URGENT APPEAL: Doodsbedreigingen aan dhr. Shahanur Islam Saikot

1 april 2009

Doodsbedreigingen aan dhr. Shahanur Islam Saikot

Urgente Acties ACAT NETHERLANDS

Action of Christians for the Abolition of Torture and Capital Punishment.

Mr. Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Office of the Prime Minister

Tejgaon

DHAKA

BANGLADESH

… - 04 – 09. Dear Prime Minister,

As a member of ACAT Netherlands I am very concerned about threats received by Mr. Shahanur Islam Saikot, Secretary General and Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Human Rights and Development (BCHRD), Programme Manager of Legal and Human Rights Affairs at the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) and Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma Victims (BRCT), as well as a member of the Bangladesh Bar Council and Bar Association in Dhaka District.

I urgently ask you:

take all necessary measures to guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Shahanur Islam Saikot;

order a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned death threats, the result of which must be made public, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;

put an end to all acts of harassment against Mr. Shahanur Islam Saikot as well as against all human rights defenders in Bangladesh;

comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Bangladesh.

Yours respectfully,

name: signature:

address:

U kunt een kopie sturen aan:

Ambassador M. Debapriya Bhattacharya

Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh to the UN

65 rue de Lausanne

1202 GENEVA

SWITZERLAND

fax: +41 22 738 46 16,

e-mail: mission.bangladesh@ties.itu.int

Ambassador mrs. B.M. ten

TusscherRoad 90, House 49

Gulshan II

DHAKA

BANGLADESH

fax: +880-2-8823326

e-mail: dha@minbuza.nl

Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

29-31 rue J. Jordaens

1000 BRUSSEL

BELGIË

fax: +32 2 646 59 98;

e-mail: bdootbrussels@freegates.be

Z.E. de heer Mizanur RAHMAN

Wassenaarseweg 39

2596 CG DEN HAAG

fax: 070-3283524

e-mail: amb.vanbangladesh@wanadoo.nl

Mr. Sheikh Hasina:

fax: +880 2 811 3244 / 3243 / 1015 / 1490