CHT Peace Accord
Ban Ki-moon's help sought to raise issue
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Commission has requested UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, now visiting Dhaka, to raise the issue of implementation of the 1997 CHT Peace Accord with the government.
It also recommended that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations develop a mechanism to strictly monitor and screen the human rights records of national army personnel prior to allowing them to serve in peacekeeping missions.
In a letter to the UN secretary general, the commission lamented that nearly three years into its term, and 14 years since the signing of the peace accord, the Awami League government has not yet issued a roadmap for the peace accord implementation process.
It hoped that the UN chief will address the culture of impunity that prevails in the CHT, “where members of the security forces are regularly alleged to be involved in human rights violations of indigenous hill peoples,” the letter reads.
The commission in the letter dated: November 11 also expressed its satisfaction as the UN leader raised the issue of recognition of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting on September 23 at the UN headquarters in New York.
The letter also said the 15th amendment to the National Constitution of Bangladesh, passed by Parliament on June 30, fails to recognise the indigenous people of the country.
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