 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
'Dire' Bangladesh policing threatens democracy: think-tank
Dhaka (AFP) Dec 14, 2009 Bangladesh's police force is in such a "dire state" that it risks inviting a military takeover of law and order duties, an international research institute has warned. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report published over the weekend that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government lacked the political will to reform the police force despite a UN-led effort to do so. The ICG said the police force was a "tool to line the pockets of politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen," and that if Hasina's government did not reform the system, the army could step in. "The dire state of the force reflects failures by successive governments," the report said. "The inability of the police to ensure law and order has provided the military with opportunities to intervene in politics, using the pretext of national security to derail the democratic process." Hasina's government came to power in January after two years of rule by an army-backed government. She was jailed for a year by the military regime but then released as part of a deal to take part in the December 2008 election, which she won with a three-quarters majority. The UN has spent 16.5 million dollars trying to reform the system over the past four years, but the ICG said impact had been "marginal" and the police force remained overstretched and underpaid. Home Minister Sahara Khatun insisted Monday that progress had been made under the new government. Police abuses for political gain "happened in the past, but not in our time. And also the law and order situation is now better," she told AFP. But one senior police official, who requested anonymity, said little had changed. "No government is serious enough to carry out police reforms here. We have talked about it for long. But we are fed up," the official said. In February this year, Hasina's newly elected government was nearly overthrown following a mutiny at a military base in the capital. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com
Latin states split over Honduras pollMontevideo, Uruguay (UPI) Dec 9, 2009 Latin American states emerged from the Mercosur summit in the Uruguayan capital bitterly divided over the Honduran presidential elections but also split on pragmatic steps like trade and economic collaboration. The two-day summit, originally called by the regional trade pact to finalize the details of commodity trade and other commercial collaboration, was dominated by the participating ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook