The eleven tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, collectively known as the Jummas, have suffered from both displacement by settlers and violence from the Bangladesh military.
Although a peace accord was signed in 1997, arrests and intimidation of activists, rape of Jumma women and other human rights abuses remain rife. Land continues to be stolen from the Jumma tribal people by both the army and by settlers.
Please write to the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s caretaker government expressing your concern about the government’s failure to implement the 1997 peace deal.
I wish to express my grave concern at the current situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. In the ten years since the signing of the peace accord, there has been a catastrophic failure to implement the accord’s terms, and human rights violations have increased since Emergency Rule was declared in January this year:
- More than fifty indigenous activists have been arrested since January, often on false arms charges. – Many have been tortured and given long and unjust prison terms, and two Jummas have died in police custody. – Ranglai Mro was beaten and tortured before being given a 17 year sentence. It is widely believed that he was targeted for protesting against the eviction of 750 Mro families from their lands to make way for an army training centre.
I am concerned for Mr Mro’s safety, and the safety of other Jummas currently being detained.
Despite the promises of the peace accord, almost all the army camps in the CHT remain in place. Returnee refugees have still not had their homes and lands returned to them. Land continues to be stolen from the Jummas by both the army and settlers. Intimidation of activists, rape of Jumma women and other abuses of human rights remain rife.
I urge your caretaker government fully to implement the peace accord – to withdraw the army camps, to restore land stolen from the indigenous Jummas, to put an end to human rights violations in the region and to ensure that those responsible for these violations are brought to justice.
Chief Advisor
Interim Caretaker Government
People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Begin: 'Dear Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed'
