Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-21-Speech-4-206"
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"en.20021121.10.4-206"2
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"Mr President, in the past few weeks the escalating violence in Bangladesh has reached new heights. In October alone, around 40 000 soldiers were deployed in 'Operation Clean Heart' on the pretext of fighting rising levels of crime and private gun ownership. Several thousand people were arrested.
We know from reliable, independent sources that this military operation, ordered by the Islamist Government in Bangladesh, was directed primarily at the regime's critics. Among those arrested were opposition members of the Bangladeshi Parliament, including the former minister, Mr Chowdhury. Leaders of unpopular NGOs were also arrested. The army units carried them off without any legal authority. Most of the suspects are either Hindus themselves or Hindu sympathisers. This minority has however lived peacefully alongside the Muslim majority for decades.
The growing, and radical, Islamicisation of society and its political leaders is making everyday life increasingly difficult. Those in custody are cut off from the outside world. Many are being tortured. Hundreds of injured detainees had to receive hospital treatment. In the last month alone there were 25 deaths. The army's claim that they had all died of heart attacks is cynical. This action is contemptuous of humankind and in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The PPE-DE Group's position is clear: we call on the Bangladeshi Government to return to the rule of law, pluralism and parliamentary democracy. The imprisoned members of parliament and other innocent detainees must be released. I agree with Mr van den Bos: an independent body needs to be set up to investigate the arrests, ill-treatment and killings. Only then will Bangladesh be able to recover the necessary internal stability.
The European Union must also make its contribution, Commissioner Monti. In our motion, we have cross-party support for calling on the Commission to send observers to Bangladesh, and this should be done before there is further discrimination and persecution.
The agreement between the European Union and Bangladesh is based on consistent respect for human rights and on democratic principles. Should these continue to be violated to the same degree then we will have to bring political pressure to bear and that means suspending our Cooperation Agreement. Such important signals are easily understood throughout Asia as well as in other countries. We in the SAARC Delegation can give many examples to confirm this.
We therefore hope that those responsible in Bangladesh will see reason and that they will do so because of the severe pressure that can be put on them within the SAARC. Only then will our respectable counterparts in Bangladesh be taken seriously at international level."@en1
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