'Bangladeshi military must stay neutral'

Dhaka, Dec 12: The Bangladeshi military, deployed at the weekend to ensure security in the run-up to next month's elections, must stay neutral and respect the law, Human Rights Watch said on today.

''Past experience with Bangladeshi leaders deploying the military gives us serious cause for concern,'' Brad Adams, Asia director of the New York-based group, said in a statement.

''Given the military's record of human rights violations, it's crucial that the army follow strict rules limiting the use of force,'' he said.

President Iajuddin Ahmed ordered the deployment on Saturday after weeks of often violent protests between feuding political rivals ahead of the elections, scheduled for January 23.

The country is currently governed by a caretaker administration run by Iajuddin, who also holds the defence and home (interior) affairs portfolios.

Four advisers in the interim government resigned yesterday following differences over the military deployment.

Human Rights Watch said the last large-scale military deployment was in October 2002 when the government ordered more than 40,000 military personnel to fight spiralling crime in ''Operation Clean Heart'', which lasted 85 days.

The group said that during that time, the army arrested more than 10,000 people, at least 50 of whom died in custody.

Officials attributed most of those deaths to ''heart attacks.'' The main candidates in the current election are Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League and its allies, and Begum Khaleda Zia and her Bangladesh National Party.

The impoverished south Asian country of 140 million was ruled by army generals for 15 years until the two women leaders struck a deal in 1990 to force Gen Hossain Mohammad Ershad from power through a peoples' revolt.

But they fell out after Ershad's ouster and have since alternated as the country's prime minister.

At least 44 people have been killed and hundreds injured in violence related to next month's elections.

REUTERS

Related Stories