Bangladesh worst violator of human rights in South Asia

New Delhi, Dec 13 (UNI) Bangladesh has emerged as the worst violator of human rights in South Asia because of the systematic attacks on the opposition and the maximum number of peace time extrajudicial killings, according to human rights report by an NGO.

Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives are ranked as the second, the third and fourth countries in the 'SAARC Human Rights Report 2006' prepared by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR).

Among the eight-member grouping the survey was carried out in seven countries, excluding Afghanistan.

While Pakistan is at number 5 of the index, Sri Lanka has secured the sixth place and India the seventh.

ACHR had identified nine thematic issues to rank human rights records of the SAARC countries. It covers the violations by governments and the armed opposition groups in the region in 2005.

Political freedom, the right to life, judiciary and administration of justice, status or effectiveness of National Human rights Institutions, freedom of press, violence against women, violations of the rights of children, violations of the rights of minorities and indigenous/tribal peoples and repression on human rights defenders.

Addressing a news conference ACHR Director Suhas Chakma said human rights violations across the South Asian region are systemic endemic and torture forms part of the administration of justice.

''Prison conditions, which are over crowded by 400 per cent in some cases, reflect the true and deplorable condition of the human rights in South Asia,'' he added.

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