The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has lambasted Bangladesh for failing to make any visible progress in the 2012 abduction and murder of labour rights activist Aminul Islam.
“The authorities seem have washed their hands of the entire incident by suggesting that his death was due to a private dispute – without investigating the serious allegations of security forces involvement,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Aminul, 39, a trade union organiser with Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity (BCWS), went missing on April 4, 2012. His bruised body was found two days later at Ghatail with his toes smashed, his ankles crushed and a hole drilled below one of his knees.
His work at the BCWS, which helps garment factory workers form trade unions to ensure decent work and wages, and safe working conditions, often brought him into conflict with garment factory authorities.
He reported receiving frequent threats before he had gone missing.
The government had promised a speedy investigation into the murder after national and international pressure mounted.
Police's Criminal Investigation Department pressed murder charges against missing garment worker Mustafizur Rahman in November 2013.
However, there has been no apparent effort to investigate allegations that law enforcement agency members were involved in the conspiracy to kill Aminul, the HRW said.
The rights body has long been calling for setting up an independent body to lead the investigation.
It said the international donors and global brands sourcing from Bangladesh should press the government on the need for accountability for Aminul’s murder.
“The Bangladesh government’s failures to protect labour organisers like Aminul Islam should put it in the international spotlight until this case is solved and all the perpetrators are found and brought to justice,” said Robertson.
“The government has continually failed to ensure labour rights protections for garment workers, but one way to turn that around would be to set up a credible, independent, and transparent investigation into Islam’s death.”
Thursday, April 25, 2024
