Surviving members of Joacem Costa's family, wife Laili Costa and two daughters. (PhotoDipal Barua)

Laili Costa said, “My husband left me and my two daughters. What he earned hardly supported our family, and he did not leave any savings. The owner of our previous home had already kicked us out from there, and we had just found a second home. The owner there is going to kick us out within days. I will not be able to have Christmas with my children.”

She went on, “I am striving daily for my small children. My elder daughter was kicked out of school, since I cannot pay the tuition fees, and my younger daughter is suffering from serious malnutrition; she could die at any time.”

With extreme fear and tears in her eyes, Laili Costa said, “On July 14, 2009, around 9:35, I got a call from one of my neighbors that my husband was shot by thugs in the Sadhon Para area. I immediately called my husband’s younger brother, Leo Costa, and rushed to the place. As I reached the place, I did not find my husband. He had been taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.”She continued, “An eye witness said that a group of highly armed people came and shot a gun once, and my husband asked them, ‘Why you are doing this? Don’t kill me, I have a family and a wife and small kids.’ He begged, ‘For the sake of Jesus and my family, don’t kill me. What do you want?’ Then they shot three times.”

She said, “My husband fell down in the road and asked people for help, saying ‘Please take me to the hospital’ and ‘Call my family’, but no one came forward to help. I went to police, but as I cannot give a bribe, the local police officer Mohamed Moinul Islam, who is the investigation officer of the case, is not properly investigating the case.”

Leo Costa said, “I filed a case with local police. I am afraid the thugs who killed my brother may kill me also.”

Local police inspector Moinul Islam told Asia News that the killing was cloaked in mystery and police are still investigating the case.

The parish priest of Holy Rosary church said, “I heard about this sad incident, may his soul rest in peace. We have a parish with more than 20,000 Catholics who also have a lot of problems and needs. We are trying to help this Laili Costa with spiritual guidance, but we do not have the ability to help her and her kids financially.”

Catholic human rights activist Annie halder said that persecution against Catholics is growing, and that previously a family was gunned down in the Kafrul area of Dhaka.

A Catholic priest, Joseph Arsenault, the parochial vicar at St. Bridget’s Church in Abington in the Archdiocese of Boston, said about the case: “First of all, it is a shame that such a crime happened in the first place. To take a life is just wrong. Secondly, the fact that the wife, who I assume is an innocent person in all of this, becomes a victim twice. She loses her husband, and now she loses her home and means of support. As Christians, the community, I hope, is there to support her so she does not end up on the street. As Matthew’s gospel tell us, we are obliged to feed those who are in need and make sure the most vulnerable are taken care of. Justice would also demand that the killer of her husband should face the courts.”

Joseph Arsenault told, “I will be offering the Holy Sacrifice of Mass for her intentions and that of her family on Dec. 1st.”

The incident took place in Gojra village near Toba Tek Singh town, some 160 kilometres (99 miles) west of Lahore, the capital of central Punjab province.

“Six Christians including a child were killed and more than a dozen were injured in this sad incident,” Shahbaz Bhatti, federal minister of minorities told AFP by telephone, saying they were attacked by “a group of people.

“Some people blamed the Christians for the desecration of the holy Koran,” he said adding that the accusations were “baseless”.

He did not elaborate on the alleged desecration.

Police said unrest between a group of Muslim and Christian villagers first flared late last month over a dispute over the Muslim holy book, which was later resolved.

Tensions erupted Saturday however, when the Christian group were attacked again and their houses set on fire.

“Today, according to our information… this is the same issue of alleged desecration of the Koran,” Inkisar Khan, city police chief told reporters.

“All the dead are Christians. I was told that they were burned alive,” Bhatti said.

Television footage from the area showed police using tear gas in an effort to disperse an angry mob.

Desecrating the Koran is punishable by death under the blasphemy laws of overwhelmingly Muslim Pakistan, although no executions have ever been carried out for the crime.

Christians, who make up less than three percent of Pakistan’s population of 150 million, say the blasphemy laws are used as an excuse to victimize them.

Source: Agence France-Presse

On Saturday late night at Charsindhu village of Polash union a group of armed Muslims attacked on a local Hindhu temple and near by four Hindu houses said a victim Onjoli Bormon

Minority Hindu victim victim Onjoli Bormon said a group of armed Muslims lead by Joinal came and attacked on our temple as we run to save the temple and the perpetrators attack on us and in our houses

In attack Mr.Dirandra chondro Bormaon ,Ms.Onjoli Bormon ,Ms.Nioti Bormon,Mr.Hironi Bormon and  Sunil Bormon were  seriously injured.

Some of them get admitted in local hospital said Minority Hindu victim Onjoli Bormon

Locals said to grave the land of Hindu crematorium (where Hindu people get burned) yard the local Muslims attacked on them

Catholic human rights activist Annie Halder said attacks on different Hindu minorities are raising all over the country this is really alarming. We highly condemn attack on these minority Hindu families.

Local police said we are doing our best to trace the people behind this attack and already we have insure the security of the minorities on that area

On Saturday police only broke into the houses of minorities and vandalize the houses and roughly beaten the woman and children said locals

As a Hindu minority Prodip Ghosh went to the police station to file a complain against police, police denied to take any complain, said Prodip Ghosh

Local UP chairman Abdul Kaium said as I went to the place of incident , I saw the house was vandalized and the door was broken

Local police chief said police went there to search criminals but as they did not co operate the police broke into the house .

The organisation took the decision after the kidnapping and murder of Natalya Estemirova, one of its employees, on Wednesday. The decision
will be another blow to those who seek to uncover human rights abuses in Chechnya and the other unstable republics of Russia’s North Caucasus region.

“After a long meeting in Grozny, we have decided to close indefinitely,” said Dokka Itslaev, a lawyer who works for Memorial. “We don’t know if we’ll reopen. We will meet in the autumn and discuss it again. There were different opinions expressed, but when people are being killed and you don’t know who is going to be next, it’s difficult to continue.”

Ms Estemirova, who worked tirelessly to bring to light stories of Chechens who had been kidnapped and murdered, was bundled into a car by four men as she left her house for work. Her body was discovered later in the day in the neighbouring state of Ingushetia.

Oleg Orlov, the Moscow-based chairman of Memorial, flew to Grozny for the meeting at which the decision was taken to close the organisation down in Chechnya. He also responded yesterday to the news that the President of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is planning to sue him. Mr Kadyrov’s spokesman announced on Friday that the Chechen leader would sue Mr Orlov in connection with remarks that the Memorial head made implicating him in Ms Estemirova’s death.

The move is expected to put paid to rumours that have circulated in the human rights community and beyond that Mr Kadyrov had any involvement in the crime.

“It’s good that Ramzan Kadyrov has decided to deal with a conflict using legal methods,” Mr Orlov told Ekho Moskvy radio. “You have to take responsibility for your words and I am ready to do so in court.”

While news from the volatile North Caucasus region more often than not focuses on Chechnya, the situation in neighbouring republics is no
better. Patches of stability in the region, a chaotic jigsaw of republics, are few and far between, and analysts say that Moscow is
losing control. In many cases, a similar unwritten deal was struck as with Mr Kadyrov in Chechnya – local elites are given power in return for guaranteeing stability. It is a deal that has gone horribly wrong, however.

In Ingushetia, where Ms Estemirova’s body was found on Wednesday, life is dangerous and chaotic. Almost every day, news filters in from the Russian agencies about policemen or law enforcement officials being killed, and the region has become the front line in the Kremlin’s battle against Islamic insurgency.

Then there’s Dagestan, a mountainous region bordering Chechnya that sits on the Caspian Sea, where dozens of different nationalities live side by side. Here too, attacks on police and officials happen daily.

“The region is mired in corruption on a truly insane scale – everything is for sale,” said a source in the republic. “There is a genuine Muslim insurgency there, but it’s difficult to say how many of the killings are related to this and how much is simply a result of local clan warfare and corruption.”

In Chechnya, Mr Kadyrov has achieved surface stability, but there remains an underlying current of violence and terror. Memorial released a report on Friday about some of the cases dealt with in Chechnya during June. One elderly couple had the dead body of their son returned to their house by soldiers who then began to assault the father with their rifle butts. Each story appears more horrific than the last: teenage boys kidnapped from their beds by armed men in the middle of the night; houses burnt down; and extra-judicial murders carried out.

The report details repeated cases of kidnapping, torture and murder. Some of the victims were ostensibly members of the Islamic insurgency that has been active in the republic for more than a decade, but experts say that many of those arrested have little connection with the rebels and are simply set up. It makes for sickening reading, both because of the gruesomeness of the cases, and because of the knowledge that Memorial – one of the few organisations that people with such stories could turn to – will no longer be there to help victims.

Authorities have also revoked the licences of more than 50 lawyers, many known for tackling human rights issues.

About 20 officials from Beijing’s civil affairs bureau arrived at the Gongmeng (Open Constitution Initiative) offices yesterday, confiscating computers and other equipment and questioning staff about their work.

Lawyers from the centre have acted in numerous high-profile cases, most recently representing parents whose children were taken ill due to milk tainted with melamine. It issued a report criticising the government’s handling of unrest across the Tibetan plateau last year and has helped petitioners, relocated families and other disadvantaged groups.

Its closure came two days after the Beijing tax bureau fined Gongmeng 1.4m yuan (about £125,000), saying it had not paid its taxes.

Xu Zhiyong, one of its founders, said officials told them the centre was not registered as an NGO. He said it was operating legally as a charitable body under the Gongmeng company. “Gongmeng had to be registered as a company because when we went to register as an NGO, the civil affairs bureau didn’t allow us to do it,” he said.

Xu said there had been a small delay in paying taxes, but they had paid the full amount and yet the heaviest fine was levied. “There is a reason they gave us a big fine and shut us down. It is because we have offended certain ‘black’ [shady] powers,” he said. “We will continue our work and will act according to our consciences.”

Another of the founders, Teng Biao, wrote in a text message: “Suppressing civil society in this way is illegal and stupid. Maybe it is the dark before the dawn? Anyhow, our ideals and actions in pursuit of freedom won’t change.”

Neither the tax bureau nor the civil affairs bureau responded to faxed questions regarding the shutdown.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that authorities had cancelled the licences of 53 Beijing-based lawyers, effectively banning them from working. It cited a notice on the Beijing justice bureau’s website, which said the lawyers had been penalised because they did not pass an assessment by their firms or failed to register with the bureau.

Li Heping said he had not been notified personally but had been told he was disbarred. When he previously asked why his licence renewal was delayed, officials said it was because he had been involved in sensitive cases.

What have we done that failed to meet their standards? They don’t give any details,” he said. “What happened is not totally unexpected. In China, any strange or ridiculous thing can happen.”

Human rights groups responded angrily to both developments.

“The shutdown of the Gongmeng law research centre sends a strong signal that the government will continue to tighten control over civil society in every respect – to sweep up, so to speak – in preparation for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October,” said Sharon Hom, executive director of the US-based organisation Human Rights in China.

Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, warned: “The attack on OCI [Gongmeng] marks a new low in the Chinese government’s campaign against human rights defenders. This is precisely the kind of organisation whose work the government should value, as it helps ease grievances and minimise unres

A minister of the Sri Lankan government has publicly claimed responsibility for the assassination of slain newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge and for the serious injuries caused to another well known journalist, Poddala Jayantha. Yet no action has been taken against him.

Labor Minister Mervin Silva publically stated the following at a meeting in Hunupitiya, Kelaniya on July 9: “Lasantha from the Leader paper went overboard. I took care of him. Poddala agitated and his leg was broken. Now a fellow in my electorate is trying to stand against me. I now tell him in his own hometown, I will give him only seven more days. If he does not resign as chairman of the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha, don’t blame me later on. You’ll don’t find fault with me. If this fellow goes against what I say, I will send him to the place where I sent Lasantha.”

The assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge and the serious assault on Poddala Jayantha generated global publicity. These two cases are among the most high-profile crimes reported recently. The police authorities questioned by the media and international organizations claimed that they have been unable to trace the perpetrators.

The widely held suspicion is that the government itself was behind these crimes, and now a minister has come forward to claim that he had a hand in them. The natural reaction in a country where the rule of law is respected would have been for the police to immediately question the minister and for the government to call for an explanation and to disassociate itself from the minister. However, no action of any sort has followed the statement.

In another incident, the Ministry of Defense website named five lawyers as “traitors” for appearing in a case against Secretary of Defense Gotabhaya Rajapakse. All are well-known lawyers who have appeared for numerous clients and provided their professional services within the best traditions of the legal profession.

This accusation was condemned by the Sri Lankan Bar Association. The International Bar Association Human Rights Institute also expressed alarm about this online posting, which is an attack on the legal profession itself.

Both the Sri Lankan Bar Association and the IBAHRI condemned a similar publication a few months ago where lawyers appearing for persons who were charged as suspected terrorists under anti-terrorism laws were named as terrorists themselves. Despite the protests, the publication was not withdrawn and no action was taken against those responsible.

As lawyers are officers of the court, any obstruction preventing them from carrying out their professional work would constitute contempt of court. Besides which, freedom to practice one’s profession independently is guaranteed under the country’s Constitution and the violation of this would amount to the breach of fundamental rights. Under the Constitution the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has the power to adjudicate on any complaint of a breach of fundamental rights.

In yet another incident, the Paris-based Reporters without Borders condemned the blocking of a website which published a news item on the president’s eldest son. “No one should be immune from press criticism, including members of the president’s family,” the group said. The website published a report stating that it had been banned after carrying this item. Media watchdogs have characterized the ban as a further addition to the ongoing attacks against the media.

Meanwhile the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Violations of Human Rights published an incomplete report exonerating the military with regard to the killing of 17 employees of the French charity, Action Contre la Faim, in 2006. This incomplete report was the result of a completely flawed investigation which the International Group of Eminent Persons had earlier condemned as lacking impartiality.

It is well known that due to the fear of reprisals many persons refused to come before the commission. A proposal to provide witness protection was brought before the Parliament, due to international pressure, but was thereafter swept under the carpet.

All these incidents demonstrate that the commission has a license to commit blatant crimes under the guise of national security. The system is completely blind to complaints relating to such actions. The four incidents mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg.

Throughout the country people are unwilling to complain about crimes committed by the police or other government agencies due to an embedded perception that justice will not be done in such cases.

An ingrained feeling of the absence of justice in a country will be exploited by those who wish to abuse power, and this is likely to become worse as time goes by. Once this situation spreads it is worse than an epidemic. When lawlessness reaches epidemic proportions there is nothing within society to generate resistance. Against such a background much worse catastrophes can happen.

Nineteenth century Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky, having noted the lowest depths his country had reached in his lifetime, predicted that terrible events beyond imagination might occur in the future. Later observers interpreted his remarks as a prediction of the period under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. The lawlessness currently allowed within Sri Lanka by the government carries the possibility of such tragic developments in the future.

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(Basil Fernando is director of the Asian Human Rights Commission based in Hong Kong. He is a Sri Lankan lawyer who has also been a senior U.N. human rights officer in Cambodia. He has published several books and written extensively on human rights issues in Asia. His blog can be read at http://srilanka-lawlessness.com.)

Shadow Government in Bangladesh

Dhaka , Bangladesh, April 01 — Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a vital role in a developing country like Bangladesh. According to Wikipedia, the number of NGOs in Bangladesh is in excess of 20,000.

The news that Islamic NGOs with foreign funds are fueling the Islamic militancy has been bubbling all over Bangladesh. The Daily Star said that suspected NGOs include Rabita Al-Alam Al-Islami, Al-Muntada Al-Islami, Society of Social Reforms, Qatar Charitable Society, Islamic Relief Agency, Al-Forkan Foundation, International Relief Organisation, Kuwait Joint Relief Committee, Muslim Aid Bangladesh, Dar Al-Khair, Hayatul Igachha, and Tawheed-e-Noor.

The daily New Age of Bangladesh wrote, “During the previous BNP-led alliance government, some 473 local and 25 foreign NGOs were enlisted with the NGO Affairs Bureau. One hundred and twenty-nine of them are local and eight foreign NGOs who were enlisted in the financial year 2006-07. Since 1990, the NGO Bureau has approved 2,367 local and foreign NGOs who run on foreign funding.”

When the Bangladesh National Party-led alliance government was in power, 90,000 crore taka (over US$13 billion) in foreign donations, in the name of 11,000 NGOs, came into Bangladesh. That amount is nearly equal to the government’s financial budget for the year 2009, which is 99,962 crore taka (over US$14.5 billion).

The main process of registering an NGO and funding its operations is highly dependent upon the bureaucracy. That was and is the main reason that NGO activities in Bangladesh have become politicized. As a result of this, during the term of the BNP-led alliance government, the institutional outfit of the Islamic fascist interest triumphed.

The NGO registration process involves some powerful intelligence instruments of the government, such as the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), the National Security Intelligence (NSI), and the Special Branch of the Bangladesh Police.

There is clear evidence of corruption and political interference in the NGO registration process. The government’s policy is tricky on the issue of NGO registration, especially the NGO affairs bureau, which is under the prime minister’s office in name, but is mainly controlled by intelligence instruments like the DGFI and the NSI. It is notable that there are several Islamic fascist proponents placed in various important government instruments, including intelligence organizations, during the term of the BNP alliance government.

We have had a past record of 34 foreign-funded major Islamic NGOs, 15 of which are very active, back in 2005. In 1999, the intelligence agencies tracked an NGO named Suffering Humanity International, which had vibrant relations with Islamic fascists and the intention to establish an Islamic dictatorship in Bangladesh.

Islamic fascists have fully succeeded in forming a shadow government in Bangladesh. NGOs connected with them have put money in several long-term investments in the banking, health, and education sectors. In a time of need, they could control the market and destabilize the country. This group has infiltrated the media sector, with an ulterior motive to promote ideological propaganda.

This same group is conspiring to bring a new crisis before the government. After the BDR mutiny, the prisons will be their next target in an attempt to destabilize the country, using prisons as places of recruitment to strengthen their terrorist activities. Young people come out of prison, join the terrorist groups outside, and take part in destructive works.

The government should be very clear to make all NGO activities from from the influence of the intelligence agencies and politics, to safeguard the country from further tragedy. The Islamic NGOs have become a shadow government in Bangladesh and the highest threat before Bangladesh, as well as to the security of the south Asian region.