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Seminar On ” Human Rights Offenders In Asia: Role Of The United Nations”

The seminar was planned against the background of serious challenges to human rights and rule of law in different parts of Asia. Despite a great deal of efforts by national and international organizations to create awareness and expose human rights abuses by states and non-state actors, we are witnessing continuing violations of the rights of the people disregarding legal, moral, and practical safeguards. The Seminar focused on violations of human rights by states defying resolutions of the United Nations, Human Rights Council and scores of national and international Human Rights Organizations.

The seminar highlighted the situation in Asia, and the inherent weaknesses of international law and organizations that play an important role for the worsening situation of human rights especially in states like North Korea, Syria and Myanmar. Although some of the countries including North Korea ratified key international human rights treaties and technically possesses a constitution with some rights protections, in reality and at the extreme end, the government represses all forms of freedom of expression and opinion and does not allow any organized political opposition, independent media, free trade unions, civil society organizations, or religious freedom. The government also practices collective punishment for supposed anti-state offenses, effectively enslaving hundreds of thousands of citizens, including children, in prison camps and other detention facilities with deplorable conditions and forced labor. In fact, we witness the “worship’ cult of bad leaders like Kim Jong-un in North Korea is now entrenched.

The international community and people of the countries concerned must rise up against such atrocities of authoritarian bad rulers to ensure rights and dignity of people. The seminar generated lot of discussions and enabled access to information to the concerned people of Bangladesh to be aware of North Korea’s record of human rights. Most of the participants urged the government of Bangladesh to uphold the basic human rights internally, and censoring offending states, like North Korea in the international forums including the United Nations.