Today is the 1st October 2013. Today Odhikar was supposed to release its monthly human rights monitoring report for September 2013. However, as was the case in August 2013, it is unable to do so. The bail petition for Odhikar’s Secretary Advocate Adilur Rahman Khan was rejected for the third time after his arbitrary detention on 10th August 2013. To date, no necessary measures have been taken to commence a trial. Even the appointment of a Public Prosecutor in the Cyber Crimes Tribunal to represent the government has not been made. Odhikar is continuously under surveillance and its staff are being harassed in various ways. Their activities, movement and cell phones are monitored all the time. Human rights defenders, who are associated with Odhikar at the district level, are also harassed in different ways while gathering information. The NGO Affairs Bureau, which is under Prime Minister’s Office, is not releasing the funds to continue Odhikar’s human rights activities. It has also been learnt that the Government has taken different strategies to stop Odhikar’s election monitoring activities. It is to be mentioned here that two election monitoring programmes of Odhikar have been pending at the NGO Affairs Bureau since April 2013 for its approval and fund clearance. The NGO Affairs Bureau will not provide Odhikar with approval to any project without a clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Therefore, due to the continued detention of Odhikar’s Secretary, Advocate Adilur Rahman Khan; the continuous monitoring of Odhikar’s staff and human rights defenders; and the harassment they are facing while carrying out their activities, Odhikar is unable to provide sufficient information to complete a proper monthly report for the second month running.
The Odhikar team apologises for this inconvenience and thanks its friends and well-wishers for their solidarity.
Press Statement_Odhikar_English_2013 (full text in English, PDF)
Press Statement_Odhikar_Bangla_2013 (full text in Bangla, PDF)
