Role of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) in Protecting Human Rights in Bangladesh

Abstract

A dignified human life has been the main objective of human rights standard. After the Second World War, human rights started to be known as a major category of rights in the field of human activism and it has become a principal tool in achieving individual freedom of citizens of all countries. The creation of Bangladesh as an independent state in 1971 was the result of a fight against economic and political exploitation and atrocious torture and violation of human rights in different ways by the then Pakistan Government. Unfortunately, even after passing 38 years of our independence, majority people are still living in horrible condition for the violation of their human rights in many ways. Instead of protecting human rights of its citizens, the Government itself has been violating these for its own purpose. For decades, Bangladesh's security forces have been disreputable for their frequent use of torture, and they are responsible for scores of extrajudicial executions. Security forces, especially Rapid Action Battalian (RAB), have committed a large number of extrajudicial killings. In reality, the successive governments have failed or have been unwilling to address these problems, and the police, military and various official paramilitary forces enjoy almost complete impunity in this regard. Though our Constitution prohibits torture and cruelty, inhuman or degrading punishment, the police is routinely employing physical and psychological torture and resorting to degrading treatment during arrests and interrogations. The Government arrests and detains persons arbitrarily on mere suspicion, and uses the Special Powers Act (SPA), 1974 for preventive detention and Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1898 to arrest anyone without a warrant. Women, children, workers, members of minority groups, and persons with disabilities often face societal discrimination and economic disadvantages and are becoming victims of human rights violation. Domestic violence, violence and discrimination against women are happening frequently. Women are almost regular victims of rape and torture in numerous ways. Prison conditions are unspeakably poor resulting in some custodial deaths. Juveniles are detained and kept with adult prisoners due to lack of facilities in gross violations of our constitution. The poor, the marginalized population with the survival economic condition and the victims of human rights violation have no access to courts due to their financial constraints and lack of knowledge about their fundamental rights and the legal process for their enforcement. Under these circumstances, many NGOs and community-based organizations have been working in protecting human rights for vulnerable segment and oppressed people in our society through legal aid, prevention efforts, research, data collection, documentation, advocacy, awareness creation and networking, legal enforcement, and legislative reforms. As a prominent human rights NGO, BLAST has made its mission and vision on the prime principle of the administration of justice so that every deprived person, irrespective of his /her socio-economic status, may have equal access to justice. BLAST provides legal assistance to the people who are excluded from justice, due to their resource constraints and inability to resist the complex and expensive legal procedure, through Mediation, Legal Awareness Training, Investigation, PIL (Public Interest Litigation), Advocacy, Networking and Legislative reform activities. Through its effective and successful achievements over the years, BLAST has become the popular and largest legal aid and human rights NGO in Bangladesh. Being inspired by BLAST's activities, many other human rights NGOs have been incorporated with provisions for legal aid in their activities. In this thesis, the activities of BLAST and its role in protecting human rights in Bangladesh have been thoroughly discussed. It has been shown how BLAST is influencing and helping government and other NGOs to come forward to protect human rights. The legal aid program of the government of Bangladesh has been discussed, the limitations and loopholes the Legal Aid Services Act, 2000, have been critically examined, and some recommendations have also been made in the thesis. For this purpose, the thesis has been divided into eight chapters.