New Delhi: The Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) has accused the Bangladesh Army of carrying out the execution of three unarmed members of the United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF) through its sponsored vigilantes on October 30.
The organization believes this was done to divert attention and change the narrative of the ongoing human rights violations in the trouble-torn Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region, especially ahead of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk’s visit to Bangladesh.
“The victims of human rights violations all over the world irrespective of race, colour, religion, nationality or descent, etc view the UN High Commissioner’s visit as the only beacon of hope for justice and they look forward to the visit by the High Commissioner. However, institutions like the Bangladesh Army disgracefully resort to extrajudicial executions to distract attention and change the narrative on pressing human rights issues and undermine the significance of the High Commissioner’s visit,” Suhas Chakma, Director of the RRAG, said.
He claimed, “As the execution of Manya Chakma, Kharaksen Tripura and Parantu Chakma under Khagrachari district at 10.30 am yesterday were carried out through sponsored vigilantes, the Bangladesh Army can and will claim to be innocent.”
Chakma further criticized the biased reporting of Bangladeshi media, which highlighted the killings to portray the human rights violations in the CHT as an issue solely perpetrated by indigenous people, rather than the Bangladesh government and army.
He said, “Dhaka’s major newspapers prominently featured news of the killings alongside coverage of the UN High Commissioner’s press conference. The Bangladeshi press has been known for writing a few lines when indigenous peoples are killed by the illegal plain settlers and no news when killings are carried out by the Bangladesh Army personnel and giving prominence to fratricidal killings of indigenous peoples. Nothing has changed even after the fall of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”
Notably, Bangladesh has faced international condemnation for the attacks on indigenous people between September 19 and October 1, 2024. Key international figures and organizations, including the Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, Amnesty International, Minority Rights Group International, and the International Work Group on Indigenous Affairs, have condemned these violent acts.
The RRAG further alleged that the Bangladesh Army has been using state-sponsored mercenaries as part of a state policy in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, authorized by the Chief of Army Staff and carried out by the General Officer Commanding of the Chittagong Division.
The RRAG urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk to call upon the Government of Bangladesh to provide access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the past and present human rights violations in the CHTs including the recent extrajudicial killings by the Bangladesh Army sponsored vigilante groups.
The organisation urged the UN High Commissioner to order an inquiry, with technical support from the High Commissioner’s Office, into the activities of vigilante groups in the CHTs to dismantle the state policy of arming these groups.
It also urged to facilitate a visit by the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries to investigate human rights violations and the suppression of self-determination rights in the region.
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Besides, it also urged the UN High Commissioner to prohibit Brigadier General Mohammad M H Chowdhury and Colonel Abul Hasnat Jewel from deployment with the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions as per the UN’s 2012 Human Rights Screening Policy.
