of Chittagong Hill Tracts would feel
more secure of their lives &
property. Instead, the government is continuing to exhibit the CHT Regional Council as a show piece,
which has no power to do anything. It is high time to implement the accord and
we strongly urge that your government complies with all the remaining
un-implemented clauses of the accord. Otherwise the renewed implantation of
illegal settlers and continued land-grabbing will pose the most serious of
threats to the Jumma people of the region. With indigenous leaders being
implicated in false cases, one can only protest against such policies in
Bangladesh only at one’s own peril.
In view of the above, we would
like to mention the following issues to be considered urgently by your
government:
1. Stop arresting Jummas under false charges;
2. No more land-grabbing for settlers & military installations;
3. Return stolen land to rightful indigenous owners;
4. Immediately halt State-sponsored settlements in CHT;
5. Release CHT political prisoners;
6. Immediately implement all provisions of CHT Peace Accord of 1997
including withdrawal of all military camps;
7. Rehabilitation of returnee Jumma refugees from India;
8. Drawing up a voter list as per the provisions of the CHT Accord;
9. Re-settlement of inducted Bengali settlers from CHT to elsewhere
in Bangladesh;
Sincerely
yours,
Jumma Peoples
Network, UK
Website:
www.jpnuk.org.uk
CC: Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), London
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
European Commission, Brussels
United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, New York
Embassies & High
Commissions of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), London