FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-102-2006

BANGLADESH: AHRC launches Bangladesh human rights webpage

(Hong Kong, November 10, 2006) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) on Friday launched a new webpage on human rights issues in Bangladesh.

"The webpage aims to provide up-to-the-minute information and resources on the very grave but under-reported human rights situation in Bangladesh," Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based regional rights group said.

The new webpage, http://bangladesh.ahrchk.net, covers a range of serious human rights issues in detail, including torture, extrajudicial killing, impunity and failed administration of justice.

The webpage is in both English, with a compilation of important documents in Bangla. More contents will be translated into Bangla over the coming months.

"The non-separation of the judiciary from the executive is the biggest obstacle to the defence of human rights in Bangladesh," Fernando said.

"This will be a very significant part of the contents on the webpage as it is developed over time," he said.

"Another area of key concern for the AHRC is the constant extrajudicial killings by law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh, which we are bringing to special attention of many international bodies, including the UN, and other institutions abroad," Fernando added.

"We hope that this site will contribute to growing awareness about the barbaric conditions under which millions of persons in Bangladesh are forced to live, and that it will go some way to bringing about lasting change," he concluded.

In August the sister organisation of the AHRC, the Asian Legal Resource Centre, released a 140-page report entitled, "Lawless law-enforcement and the parody of judiciary in Bangladesh".

That report also is available online: http://www.article2.org/pdf/v05n04.pdf.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.