The European Commission, executive arm of the 27-country European Union (EU), has taken Bangladesh to task for its political system that is dominated by confrontation. In a  document spelling out relations with the South Asian country in the next six years, the Commission criticises the lack of good governance and the rule of law. But it lauds improvements under way in different walks of social and political life.

The document is part of a series of country strategy papers (CSPs) defining the objectives of EU aid programmes for Asia and Latin America. They cover the period 2007-2013 and were scrutinised by the European Parliament. The scrutiny followed a battle in which the European Parliament insisted there should be democratic control over EU plans for development cooperation with third countries.

The Bangladesh strategy paper says: "The administration of justice is compromised by efficiency constraints, which manifest themselves in weak management of court cases, poorly developed Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms and inadequate gender awareness. Penal reform has been piecemeal and slow, with antiquated colonial legislation still in place, inadequate victim support and little scope for the rehabilitation of young offenders. Up to 75% of those in prison are on remand. The police are under-resourced in terms of pay, manpower and forensic training."

The situation is aggravated the fact that corruption and an inefficient, over-complex legal and regulatory system are now seen as a major impediment to investment and growth.

Transparency International has successively rated Bangladesh at the bottom of its corruption perception index. The local business community regards corruption as the second most important impediment to growth, after poor electricity supply. Lack of confidence in the courts is the main concern of investors in Bangladesh, notes the Commission.

It refers to the 2005 World Bank Development Report 2 that shows low scores for Bangladesh against all the main governance indicators with marked deterioration over the years 1998-2004 in ‘control of corruption’ and ‘regulatory burden.

The strategy paper acknowledges that amid growing awareness of the need to address the fundamental problems of governance in order to take forward its development agenda, the Bangladesh government has begun to establish new institutions, notably the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

However, since its inception, the ACC has been subject to disputes over staff appointments, its budget and rules of procedure. Other institutions, such as the Parliamentary Ombudsman, have been established in law only. "The GoB (government of Bangladesh) has yet to take action to separate the judiciary from the executive."

The rule of law is in a precarious state. According to the Commission. the easy availability of small arms in Bangladesh plays a role in hindering good governance, the maintenance of order and the rule of law. Bangladesh is not only a transit route for smuggling small arms and light weapons; "weapons are produced and used also within the country being very often connected to criminal activities and other forms of illicit trafficking."

The human rights situation is in no better state. Bangladesh has ratified twelve UN human rights treaties and four optional protocols and became member of the UN Human Rights Council in May 2006. The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly, the right to join trade unions and the right to practice the religion of one’s choice. It also prohibits discrimination (against women, children, minority groups and persons with disabilities), the trafficking of persons, and forced or bonded labour.

"Despite some positive trends, legal practice reflects weak implementation," the EU Commission's strategy paper says, adding that "the police have a tainted reputation for violence and corruption, while poor prison conditions have been blamed for deaths in custody.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), established in 2004, has been criticised for killing many suspected criminals in "cross-fire" during and after arrest. At the same time the government has been slow to crack down on the activities of militant Islamic groups and to investigate attacks against political opponents, civil and human rights activists and journalists.

The Ahmadiya community has suffered violent harassment which has been facilitated through inadequate police protection, says the document.

Tribal minorities in Bangladesh continue to be threatened, especially over land tenure, while the Government has suspended the processing of land claim settlements in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The main features of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord have yet to be implemented and a land commission has yet to be established. The 30,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar remaining in the southeast live in dreadful conditions and are subject to intimidation and abuse.

Viewing the gender situation, the Commission says: "Violence and discrimination against women remain serious problems. Widespread domestic violence includes dowry-related killings, acid-throwing, while the safe custody act adds further trauma to female victims of crime by detaining them in unsuitable locations, where they are at risk of abuse by the police."

Trafficking in women and children for prostitution and forced labour continues to be a challenge for the Government with Bangladesh placed on a tier 2 watch list by the U.S. Government as one of the two main source countries for the considerable trafficking activities in the South Asian region, notes the paper.

According to the National Child Labour Survey of 2003, nearly 3.2 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 were working, some of them in dangerous and harmful conditions. Outside the ready-made garment industry (RMG) sector, there is virtually no enforcement of child labour laws. The problem is compounded by the wide scale lack of birth registration and the different definitions of childhood in Bangladeshi law.

Despite the obvious concerns raised by this scenario, the European Commission takes note of some positive trends. A concerted effort to promote birth registration is now taking place with support from UNICEF and NGOs. Moreover, the high proportion of women in the RMG workforce and high rates of female primary school enrolment are leading to improvements in the status of women.

At the same time, despite a disturbingly high degree of violence directed against journalists, Bangladesh continues to have a remarkably free and outspoken press. There is also a vibrant and effective NGO community.

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