Dublin, April 30 (IANS) A leading international human rights organisation has called on the Bangladeshi government to immediately withdraw the cautionary letter issued to a woman human rights defender, Rani Yan Yan, and to provide a clear explanation of the legal basis for its issuance and dissemination to multiple government offices.
Ireland-based rights group Front Line Defenders urged the authorities to cease all forms of harassment and intimidation against Rani and to take all necessary measures to guarantee her physical and psychological integrity and security.
Rani is an indigenous rights activist based in the Rangamati region of Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
The organisation noted that her decade-long activism focuses on “movement building, empowerment of indigenous women and youth in the CHT, and advocacy on ensuring justice, equity, and inclusiveness at local, national, and international levels.”
According to the Front Line Defenders, Rangamati Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Nazma Ashrafi, acting on the directive of the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs, issued a formal cautionary letter to Rani and circulated it to several government offices on April 6.
The letter, it said, accused the human rights activist of engaging in propaganda at the international level by raising “false and misleading allegations” against the Government of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Army and of attempting to unite members of different indigenous organisations in the CHT.
It further warned that her activities “could potentially deteriorate the situation” in the CHT and instructed her to strictly adhere to the law.
However, the rights body said that the letter failed to cite any specific statement or action by Rani to substantiate these accusations.
On April 24, Rani’s lawyer Sara Hossain reportedly submitted a formal written response to the Rangamati District Magistrate on behalf of the woman human rights defender, rejecting the accusations as “vague, unclear, and unfounded” and requesting their immediate withdrawal, cancellation, or rescission.
“The response also demanded a clarification of the legal basis for the letter’s issuance and its dissemination to multiple government offices, noting that the broad circulation of the letter has caused substantial harm to Rani Yan Yan’s reputation and therefore constitutes defamation,” the Front Line Defenders stated.
It added that several human rights activists and civil society actors in Bangladesh have condemned the letter as “an attempt to suppress freedom of expression and silence legitimate human rights advocacy, particularly in relation to the CHT”.
The rights body further appealed to the government to ensure that “all human rights defenders in Bangladesh, particularly those working on indigenous peoples’ rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.”
–IANS
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