In a major development, Chief of Bangladesh Army and de facto ruler of the country, General Moeen U Ahmed visited Dighinala of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) yesterday i.e. 28 August 2007. While nothing has been made public nor reported in the press in Bangladesh, the visit is significant considering that the government of Bangladesh has intensified the settlement of illegal plain settlers into the CHTs and repression on the indigenous Jumma activists.
The Sadhana Tila area under Dighinala, which comprises of about 300 acres of land, and houses a Buddhist Meditation Center and a sizable indigenous Jumma population, has become the flashpoint of the conflict. Since 13 August 2007, indigenous Jumma peoples and illegal plain settlers supported by the military personnel and the police have been living on the edges of an impending communal riot. Bangladesh army personnel led by Dighinala Zone Commander, Major Qamrul Hassan ordered the Buddhist monks of the Meditation Centre and the indigenous people to leave Sadhana Tila area in order to settle over 800 illegal plain settlers' families.
As indigenous Jumma peoples refused to comply, trucks and jeeps load of illegal settlers have been coming to Sadhana Tila and cutting the jungle around the Buddhist temple for constructing houses under the protection and command of the army and the police personnel. The army personnel have reportedly announced an incentive grant of Taka 50,000 for each settler family who will be willing to settle there, in addition to Taka 1,000 as monthly allowance. The army personnel have also reportedly threatened to cut free food rations to those settlers who do not want to settle in Sadhana Tila area. In the meantime, the local administrator of Dighinala has been asked to provide forged land documents to the settlers.
The illegal settlers are in a riotous mood. On 23 August 2007 at about 5 pm, a group of illegal settlers broke into the temple boundary and began cutting tress and shrubs belonging to the temple. When the Jumma villagers protested, the army and the police falsely accused the Buddhist monks of possessing arms and wanted to search the temple. A violent confrontation between the Jummas and the illegal settlers was narrowly prevented after the intervention of Union Council Chairman, Paritosh Chakma. With the ban on “indoor politics”, Jummas are not in a position to highlight the atrocities.
If the Buddhist temple is destroyed and indigenous peoples living in the Sadhana Tila are evicted even after the visit of General Moeen U Ahmed, it will once again prove that the racist programmes like implantation of illegal plain settlers to decimate indigenous Jumma peoples have the sanction of the highest authority in Bangladesh.
I. Continued forcible land grabbing by illegal settlers and Bangladesh military
The case of Sadhana Tila is not an isolated one. The forcible land grabbing by the illegal settlers and the Bangladesh military has intensified after the imposition of Emergency in January 2007.
In another recent case of forcible land grabbing, the illegal settlers have reportedly grabbed 59 acres of land belonging to 17 Jumma peoples in Kobakhali Mouza (No. 51) under Dighinala Police Station in Khagracahri district. In an operation from 1 to 15 August 2007, large groups of illegal settlers led by former Union Parishad (UP) member Md. Abu Taleb of Hashinchonpur village and former UP member Md Kader of Kobakhali bazaar took control of the hilly lands of the indigenous Chakma peoples with the direct assistance of the army personnel, the para-military forces and the local Village Defence Party members. Due to the presence of the Bangladesh security forces, which provided protection to the illegal setters, the Jummas could not offer any resistance. Presently, works for construction of houses in the lands seized from the indigenous peoples are reportedly underway. The army has reportedly planned to settle 200 plain settlers' families in Kobakhali Mouza.
In June 2007, the Bangladesh military reportedly settled down at least 200 families of illegal settlers at Dantkupya village under Khagrachari district after forcibly evicting 12 indigenous families from their ancestral lands. Earlier, on 8 March 2007, an army camp was set up on the land of an indigenous jumma, Prithwiraj Chakma at Dantkupya village to provide security to the settler families.
In March 2007, the Ruma army cantonment acquired about 7,570 acres of ancestral land of indigenous peoples for expansion of Ruma garrison and ordered more than 4,000 indigenous families mostly belonging to Mro community to leave the area. The Mro leaders have not been consulted before acquiring the land. According to the Movement for Protection of Land Rights and Forest, a land rights organisation based in Rangamati, in Bandarban district alone, 40,077 acres of land have been given in lease to the illegal settlers while a total 94,066 acres of land were acquired for so-called afforestation projects and 75,686 acres were acquired for establishment of military bases in the district.
II. Extrajudicial killings
The Bangladesh military has unleashed a reign of terror across the CHTs by carrying out extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, illegal detention, lodging false cases and terrorizing the people by frequent raids, military operations, torture, threats and intimidation.
At least two indigenous persons have been extrajudicially killed in the custody of the Bangladesh security forces in CHTs since the declaration of Emergency.
On 5 August 2007, Rasel Chakma, son of Paritosh Chakma of Dewan Para village under Naniarchar sub-district in Rangamati district was arrested by the security forces and killed in custody. The security forces claimed that he died of heart attack but the body reportedly bore injury marks.
Earlier On 3 March 2007, a group of army personnel from Ghilachari camp under Naniachar Thana arrested Suresh Mohan Chakma, son of Phedera Chakma at Choichari village in Rangamati district without any warrant or reason. The victim was tortured at Ghilachari army camp in Rangamati district and he died on 7 March 2007, a day after being released.
III. Suppression of indigenous activists
The jumma activists have been unfairly targeted by the Bangladesh military taking advantage of the Emergency situation. Since the declaration of Emergency on 11 January 2007, at least 50 Jumma activists have been arrested, including 20 members of PCJSS and 10 members of UPDF.
False cases such as extortion, kidnapping, murder etc have been lodged against the arrested jumma activists. During raids, the Bangladesh military plant their (army's) arms and ammunitions and claim to have recovered the same from the houses of the indigenous activists to show a ground for arrest. Most cases have been filed under Section 16(b) of the Emergency Power Rules of 2007 which denies release on bail to the accused during the enquiry, investigation and trial of the case. Many have been indicted by courts under the Arms Act.
In July 2007, Satyabir Dewan, General Secretary of PCJSS; Ranglai Mro, Chairman of Sualok Union Parishad (Council) and headman of Sualok mouza; and Bikram Marma, President of PCJSS, Kaptai upazila branch were sentenced to 17 years of jail each by the court in Chittagong under the Arms Act of 1878 for allegedly possessing illegal arms. Another indigenous leader, Sai Mong Marma, Organizing Secretary, Kaptai upazila branch of PCJSS was sentenced to 10 years in jail under the Arms Act.
It has been widely alleged that these indigenous leaders have been implicated under the Arms Act for protesting against the injustices committed by the Bangladesh military in CHTs. For example, Ranglai Mro was targeted for protesting against the eviction of 750 families of Mro indigenous community from their land to make way for an army training centre in remote villages of the Bandarban Hill District in December 2006.
On 3 June 2007, indigenous peoples' human rights defender, Santoshito Chakma alias Bakul (52 years), who also serves as the General Secretary of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Jumma Refugee Welfare Association was arrested by the Bangladesh Police from the Chengi Square in Khagrachari town. His arrest was totally unlawful and politically motivated. He was arrested when he was returning home after attending a meeting of the Task Force on rehabilitation of the returnee Jumma refugees at the Circuit House. The police did not give any reason for his arrest.
On 29 May 2007, Mr Milton Chakma, Assistant Coordinator of the Hill Watch Human Rights Forum and also a leader of United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), was arrested from Chengi Bridge in Khagrachari without any arrest memo. Mr Chakma was shown arrested on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) filed by Md. Shahidul Islam, Sergeant (No. 3998686) of 24 Bengal Regiment. In the army records, he has been shown arrested on 31 May 2007, although the Bangladesh army had picked him up on 29 May 2007 from Chengi Bridge area. He was implicated in a false murder case.
Earlier on 5 May 2007, Tatindra Lal Chakma, Central Member of PCJSS, was arrested in connection with false extortion case filed by Md. Fuyad Hussain, Manager of Grameen Bank of Babuchara branch with Dighinala police station in Khagrachari district. The Bangladesh military allegedly compelled Md. Fuyad Hussain to file the false case against Tatindra Lal Chakma. This was proved when the complainant denied involvement of Tatindra Lal Chakma before the court and the court granted bail to Tatindra Lal Chakma in June 2007. But the bail was cancelled on 23 July 2007 as Md. Fuyad Hussain was forced to withdraw his statement under tremendous pressure from the Bangladesh military. Again on 2 August 2007, two false cases of murder have reportedly been filed against Tatindra Lal Chakma with the Dighinala Police Station to ensure that he is not released from jail. Presently, he has been kept at Khagrachari jail.
IV. Peace in tatters
The Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord has been in tatters much before the care-taker government assumed powers. Even when the democratically elected governments were in power, the army enjoyed unbridled powers which resulted in blatant violations of rights of the Jummas. Since the imposition of the Emergency, the situation in the CHTs deteriorated drastically.
The direction of the High Court on 27 August 2007 to the government of Bangladesh to explain as to why the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Accord of 1997 signed with the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) should not be declared “illegal” has come as a shot in the arms of the military. The two-judge bench comprising Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury has already set aside certain provision of the Accord by directing the authorities to allow the illegal plain settlers who were implanted into the Chittagong Hill Tracts to register themselves in the voters' list.
The government will not challenge the directions of the High Court to enroll the illegal settlers into the voters' list. Irrespective of whether the constitutional validity of the Accord is upheld or not, the renewed implantation of illegal settlers and continued land grabbing poses the most serious threat to the indigenous Jumma peoples. With indigenous leaders being implicated in false cases, one can protest against such policies in Bangladesh only at own peril.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Forcible land occupations belonging to Jumma Indigenous People in Chittagong Hill Tracts
Dear friends,
We, Buddhist monks from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, studying in various universities and educational institutions in Sri Lanka are deeply concerned over the continuous land grabbing and human rights violations on our people by the government of Bangladesh. Our people, religion and culture have been threatened. With deep sorrow we would like to bring to your kind notice the serious human rights abuses on the minority indigenous communities in the CHTs.
Dear Friends,
The violation of Human rights including custodial death, falsified case and detention, rape, unnoticed arrest, etc, are reportedly widespread in the recent days. To express deep concern after receiving harrowing news about grabbing vested land of the Jumma indigenous people and resume of Bengali settlement throughout Chittagong Hill Track where members of Bangladesh military are involving.
These are happening by taking full advantage of ongoing state of emergency of Bangladesh where any kind of public gathering, meeting, demonstration and all kind of opposition activities are strictly prohibited since the present interim government came into power early in this year. The military authority and the law enforcing agency given sole power to kill and torture anybody who oppose the government, even it is only on the basic of suspicion. As press censorship are imposed very little information are going out of Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Dear Friends,
We, writing on behalf of the CHTs minority Jumma Buddhist people to express our deep concern over burning situation appear to be planned and systematic movement of the settlers and members of Bangladesh military to grab lands belonging to the Jumma indigenous people in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), especially in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district.
We have learnt from various sources that during the last 2-3 months, at least 222.38 acres of plough as well as hilly land have been taken away by force in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district. Of these, 42 acres have been grabbed in Rengkarjya Mouza No. 28 under Merung, 149.18 acres in Choto Merung Mouza No. 29, 5.2 acres in Bara Merung Mouza No. 30 and 26 acres belonging to Boalkhali Buddha Vihara and Orphanage under Dighinala Thana.
To highlight the recent land grabbing pattern, we take the liberty of citing a few cases below:
a. Unsolicited arbitration by army: gross injustice
On 19 July 2007, Betchari sub-zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan (37 Bengal, 4 Bir) in Bara Merung called an unsolicited arbitration meeting in his camp and in a whimsical verbal judgment gave away 13 Kani (5.2 acres) of land belonging to three Jumma villagers to other three settler families namely Sirajul Islam, his brother Nazrul Islam s/o Kashem Ali and Md. Yunus s/o Abdul Mannan of Rashik Nagar village.
Of the 13 Kanis, 5 kanis each belongs to Sadhan Chakma s/o Bandara Chakma and Lalit Kumar Chakma s/o Ranga Mua Chakma, and 3 kanis to Bilati Chakma s/o Megh Raj Chakma.
The Jummas had been in the possession of these lands since the time of Pakistan and they did have valid documents pertaining to these lands and showed them during the so-called arbitration meeting. On the other hand, the settlers, who came to the area in the 1980s under government-sponsored transmigration program, have failed to produce any valid papers. Yet, the commander assuming the roles of the judge, the jury and the land surveyor at one and the same time gave his judgment in favor of the settlers.
b. Unsolicited arbitration: Supriya Chakma's land taken away:-
Mrs. Supriya Chakma is the head teacher of Boradam Government Primary School in Dighinala. She owns 3.2 acres of plough land in Betchatri of Merung. In July a so-called arbitration committee formed by Dighinala zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan gave her land to a settler woman, despite the fact that she had valid documents pertaining to the said land.
c. Old man's land taken away:-
On 2 August, 2007 illegal settlers Md. Yunus s/o Mannan, Md. Nazrul and his brother Sirajul took away two acres of first class paddy land from sixty-years-old Buddha Moni Chakma s/o late Fogira Chakma of Tara Charan Karbari Para village in Moddyo Betchari under Merung. Betchari camp commander allegedly backed the settlers. Mr. Chakma has valid documents pertaining to his land.
The said commander also reportedly called Mr. Buddha Moni Chakma to his camp and forced him to sign a written pledge to the effect that he would not make attempt to reclaim his land, that he would acknowledge that his land does not fall within the perimeter of the disputed land but may lie somewhere else and that he would not create "troubles" for the settlers in their enjoyment of his land.
d. Fresh attempt at expansion of Bengali settlement in Sadhana Tila, Babuchara:-
According to sources, the army is making desperate attempt to settle 812 Bengali families on approximately 300 acres of land in Sadhana Tila (a Buddhist meditation center) under Babuchara in Dighinala Upazilla of Khagrachari district. The settlers have begun clearing the land since 13 August. The area houses a Buddhist temple and a sizable Jumma settlement. If the plan is implemented, the temple will be destroyed, many Jummas will be evicted and dispute over land will increase dramatically.
The zone commander of Dighinala Major Qamrul Hassan has reportedly announced an incentive grant of Taka 50,000 for each settler family who will be willing to settle there, in addition to Taka 1,000 as monthly allowance. He has also threatened to cancel the ration cards of those settlers who would refuse to resettle in Sadhana Tila.
Mr. Hassan has been reportedly putting continuous pressure on the headman of Baghaichari Mouza No. 50 Mr. Sattyendriyo Chakma, Union Council chairman Paritosh Chakma and other local elders to agree to his settlement plan. On 15 August 2007, he visited Sadhana Tila to personally assess the settlement plan.
We have also learnt that illegal land grabbing and settlement of non-resident plain settlers have continued in other parts of the CHT, including Maischari, Guimara, Matiranga, Manikchari and Panchari in Khagrachari and many parts of Bandarban district. In Bandarban hundreds of thousands of acres of land have been taken away under various pretexts.
Dear Friends,
The Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeastern corner of Bangladesh is home to eleven ethnic nationalities who have been living there for centuries. They have their own customs governing land use and management system which is often referred to as traditional land rights by which lands are owned by the whole community. The successive governments of Bangladesh have refused to acknowledge this right of the Jumma people and settled under a state-sponsored transmigration program approximately 400,000 Bengali people on the lands of the Jumma indigenous people. This has had a devastating impact on the Jumma societies and became a perennial source of tension and conflict in CHT.
The government authorities of Bangladesh often cite CHT's low population density to justify its population transfer policy. However, studies showed that the argument advanced by the proponents of this policy that the CHT had been lying vacant is a myth. Suffice it to say that after the inundation of 54 thousand acres of first class cultivable land due to the construction of Kaptai dam in the 1960s, an estimated 40,000 Jummas had to cross over to India because there had not been enough land for their rehabilitation in CHT.
We, therefore, appeal to the interim caretaker government of Bangladesh to take bold steps to reverse the policy that the partisan governments of the past had pursued with regard to the CHT and acknowledge and respect the traditional land rights of the Jumma people.
Dear Friends,
We consider it is our duty to seek your sympathetic support to prevent these inhumanities on the indigenous people in Bangladesh. Hereby, we are making an appeal for immediate implementation of the following demands as a lasting solution of the inhuman problems in CHTs. We also urge to the Bangladesh interim caretaker government to take the following measures in the interest of the people of the CHT:
1. To stop Military atrocities and human rights abuses on indigenous people in CHTs.
2. To immediately stop illegal land grabbing in CHT including Merung, Boalkhali of Khagrachari and various parts of Bandarban and return the illegally occupied lands to their rightful owners;
3. To cancel the plan to resettle illegal settlers in Sadhana Tila in Babuchara under Dighinala Thana of Khagrachari district;
4. To stop using the Bengali speaking settlers as a tool of national oppression against Indigenous Jumma people and to agree in principle to rehabilitate them in plain districts with means of livelihood;
5. To take legal actions against those army officers and settlers who would be found guilty of land grabbing and inciting communal tension;
6. To stop all kinds of repression and human rights violations in CHT;
7. To lift the state of emergency and to restore all political and civil rights of the citizen of Bangladesh; and
8. To abolish the so-called Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) which is responsible for numerous cases of custodial deaths and other human rights violations.
9. Appointment of indigenous people in all posts under the CHT local government system.
10. Establishment of international Human Rights Camp in CHTs.
11. Constitutional assurance for the future safeguard of indigenous people and non-repetition.
We, Buddhist monks from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh, studying in various universities and educational institutions in Sri Lanka are deeply concerned over the continuous land grabbing and human rights violations on our people by the government of Bangladesh. Our people, religion and culture have been threatened. With deep sorrow we would like to bring to your kind notice the serious human rights abuses on the minority indigenous communities in the CHTs.
Dear Friends,
The violation of Human rights including custodial death, falsified case and detention, rape, unnoticed arrest, etc, are reportedly widespread in the recent days. To express deep concern after receiving harrowing news about grabbing vested land of the Jumma indigenous people and resume of Bengali settlement throughout Chittagong Hill Track where members of Bangladesh military are involving.
These are happening by taking full advantage of ongoing state of emergency of Bangladesh where any kind of public gathering, meeting, demonstration and all kind of opposition activities are strictly prohibited since the present interim government came into power early in this year. The military authority and the law enforcing agency given sole power to kill and torture anybody who oppose the government, even it is only on the basic of suspicion. As press censorship are imposed very little information are going out of Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Dear Friends,
We, writing on behalf of the CHTs minority Jumma Buddhist people to express our deep concern over burning situation appear to be planned and systematic movement of the settlers and members of Bangladesh military to grab lands belonging to the Jumma indigenous people in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), especially in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district.
We have learnt from various sources that during the last 2-3 months, at least 222.38 acres of plough as well as hilly land have been taken away by force in Dighinala Upazilla under Khagrachari district. Of these, 42 acres have been grabbed in Rengkarjya Mouza No. 28 under Merung, 149.18 acres in Choto Merung Mouza No. 29, 5.2 acres in Bara Merung Mouza No. 30 and 26 acres belonging to Boalkhali Buddha Vihara and Orphanage under Dighinala Thana.
To highlight the recent land grabbing pattern, we take the liberty of citing a few cases below:
a. Unsolicited arbitration by army: gross injustice
On 19 July 2007, Betchari sub-zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan (37 Bengal, 4 Bir) in Bara Merung called an unsolicited arbitration meeting in his camp and in a whimsical verbal judgment gave away 13 Kani (5.2 acres) of land belonging to three Jumma villagers to other three settler families namely Sirajul Islam, his brother Nazrul Islam s/o Kashem Ali and Md. Yunus s/o Abdul Mannan of Rashik Nagar village.
Of the 13 Kanis, 5 kanis each belongs to Sadhan Chakma s/o Bandara Chakma and Lalit Kumar Chakma s/o Ranga Mua Chakma, and 3 kanis to Bilati Chakma s/o Megh Raj Chakma.
The Jummas had been in the possession of these lands since the time of Pakistan and they did have valid documents pertaining to these lands and showed them during the so-called arbitration meeting. On the other hand, the settlers, who came to the area in the 1980s under government-sponsored transmigration program, have failed to produce any valid papers. Yet, the commander assuming the roles of the judge, the jury and the land surveyor at one and the same time gave his judgment in favor of the settlers.
b. Unsolicited arbitration: Supriya Chakma's land taken away:-
Mrs. Supriya Chakma is the head teacher of Boradam Government Primary School in Dighinala. She owns 3.2 acres of plough land in Betchatri of Merung. In July a so-called arbitration committee formed by Dighinala zone commander Major Qamrul Hassan gave her land to a settler woman, despite the fact that she had valid documents pertaining to the said land.
c. Old man's land taken away:-
On 2 August, 2007 illegal settlers Md. Yunus s/o Mannan, Md. Nazrul and his brother Sirajul took away two acres of first class paddy land from sixty-years-old Buddha Moni Chakma s/o late Fogira Chakma of Tara Charan Karbari Para village in Moddyo Betchari under Merung. Betchari camp commander allegedly backed the settlers. Mr. Chakma has valid documents pertaining to his land.
The said commander also reportedly called Mr. Buddha Moni Chakma to his camp and forced him to sign a written pledge to the effect that he would not make attempt to reclaim his land, that he would acknowledge that his land does not fall within the perimeter of the disputed land but may lie somewhere else and that he would not create "troubles" for the settlers in their enjoyment of his land.
d. Fresh attempt at expansion of Bengali settlement in Sadhana Tila, Babuchara:-
According to sources, the army is making desperate attempt to settle 812 Bengali families on approximately 300 acres of land in Sadhana Tila (a Buddhist meditation center) under Babuchara in Dighinala Upazilla of Khagrachari district. The settlers have begun clearing the land since 13 August. The area houses a Buddhist temple and a sizable Jumma settlement. If the plan is implemented, the temple will be destroyed, many Jummas will be evicted and dispute over land will increase dramatically.
The zone commander of Dighinala Major Qamrul Hassan has reportedly announced an incentive grant of Taka 50,000 for each settler family who will be willing to settle there, in addition to Taka 1,000 as monthly allowance. He has also threatened to cancel the ration cards of those settlers who would refuse to resettle in Sadhana Tila.
Mr. Hassan has been reportedly putting continuous pressure on the headman of Baghaichari Mouza No. 50 Mr. Sattyendriyo Chakma, Union Council chairman Paritosh Chakma and other local elders to agree to his settlement plan. On 15 August 2007, he visited Sadhana Tila to personally assess the settlement plan.
We have also learnt that illegal land grabbing and settlement of non-resident plain settlers have continued in other parts of the CHT, including Maischari, Guimara, Matiranga, Manikchari and Panchari in Khagrachari and many parts of Bandarban district. In Bandarban hundreds of thousands of acres of land have been taken away under various pretexts.
Dear Friends,
The Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeastern corner of Bangladesh is home to eleven ethnic nationalities who have been living there for centuries. They have their own customs governing land use and management system which is often referred to as traditional land rights by which lands are owned by the whole community. The successive governments of Bangladesh have refused to acknowledge this right of the Jumma people and settled under a state-sponsored transmigration program approximately 400,000 Bengali people on the lands of the Jumma indigenous people. This has had a devastating impact on the Jumma societies and became a perennial source of tension and conflict in CHT.
The government authorities of Bangladesh often cite CHT's low population density to justify its population transfer policy. However, studies showed that the argument advanced by the proponents of this policy that the CHT had been lying vacant is a myth. Suffice it to say that after the inundation of 54 thousand acres of first class cultivable land due to the construction of Kaptai dam in the 1960s, an estimated 40,000 Jummas had to cross over to India because there had not been enough land for their rehabilitation in CHT.
We, therefore, appeal to the interim caretaker government of Bangladesh to take bold steps to reverse the policy that the partisan governments of the past had pursued with regard to the CHT and acknowledge and respect the traditional land rights of the Jumma people.
Dear Friends,
We consider it is our duty to seek your sympathetic support to prevent these inhumanities on the indigenous people in Bangladesh. Hereby, we are making an appeal for immediate implementation of the following demands as a lasting solution of the inhuman problems in CHTs. We also urge to the Bangladesh interim caretaker government to take the following measures in the interest of the people of the CHT:
1. To stop Military atrocities and human rights abuses on indigenous people in CHTs.
2. To immediately stop illegal land grabbing in CHT including Merung, Boalkhali of Khagrachari and various parts of Bandarban and return the illegally occupied lands to their rightful owners;
3. To cancel the plan to resettle illegal settlers in Sadhana Tila in Babuchara under Dighinala Thana of Khagrachari district;
4. To stop using the Bengali speaking settlers as a tool of national oppression against Indigenous Jumma people and to agree in principle to rehabilitate them in plain districts with means of livelihood;
5. To take legal actions against those army officers and settlers who would be found guilty of land grabbing and inciting communal tension;
6. To stop all kinds of repression and human rights violations in CHT;
7. To lift the state of emergency and to restore all political and civil rights of the citizen of Bangladesh; and
8. To abolish the so-called Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) which is responsible for numerous cases of custodial deaths and other human rights violations.
9. Appointment of indigenous people in all posts under the CHT local government system.
10. Establishment of international Human Rights Camp in CHTs.
11. Constitutional assurance for the future safeguard of indigenous people and non-repetition.
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