UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues has urged Bangaldesh government to declare a timeline for the execution of 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.
At the end of its 10th session on Friday, the forum also asked Bangladesh to sketch modalities of implementation and persons and/or institutions responsible for implementation of the accord.
Ignoring Bangladesh's claim that the forum had no standing to discuss about the peace accord, its chairman said "the case is intricately related to the mandate of the forum", as the accord's two objectives were aimed at re-establishing peace and to provide institutional arrangements for regional autonomy, the official UN website said.
The UN body made the remarks upon recommendations put forth by UN Special Rapporteur Lars-Anders Baer, also a former member of the forum.
In his study report, he said 14 years after its signing, many critical clauses of the accord, which aimed to establish a regional system of self-government, remained unimplemented, or only partially addressed.
He further said delayed implementation could result in continued widespread human rights violations, violent conflicts and military control.
The Bangladesh first secretary to the UN denied the allegations of dilly-dallying in execution and also binned the report saying the forum had no locus standi to discuss the peace accord, since there were no "indigenous" people in the country.
Instead, Iqbal Ahmed labelled them as "minorities".
The peace accord between the then Awami League government and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS) ended the decade-long bush war between the indigenous people and the army.
PCJSS chief Jyotirindra Bodipriyo Larma or Santu Larma on Friday alleged that the government did not fulfill its pledge to implement the accord. "In Awami League's election manifesto, the party claimed it would end forever violence, discrimination and human rights violations on the indigenous and the religious minorities.
UN report recommended, among others, developing “a mechanism to strictly monitor and screen the human rights records of [Bangladesh] army personnel prior to allowing them to participate in peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations."
While working on the report, Lars Anders met with the CHT civil administration and cabinet members including the foreign minister and CHT affairs minister, law minister and land minister.
He also submitted the report to the government but did not get any response, the press release added.
"We urge upon the UN forum to dedicate its valuable time to discuss issues related to millions of indigenous people all over the world and not waste time on issues politically concocted by some enthusiastic quarters with questionable motives," said Iqbal.
After his comment, government delegations from Denmark and Guatemala, representatives of international indigenous population and international human rights groups emphasised that Bangladesh has not done enough to implement the peace deal.
Bangladesh does not have any ‘indigenous’ population’ .… The accord has nothing to do with ‘indigenous issues’ and therefore, the government of Bangladesh reiterates its position that the forum, which is mandated to deal with ‘indigenous issues’, does not have any locus standi in discussing the issues related to the CHT Peace Accord,” Iqbal told the session.
“We urge the (UN) forum to dedicate its valuable time to discuss issues related to millions of indigenous people all over the world and not waste time on issues politically concocted by some enthusiastic quarters with questionable motives,” he added.
Raja Devasish Roy, who is also the traditional chief of the Chakma community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, said: “The permanent forum is mandated to deal with issues of indigenous peoples, irrespective of what term the governments use to refer to their indigenous peoples: ‘tribes’ or ‘ethnic minorities’ or otherwise.’
Referring to the parties to the accord, Devashish said that the state reneges on its promises and the non-state party has no other option but to approach the UN.
Mangal Kumar Chakma of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti, which signed the 1997 accord on behalf of the hill people, said, ‘Lack of sincere political commitment and hostile bureaucracy, both civil and military, are the main elements hindering the implementation of the CHT accord.
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