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The implementation mechanism of human rights USA and Bangladesh has far differences
Abstract
Human rights are based on the principal of respect and freedom for the individual. Their fundamental assumption is that each person is a moral and rational being who deserves to be treated with dignity. They called human rights because they are universal. From the basic form of a Human Right every single person have equal right to live peacefully in society or a country no matter where they live because human rights are the right to which every single individual are entitled. But many people around the world are unaware about human right and significant number of population around the earth doesn’t know the law’s which are created to protect the human rights. Many Social Scientist’s and lawyers is says that actually human right means freedom of speech, freedom to get roper education, freedom to obtain job, security of citizens life, equal justices and fair & clear view by the sates towards a personal. Therefore the implementation mechanism of human rights USA and Bangladesh has far differences, both two countries have law to protect and save human rights but in reality specially in Bangladesh there is no human rights on reality but its exists only in word of mouth of the political leader.
Introduction:
As a human being, we have some basic rights. Basic rights like – food, clothes, house etc, these are also known as fundamental human rights. Every human in this world must have a right to live, right to eat, right to enjoy life. The human rights of a country is mainly monitored and implemented by the government and society of the country. A country’s government must ensure that all its citizens are getting the facilities of basic / fundamental human rights. Human rights are “commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being”<href=”#_ftn1″ name=”_ftnref1″ title=””>[1] Human rights discourse has been occurring most noticeably since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Since this time, there have been numerous bodies, covenants and organizations established to further the fundamental human rights of all peoples.<href=”#_ftn2″ name=”_ftnref2″ title=””>[2] So, Human rights refers to the “basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled.”[1] Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education. <href=”#_ftn3″ name=”_ftnref3″ title=””>[3]
There are various instruments to implement the human rights,like the NGOs (Non-government organizations) and various types of government organizations like the Human rights commission.
The Human Rights Implementation Mechanisms of United States of America
According to the US department of state , the protection of fundamental human rights was a foundation stone in the establishment of the United States over 200 years ago. Since then, a central goal of U.S. foreign policy has been the promotion of respect for human rights, as embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United States understands that the existence of human rights helps secure the peace, deter aggression, promote the rule of law, combat crime and corruption, strengthen democracies, and prevent humanitarian crises.
Because the promotion of human rights is an essential national interest, the United States seeks to:
Hold governments accountable to their obligations under universal human rights norms and international human rights instruments;
Promote greater respect for human rights, including freedom from torture, freedom of expression, press freedom, women’s rights, children’s rights, and the protection of minorities;
Promote the rule of law, seek accountability, and change cultures of impunity;
Assist efforts to reform and strengthen the institutional capacity of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Commission on Human Rights; and Coordinate human rights activities with important allies, including the EU, and regional organizations.
The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) applies three key principles to its work on human rights:
First, DRL strives to learn the truth and state the facts in all of its human rights investigations, reports on country conditions, speeches and votes in the UN, and asylum profiles. Each year, DRL develops, edits, and submits to Congress a 5,000-page report on human rights conditions in over 190 countries that is respected globally for its objectivity and accuracy. DRL also provides relevant information on country conditions to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and immigration judges in asylum cases.
Second, DRL takes consistent positions concerning past, present, and future abuses. With regard to past abuses, it actively promotes accountability. To stop ongoing abuses, the bureau uses an “inside-outside” approach that combines vigorous, external focus on human rights concerns (including the possibility of sanctions) with equally robust support for internal reform. To prevent future abuses, it promotes early warning and preventive diplomacy. Each year DRL ensures that human rights considerations are incorporated into U.S. military training and security assistance programs; promotes the rights of women through international campaigns for political participation and full equality; conducts high-level human rights dialogues with other governments; coordinates U.S. policy on human rights with key allies; and raises key issues and cases through diplomatic and public channels.
Third, DRL forges and maintains partnerships with organizations, governments, and multilateral institutions committed to human rights. The bureau takes advantage of multilateral fora to focus international attention on human rights problems and to seek correction. Each year, DRL provides significant technical, financial, or staff support for U.S. delegations to the annual meetings of several international human rights organizations; conducts regular consultations with Native American tribes and serves as the Secretary’s principal advisor on international indigenous rights issues; maintains relations with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights; and supports the creation of effective multilateral human rights mechanisms and institutions for accountability.
The U.S. Department of State and USAID’s Efforts to Support Press and Media Freedom
As a part of its “Free the Press” campaign, the Department of State is documenting on www.HumanRights.gov emblematic cases of journalists living and working under threat and duress because of their efforts to exercise the freedom of expression. We call on all governments to protect the universal human right to freedom of expression.
· Advancing media freedom is a regular part of U.S. diplomatic work. We advocate for freedom of expression and raise media freedom issues, including specific cases, in bilateral discussions with other governments and in multilateral bodies, including but not limited to the UN Human Rights Council, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Organization of American States. At the OSCE, for example, the United States has been a leading voice for freedom of expression and the defense of journalists, and championed a Ministerial Declaration to support fundamental freedoms in the Digital Age.
The implementation mechanisms of human rights in Bangladesh:
National Human Rights Commission, such as Bangladesh Human Rights Commission (HRC), will play a key role in the application of human rights. Although certain fundamental human rights are justifiable by the Supreme Court in Bangladesh by virtue of Article 102 of the Constitution, the setting up of HRC is complementary to the powers of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court deals with enforcement of human rights while HRC promotes human rights, investigates into breaches of human rights and makes aware of human rights among all sections of community, including rural men and women. According to Human Rights watch,
Bangladesh’s overall human rights situation degraded in 2012, as the government constricted political and civil society space, continued to defences abusive security forces from accountability, and flatly ignored calls by Human Rights Watch to reform laws and procedures in flawed war crimes and mutiny trials. Civil society and human rights protectors reported increased governmental pressure and monitoring. (Watch, 2013)<href=”#_ftn5″ name=”_ftnref5″ title=””>[5]
Mandate of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Bangladesh:
The mandate of the NHRC necessarily emanates from the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Human Rights Commission Act and the international human rights instruments to which Bangladesh is a party. As per the Constitution the fundamental objective of the state is to establish an egalitarian society where equality and social justice would be guaranteed for all citizens. It envisages that Bangladesh shall be a democracy where fundamental human rights and worth of human persons of all would be ensured. In line with these objectives, the National Human Rights Commission Act in its preamble [read with section 2(f)] has reflected that the National Human Rights Commission is being established in order to protect, promote and foster human rights as envisaged in the Bangladesh constitution and international instruments. The key mandates can be summed up as follows:
- It is a statutory independent institution established by an Act of Parliament.
- NHRC is committed to provide independent views on issues within the parlance of the Constitution or prevailing law for the time being in force for the protection of human rights.
- The Commission works independently. It does not require prior approval of the government to spend its budgetary allocation. The budget of the Commission comes from annual grant of Government of Bangladesh or local authority. The account of the Commission is to be audited by the Auditor and Comptroller General of Bangladesh.
- Authority to mediate any complaint if feasible and appropriate.
- Authority to revisit existing laws of the land and recommend amending any discrepancy for better and more effective protection and promotion of human rights.
Human Rights situation in Bangladesh and its implementation:
The security forces’ practice of disguising extrajudicial killings as “crossfire” killings or legitimate confrontations between alleged criminals and security forces continued, as did disappearances of opposition members and political activists. A prominent labour activist was kidnapped and killed, and other labour activists threatened.
According to media reports, local and international human rights organizations, and the government, law enforcement officials were directly responsible for 127 deaths, 101 of which were recognized as crossfire or line of fire. The RAB accounted for 65 crossfire killings, members of police were responsible for 21, and combined security units consisting of the RAB and police were responsible for 12. According to the human rights organization Ain O-Shalish Kendra (ASK), 133 deaths happened in custody during the year, including 74 deaths in prison. Many of the deaths were purportedly the result of torture. There were no developments in the May 2009 case in which a team from RAB allegedly killed two Dhaka Polytechnic Institute students, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Mohsin Sheikh, in a shootout. Family members, fellow students, and teachers alleged Jinnah and Sheikh were members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League and did not have criminal records. The RAB alleged the two students were “criminals” and “muggers,” and that they had stopped the students at a checkpoint for acting suspiciously. Although the constitution prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment, security forces including the RAB, and police frequently employed torture and severe physical and psychological abuse during arrests and interrogations. Abuse consisted of threats, beatings, and the use of electric shock. According to human rights organizations, security forces tortured at least 22 persons. The government rarely charged, convicted, or punished those responsible, and a climate of impunity allowed such abuses by the RAB and police to continue. (Bangladesh, 2011)
After June 2012 sectarian violence in Arakan state in neighbouring Burma, the government responded to an influx of Rohinga refugees by pushing back boatloads of refugees and insisting that it had no obligation to provide them sanctuary. The government curtailed the activities of nongovernmental organizations operating in pre-existing Rohinga refugee camps in Cox’s Bazaar in Chittagong.
Flawed trials against those accused of war crimes in the 1971 war for independence continued, as did mass and unfair trials of the Bangladesh Rifles (now Bangladesh Border Guards) accused of mountaineering in 2009.
The government continued to demand that Indian border guards stop killing Bangladeshi nationals who cross into India for smuggling or other crimes.
Extrajudicial Killings, Torture, and Impunity
Although there was a decline in overall numbers of civilians killed by security forces in 2012, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)—a force comprised of military and police—continued to carry out extrajudicial killings. The ruling political party, the Awami League, promised to bring the RAB under control when it assumed office, but abuses persisted.
The government continued to persecute 17-year-old boy, Limon Hossain, whom RAB officials shot and maimed in March 2011. Although the government initially said that Hossain was injured in a botched RAB operation, it quickly retracted the statement and filed criminal charges against him. In August 2012, an alleged RAB informant attacked and beat Hossain in a street in his hometown. Instead of protecting Hossain, the government filed further charges against him, and accused him and his relatives of murdering a bystander.
The authorities failed to investigate and prosecute the RAB or other security forces responsible for extrajudicial killings or torture. While the RAB set up an internal investigative unit with technical assistance from the United States, no RAB member has ever faced criminal prosecution for a human rights violation.
In April, Elias Ali, secretary of the Sylhet Division of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), disappeared without trace. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called on the police to investigate Ali’s disappearance, but undermined the effort by claiming that Ali and his driver were “hiding” at his party’s orders to allow the opposition to blame the government. Human rights groups reported more than 20 disappearances in 2012.
Labour Rights
Aminul Islam, a prominent labor rights activist, was found tortured and killed in April 2012. In response to an intense outcry, the Home Ministry set up a high-level commission to investigate his killing, but there had been no progress in the investigation at this writing. While there was no suggestion of political responsibility, Prime Minister Hasina made public statements downplaying the significance of the killing.
Workers in Bangladesh faced poor working conditions, low wages, and excessive hours. Government repression and collusion with factory owners prevented them from organizing effectively.
The government continued legal action against the Bangladesh Canter for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), an NGO that works closely with trade unions. Over a dozen labour rights leaders, including BCWS leaders, faced criminal charges on a variety of spurious grounds, including under the Explosive Substances Ordinance Act, which carries the death penalty as a sentence. Labour rights groups faced registration problems that affected their funding and operations.
These are some views and situations of Bangladesh Human Rights situations, implementations and mechanisms. Now, if we compare it with the USA situations then discussions and comparisons regarding this is given in the following:
USA human rights situations and implementations:
In fiscal year 2012, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a record 396,906 non-citizens. A dramatic increase in federal prosecutions of immigration violations and in the number of immigrants in detention has fed a nationwide detention system comprised of over 250 facilities.
Secure Communities and other federal programs involving local law enforcement play a major role in the increase in deportations. The federal government has portrayed these programs as focused on dangerous criminals, but most immigrants deported through Secure Communities are categorized by the federal government as “non-criminal” or lower level offenders. These programs may exacerbate distrust of police in immigrant communities, and thus may deter crime victims from seeking protection and redress. Some local and state governments have sought to limit the reach of these programs.
Labour Rights
Hundreds of thousands of children work on American farms. The 1938 Fair Labour Standards Act exempts child farmworkers from the minimum age and maximum hour requirements that apply to all other working children, exposing them to work at far younger ages, for longer hours, and under more hazardous conditions. As a result, child farmworkers, most of them Latino, often work 10 or more hours a day and risk pesticide poisoning, heat illness, injuries, life-long disabilities, and death. Of children under age 16 who suffered fatal occupational injuries in <href=”#_ftn8″ name=”_ftnref8″ title=””>[8]2010,<href=”#_ftn9″ name=”_ftnref9″ title=””>[9] 75 percent worked in crop production. Thousands more are injured each year. Federal protections that do exist are often not enforced.
In April, the Department of Labour withdrew new regulations proposed in 2011 that would have updated, for the first time in decades, the list of hazardous agricultural tasks prohibited for children under age 16. (Federal law bans hazardous work for children under age 18 outside agriculture). Several members of Congress claimed, inaccurately, that the rules would hurt family farms and agricultural training, and introduced bills to block them.
The Obama administration proposed a regulation to end the exclusion of certain home care workers from minimum wage and hour protections. These workers, most of whom are women, including many immigrants and minorities, provide essential services to people with disabilities and the elderly.
Death Penalty and Excessive Punishments
In 2012, Connecticut joined 16 other states and the District of Columbia in abolishing the death penalty. Thirty-three states continue to allow its imposition. In November, California voters narrowly rejected Proposition 34, which would have abolished the death penalty in that state. At this writing, 42 people had been executed in the US in 2012. There has been a downward trend in executions since 2000.
Almost 20 years ago, California was among the first states to pass a punitive “three-strikes” law, mandating lengthy sentences for repeat offenders. In November, California voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure eliminating mandatory life sentences for certain nonviolent third offenses and allowing prisoners serving life for such nonviolent third strikes to seek resentencing. Massachusetts moved in the opposite direction, becoming the 27th state to enact a three-strike law.
Conclusion:
After brief description about the mechanism of implementing human rights about Bangladesh and USA there is some significant differences. We can say that in perspective USA the judicial branch and law enforcement forces much aware and careful about human right implementation process and they have active in field to protect the human right of the citizens, on the other hand we can say that there is very little active workings of Government, judiciary branch and law enforcement forces but that is questioned by the general people of Bangladesh, Medias,human right organizations, EU (European Countries) and NHRC ( National human Right Commission ) etc. In Bangladesh there is many political killings occurred which indirectly supported by the Governments and the ruling party. Some human right organizations also claimed that Implementation of human right process it’s full of suffering for the peoples of Bangladesh, and it is just word of mouth. But if we observed in USA, if anyone committed in any kind of crimes, he or she will be must punished and the victims will get legal support and justice.
References:
- 2010 Human Rights Report: Bangladesh. (n.d.). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154478.htm
- Effective rule of law and human rights implementation — Asian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Asian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.humanrights.asia/resources/books/protection-and-participation/effective-rule-of-law-and-human-rights-implementation
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Covenant_on_Civil_and_Political_Rights
- World Report – 2013. (n.d.). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/bangladesh?page=1
- World Report 2013 – human rights in US. (n.d.). Human Rights Watch. Retrieved June 17, 2013, from www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/bangladesh?page=1
- ..::NHRC Bangladesh::… (n.d.). ..::NHRC Bangladesh::... Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.nhrc.org.bd/About_NHRC.html
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012. (n.d.). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanr
- 2010 Human Rights Report: Bangladesh. (n.d.). U.S. Department of State. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/s
- World Report 2013: United States | Human Rights Watch. (n.d.). Human Rights Watch | Defending Human Rights Worldwide. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/united-states?page=2
<href=”#_ftnref1″ name=”_ftn1″ title=””>[1] <href=”#CITEREFSep.C3.BAlveda_et_al.2004″>Sepúlveda et al. 2004, p. 3[1]
<href=”#_ftnref2″ name=”_ftn2″ title=””>[2]The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly[7] in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II. Although the UDHR was a non-binding resolution, it is now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries.
<href=”#_ftnref3″ name=”_ftn3″ title=””>[3]- See more at: http://www.assignmentpoint.com/arts/law/report-on-human-rights-in-bangladesh-perspective.html#sthash.YdZXJHfk.dpuf
U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesperson (2012-05-03)
World Report 2013: Bangladesh | Human Rights Watch. (n.d.). Human Rights Watch | Defending Human Rights Worldwide. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/bangladesh
<href=”#_ftnref6″ name=”_ftn6″ title=””>[6]:NHRC Bangladesh::… (n.d.). ..::NHRC Bangladesh::... Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.nhrc.org.bd/About_NHRC.html
<href=”#_ftnref7″ name=”_ftn7″ title=””>[7]2010 Human Rights Report: Bangladesh. (n.d.).U.S. Department of State. Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/s
<href=”#_ftnref8″ name=”_ftn8″ title=””>
<href=”#_ftnref9″ name=”_ftn9″ title=””>[9]World Report 2013: United States | Human Rights Watch. (n.d.). Human Rights Watch | Defending Human Rights Worldwide.; Retrieved June 18, 2013, from http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/united-s’tates?page=2