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November 7, 2004

ODHIKAR: Ten Years of a Human Rights Organisation

Bangladesh returns to democracy following the fall of autocratic regime through a popular upsurge in 1990. Since then, we have been successful in holding three credible elections. However the growth of constitutional liberties still faces severe challenges. Democracy or free and fair election alone is not enough to protect the rights of the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups including women. Unfortunately continued occurrences of election violence, arbitrary arrests, custodial death, and torture by state and non-state actors hamper the enjoyment of civil and political rights, often with ominous consequences. The need for an independent and objective human rights organisation in safeguarding basic human rights, particularly civil and political rights of the people of Bangladesh was strongly felt.

In 1994, a group of human rights activists initiated discussions and underscored the need to uphold the civil and political rights of the people of Bangladesh along with social, cultural and economic rights. Eventually, a decision was arrived at to form an organisation in order to advance such rights. In October 1994, Odhikar came into being at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association. Among its founder members were Dr. Mohiuddin Faroque, founder of BELA, Barrister Lutfur Rahman Shajahan, convenor of the 'National Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights in the CHT' and Advocate A. F. Hassan Ariff. Mr. Fazlul Huq, Executive Director of BLAST was the founding President. Advocate A. F. Hasan Ariff succeeded him. Professor Tasneem Siddiqui of the University of Dhaka took over as President once her predecessor became the Attorney General for Bangladesh in 2001. Currently, Mr. Masood Alam Ragib Ahsan is the Director of Odhikar.

On 10 October 2004, Odhikar celebrated ten years of defending human rights. During these years, the organisation established itself as one of the leading human rights bodies of the country. It developed a strong network of partners and human rights defenders not only all over Bangladesh, but also in the region.

Initially the meetings used to take place at the premises of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust. In 1995, Odhikar was registered with the NGO Affairs Bureau of the Government of Bangladesh and established its first office in Shegun Bagicha, with a tiny staff and some volunteers. Its early work involved investigation and reporting on police abuse and field investigations of selected incidents of violence all over Bangladesh. As it is difficult to access donor funds for working on civil and political rights, Odhikar had to face major difficulties in mobilising resources for its activities. Nonetheless, due to deep conviction of its members to the cause, it overcame such obstacles often with members contributing to activities from their own pockets. As its activities expanded, in September 2001, Odhikar moved to a larger premise in Gulshan. The hard work was finally paying off as Odhikar's credibility as a human rights organisation was steadily being appreciated. It's reporting on human rights abuses under successive governments never faltered. It has also expanded its activities to monitor police stations, election monitoring, training of young professionals and students in defending human rights. Odhikar continues to press for the establishment of an independent national human rights commission to strengthen the national human rights protection system in Bangladesh.

To date the organisation has trained 240 young people from all over Bangladesh as human rights defenders and monitors 24 police stations, including some outside Dhaka. Odhikar prepared research reports on the Misuse of Section 54 of CrPC and sections 86 and 100 of DMP Ordinance, and on the Condition of Women and Children in Prisons and on the juvenile justice system. It has 11 publications to its credit. Odhikar also organised a number of advocacy activities such as consultations, dialogues and symposia to disseminate findings of its research. Members of the government, the opposition and civil society participate in such activities. Reports and data generated by Odhikar are widely used by media and academia. Odhikar is a member of several international networks such as ANFREL, SAFHR, Forum-Asia, IMADR, FIDH and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and the South Asian Network against Torture and Impunity.

It has not been an easy struggle and the Odhikar team understands that working on civil and political rights is no easy task. Despite the odds, the whole team remains firmly committed to the organisation's principle of upholding such rights of common people. Indeed, it is the close relationship and team spirit of this relatively small organisation that helps it move forward.