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In My View

Cancellation of Odhikar’s registration thoroughly wrongheaded

Published : Friday, 17 June, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 1316
Syed Badiuzzaman
The recent decision of the NGO Affairs Bureau of Bangladesh to cancel the registration of Odhikar, the most prominent national human rights organization was thoroughly wrongheaded. It sent a chilling and also terrible message about the government's intolerance toward the rights groups and their independent activities in the country.

There is no instance of cancellation of registration of a leading human rights group in any truly democratic country in the world. Whoever has advised the Bangladesh government to take such a wrong decision is clearly misguided, imprudent and of course incapable of making sound judgment. By advising the government for shutting down a rights group, he has greatly damaged the reputation of the government as well as the country.

Currently, Bangladesh is on the radar of many influential countries including the United States and international human rights groups including the globally respected Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for alleged violation of human rights. So, the cancellation of registration of the flagship national human rights organization Odhikar which stands for people's rights at this particular time is not only whimsical and ill-advised but also unwise, injudicious and irresponsible.  

Let us examine the grounds for cancellation of the registration of the local rights group. As reported by the Daily Observer on June 6, the NGO Affairs Bureau cited the following reasons for cancellation of Odhikar's registration: "The activities of the organization are not satisfactory due to its involvement in works that tarnishes the image of the state. Therefore, there is no opportunity to consider the application for renewal of the registration. The application for renewal of registration is rejected."

So, the principal reason as cited by the bureau for cancellation of Odhikar's registration was the rights group's involvement in activities that tarnished the image of Bangladesh. However, a vast majority of the Bangladeshi people both inside and outside the country knows that the nation's most prominent human rights group was only engaged in collecting, compiling and reporting human rights violations in the country and by doing so it earned fame both nationally and internationally over the years.

Odhikar is not a clandestine organization. It has been documenting human rights violations in Bangladesh since 1994 as the most credible national rights group. It has a website that clearly publishes human rights violations of Bangladeshi people in a broad range of areas including violence against women, violence against children, violence in the Bangladesh-India border area, extrajudicial killings as well as enforced disappearances. And this organization mostly gathers information from the national newspapers of Bangladesh.

The NGO Affairs Bureau stated that "Odhikar created various issues against Bangladesh by spreading propaganda against the state by publishing misleading information on its own website about various extrajudicial killings, including alleged disappearances and murder." But other human rights organizations too reported on several occasions in the past about alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and many other human rights violations in Bangladesh. Odhikar did what was exactly done by other rights groups in Bangladesh as well.

So, why Odhikar is being singularly punished for doing the job what, in fact, all other human rights groups, local and foreign, do in Bangladesh? If Odhikar was spreading propaganda against the state by publishing misleading information on its website, why didn't the NGO Affairs Bureau come up with the actual facts?

Many Bangladeshi people staged demonstrations repeatedly right in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka against alleged extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Relatives of those allegedly disappeared also joined those rallies.

Actually, those who were involved in the alleged extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and incidents of gang rape of women, child rape and other heinous crimes tarnished the image of Bangladesh, not human rights organizations, media or any other civil rights groups. These organizations and the media of Bangladesh simply report what happens in the country quoting reliable sources. This is part of their regular jobs and assigned responsibilities. That's what these organizations have been established for. Where did they cross the line?

The human rights organizations as well as the media have also watchdog and whistle blowing functions. Whenever something morally and legally wrong happens in the country, it becomes an imperative for the rights groups and media to report it to the nation in an effort to stop it and also bring it to the attention of the government so that it can take immediate measures against such incident. In every free or democratic nation, human rights groups and media operate independently to do their job and their job is to serve only the country and the people, not any government.
If the rights groups and media serve the government, then they will automatically turn themselves into an extension of its public relations department. That is not their job. Whenever there is a violation of human rights or ethically and legally wrong thing in a country, human rights groups and media of that country must raise their voices and report it without delay. If they fail to do so, then their very existence will be totally meaningless and they will do a great disservice to the nation. Controlling rights groups and the media never happens in a truly free and democratic country.  

Remember the brutal murder of George Floyd in the American city of Minneapolis a couple of years ago? Remember how the 46-year-old black man died when a white police officer knelt on his neck even though Floyd repeatedly pleaded for his life saying "I can't breathe."? That brutal incident of May 25, 2020 sent a shockwave throughout the world sparking demonstrations in many cities. Did the American human rights organizations and media keep quiet at that time for protecting the image of America? Certainly not! Rather, they heavily criticized the police brutality and sympathized with the family of Floyd. That was the job of the human rights groups. When someone's human rights are violated, they speak out.

Bangladesh's image has been tarnished by the NGO Affairs Bureau's decision to cancel the registration of the nationally and internationally famed Odhikar, not by the activities of this human rights organization in the country. Criticizing the cancellation of Odhikar's registration, a spokesperson of the UN Commissioner for Human Rights said the decision will have a chilling effect on the ability of civil society organizations to report serious human rights violations. That is correct. In a reaction to the incident, the US embassy in Dhaka tweeted: "People should be free to promote human rights freely and without fear of retaliation." Absolutely, no questions about that.
A group of distinguished citizens of Bangladesh has also criticized the action of the NGO Affairs Bureau of the government and demanded immediate withdrawal of the cancellation of the registration of Odhikar. The group suggests that the bureau's decision amounts to contempt of the judiciary as litigation over the registration of the rights group Odhikar is still ongoing -- a case with regard to this issue is currently pending in the High Court. Those prominent citizens are absolutely right! Any act to obstruct or interfere with the due course of justice or the lawful process of the judiciary is a contempt of court.
Cancellation of registration of a human rights organization is counterproductive.

This kind of decision is contrary to the democratic culture and the norms of a free society. In the greater interest of the promotion of democracy and transparency in Bangladesh, the government should rescind its cancellation decision and immediately renew the registration of Odhikar. This step will rather promote the image of both the government and Bangladesh.
The writer is a Toronto-based
journalist who also writes for the Toronto Sun as a guest columnist







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