Bangladesh

BNP claims govt helped Rana escape

The BNP on Saturday alleged that the government was helping Sohel Rana, the owner of the nine-storied building that collapsed on Wednesday, in evading arrest.

Rana is a leader of the Savar unit of the youth wing of the ruling Awami League.

As the clamour for his arrest grew louder, Rana gave police a slip and went underground. A hunt is on to nab him.

But the main opposition party accused the government of allowing Rana a long rope.

“Due to the government’s reluctance police have failed to arrest Sohel Rana even three days after the tragic incident. The government helped him escape,” BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said on Saturday.

Junior Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku said Rana’s relatives who were detained on Friday were interrogated to find his whereabouts.

Mosharraf said, “The owner’s relatives were detained only to pacify the enraged people.”

The BNP leader speaking at a discussion at the National Press Club on Saturday blamed the government for the Savar tragedy that claimed more than 300 lives.

Mosharraf said, “Rana Plaza was not declared unsafe for use since it belonged to a leader of the ruling political party. The workers were intentionally pushed into the death trap.”

He also claimed that the government was trying to adopt diversionary tactics.

“The Prime Minister had claimed in parliament that Sohel Rana has no connection with the Jubo League. The Home Minister even tried to blame the opposition for the collapse."

“The government is indulging in a blame game to divert the attention from the humanitarian crisis.”

Mosharraf urged the government to arrest those responsible for the tragedy, speed up rescue operation and provide proper treatment to the injured.

“Many lives could have been saved if the rescue operation was faster. We find common volunteers more active than the government’s disaster management personnel engaged in the operation. Activities of the Ministry of Disaster are not visible.”

The discussion was organised by Shaheed Zehad Srtiti Parishad demanding the release of incarcerated top leaders of the BNP.

“I urge the government not to waste more time and pass the law to reinstate the caretaker government through a 16th amendment to the Constitution.”

Rafiqul Islam Miah, another standing committee member of the party, demanded a judicial probe by a retired justice of the Supreme Court while participating in a human chain programme, organised in front of the National Press Club on Saturday demanding the release of detained leaders.

“The government has formed a number of committees. The Prime Minister is making various statements in parliament on the matter ... this is not correct,” he said.

Rafiqul Islam said if his party was back in power, it would put to trial Rana’s alleged aid Mohammad Towhid Jung Murad and others.

Despite disasters, Bangladesh works for retailers

The factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed over 300 people this week is a stark reminder of the risks in the global retail industry's search for cheap production.

But there have been few signs that safety issues and other questionable labour conditions are sending shockwaves through the major Western retailers, their shareholders or the people who buy the clothes in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

Despite a series of accidents that have killed hundreds of people in recent months, dozens of major retailers and apparel makers continue to operate in Bangladesh.

The country ships about $15.6 billion of ready-made garments each year - about 80 percent of its total exports. Sixty percent of Bangladesh's garment exports go to Europe; the United States takes 23 percent, and Canada takes 5 percent, according to data from Bangladesh's commerce ministry and industry sources.

About 18 months before the previous big tragedy in Bangladesh - a fire in November in a textile factory that killed 112 people - shareholders at Wal-Mart Stores Inc had the opportunity to weigh in on the safety question. By a nearly 50-to-1 margin, they rejected a proposal to require suppliers to report annually on safety issues at their factories.

In arguing against the proposal, Wal-Mart's management made its reasoning clear: Having suppliers compile such reports "could ultimately lead to higher costs for Walmart and higher prices for our customers. This would not be in the best interests of Walmart's shareholders and customers and would place Walmart at a competitive disadvantage," the company said in proxy materials.

Soon after the fire, Wal-Mart and Sears Holdings Corp admitted their goods were being made at the Tazreen Fashions workshop even though they had denied that factory authorisation as a supplier.

Far from Alone

Bangladesh is hardly the only source of inexpensive clothes and cheap labour that has sparked concern about labour conditions. From Vietnam, to the American protectorate of Saipan, to the massive workshops in China, Western companies have found themselves entangled with places where worker health and safety conditions are often questioned.

Disasters such as the April 24 collapse of a nine-story factory building in Bangladesh have not changed the calculation for apparel makers and retailers. Cheaper products appeal to shoppers. And the taint, if any, appears to be manageable.

The courthouse, marketplace and stock market seem to be telling them they are right.

Shoppers such as Mohini Raichura are making decisions that justify the retailers' strategies. Raichura, a 30-year-old London charity worker, was shopping Friday at Primark, a discount retailer owned by Associated British Foods, even though she knew that some of its products were made at the factory that collapsed earlier in the week.

"I go there because it's cheap. That's awful. It really makes me a bad person," Raichura said. "But you know, I work for a charity, I'm on a limited income, and I pay rent in London —that's how I justify it."

Consumers continue to purchase products from brands like Wal-Mart's Faded Glory, found in the Tazreen rubble, and Loblaw's Joe Fresh, found in the ruins of the factory building this week.

Loblaw Cos Ltd's stock has edged up since the tragedy this week, while Wal-Mart and Sears' shares have moved higher since the Tazreen fire last November. That disaster, in which locked doors prevented workers from fleeing to safety, did not appear to have any measurable impact on sales at Wal-Mart and Sears after both acknowledged their products were made there.

The world's court systems have not provided a disincentive, either. For example, in 2005, a lawsuit was filed in California state court on behalf of factory workers in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and other countries accusing Wal-Mart of failing to address substandard working conditions in suppliers' factories.

But the case was ultimately dismissed, and according to a search of available filings on the Thomson Reuters legal database Westlaw, there have been no US lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart or Sears on similar matters since the Tazreen fire.

Michael Silverstein, senior partner and Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group, said the attractions of places like Bangladesh outweigh the risks, and most retailers believe the risks can be managed.

"Bangladesh is a very viable source for apparel retailers. It has very low labour cost, good operational efficiency and because it produces in such large quantities, supply-chain costs are also low," Silverstein said. "Obviously safety and health conditions need to be tightly policed. Suppliers need to be rated and visited frequently."

Wal-Mart and other companies have vowed to step up their safety audits, training, and conversations with government officials. Earlier this month, Wal-Mart said it would donate $1.6 million to help start a new Bangladesh training academy.

Not Just a Problem for Low-Price Retailers

Foreign companies have long grappled with working conditions in manufacturing hubs, including China - places that have become the world's workshops because of low wages and improving transport infrastructure.

Global protests against Apple Inc swelled after reports spread in 2010 about suicides at plants operated by Foxconn, Apple's chief supplier in China. The world's most valuable technology company was forced to tackle the issue head-on. Apple publicised an internal audit that for the first time spotlighted all its manufacturing partners. It set up a workplace-improvement program, invited auditors like the Fair Labor Association to review it, and began monitoring its several hundred contract manufacturers more closely. Foxconn also significantly boosted wages at plants making Apple products.

In the apparel industry, Nike Inc began making changes to its sourcing and worker policies after there were charges of minimum wage violation and child labour practices in the mid-1990s. In 2005, the company disclosed its factory list, and then broadened that to cover 800 factories worldwide that manufacture all Nike brands.

But Nike and Apple make higher-priced brand name products than many apparel retailers. And protests such as the ones they have faced have mostly failed to materialise when it comes to retailers who sell cheaper apparel products.

For companies such as Wal-Mart, who use thousands of suppliers, keeping an eye on the supply pipeline is proving difficult. After the Rana Plaza building collapsed Wednesday, it took Wal-Mart more than a day to confirm that its goods were not being made at the building that collapsed. And in the Tazreen Fashions fire, Wal-Mart learned after the fact that a supplier was having garments made there without Wal-Mart's approval.

Companies Urged Not to Pull Out

Western activists criticise retailers and apparel companies for not doing more to force improvements in a country where working conditions are poor and government oversight is lax.

"The bottom line is that worker safety laws are hardly enforced," said Iftekhar Zaman, the Executive Director of global anti-corruption group Transparency International in Bangladesh. The retailers and apparel makers cannot be "perceived helpless" when such incidences occur.

The Western companies should not pull out of Bangladesh and other low-cost countries because impoverished workers would pay the price, Zaman noted. Instead, they need to push for changes from within.

"Better ways must be found such as the importing companies to be more closely involved in preventive measures, like ensuring strict compliance with safety standards as part of their business deal," Zaman said.

Canadian discount retailer Loblaw, whose Joe Fresh clothing was being made at the building that collapsed on Wednesday, said that the latest disaster led it to realise that audits and other workplace actions can overlook shoddy building construction and other environmental problems. In a statement, the company said it will work with other retailers and government bodies to address factory standards in Bangladesh.

Two years ago, 29 people were killed and 100 injured in a fire at a Bangladesh factory making clothes for Gap Inc, which owns Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. In response, the company last year implemented new safety standards in Bangladesh, including hiring a fire safety inspector, and loaning vendors up to $20 million for safety improvements.

Despite such measures, the pressure for low prices will persist.

"The fundamental value tension, we all know, is that consumers want quality at a low price and businesses cater to that," said Harlan Loeb, who runs a crisis management team at the public relations firm Edelman, which as of Thursday was not advising anyone about the building's collapse.

Companies often resist efforts to force a deeper discussion about the tradeoffs.

Before Wal-Mart invited shareholders to this year's annual meeting, to take place June 7, the board of directors rebuffed another effort to force a shareholder vote on workplace safety issues.

According to documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a shareholder presented a proposal to require the company to report on its progress for assessing risks to human rights in its operations and supply chain. But Wal-Mart said the proposal was so similar to the one that failed in 2011, and that it already addresses the request through its standards for suppliers, that it did not merit reconsideration. The SEC approved its decision to reject the request for a shareholder vote.

Bargain-hunting shoppers continue to have mixed feelings.

"I was thinking about it when I was queuing up to pay," said Philomina Wood, 70, as she left the Primark store in London. "It wouldn't have hurt if there had been something inside to say people had died. It's sad that life goes on and there's no recognition at all."

31 people rescued 3 days after collapse

Rescuers saved 31 more lives on Saturday - three days after the collapse of Rana Plaza at Savar on Dhaka’s outskirts.

The death toll reached 355 by Saturday night, and almost a thousand people were still missing, officials said at the temporary information centre set up on the Adhar Chandra High School premises.

Rescue efforts continued amidst rain at noon. Again, around 9:35pm, it halted for a while and then resumed as a wave of seasonal storm and rain lashed the area.

“Rain can’t stop our work,” Fire Service Director Major Mohammad Mahbub, one of the rescuers, had told bdnews24.com at noon.

However, those taking part in the rescue said they would need tarpaulin and other relevant materials to carry on their work in case it rained heavily again.

Relatives of the deceased also claimed that they faced lots of trouble while receiving bodies at the school grounds as there was not sufficient tarpaulin to protect the bodies from the rain.

The Meteorological Department has predicted rain and thundershowers accompanied by gusty or squally winds in Dhaka region in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, with the arrest of a third garment factory owner on Saturday night, the number of the RMG unit owners in police custody has reached three, apart from two engineers of the Savar municipality arrested in the morning in connection with the tragedy. The law enforcers were given remand to question four of them earlier in the day.

However, owner of the ill-fated building Sohel Rana, a leader of Awami League’s youth front Juba League, continues to evade arrest.

The main opposition BNP claimed the government helped him escape, but State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku dismissed the charge saying the law enforcers were trying to arrest him.

Rana Plaza, a nine-storey building located near Savar’s Bus Stand area, collapsed on Wednesday morning. Locals had immediately initiated search for victims and were soon joined by the Fire Service and Civil Defence and Bangladesh Army personnel. The majority of the victims are readymade garment workers, who were forced into work by the factory owners that day despite a safety hazard alert sounded by the Industrial Police the previous day.

The Fire Service, Army, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), police and RAB personnel, along with the regular volunteers, are jointly conducting the rescue operation at the building collapse site.

An information centre has been set up in front of the site to provide latest update on the search operation.

The other centre is at the Adhar Chandra High School, adjacent to the Enam Medical College Hospital, where most of the injured are receiving treatment since Wednesday.

At least 348 dead bodies were identified and handed over to relatives until Saturday night.

The dead are being kept in the school grounds, while those injured being rushed to various hospitals.

Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam, who was on duty at the Adhar Chandra High School centre on Saturday night, said 1,050 people were still missing.

Unidentified bodies are being sent to the morgues of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Sir Salimullah Medical College, also known as Mitford Hospital. Currently, 37 bodies are kept at DMCH and six at Mitford for identification.

The nine-storied building came crushing down with approximately 3,000 people inside it.

Meanwhile, the rescuers have decided not to call off their mission as planned before, as they are hopeful of finding more survivors trapped under the debris.

The rescuers were likely to use heavy equipment for removal of slabs and heavy steel from the spot since Saturday morning. But their plan changed as they found some survivors.

The Bangladesh Army, which is leading the rescue operation, has declared that the operation would continue until the last alive person was rescued.

However, General Officer Commanding (GOC) Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy of the 9th Infantry Division, which is leading the rescue operation, on Saturday afternoon told reporters, “We are not going for any massive scale salvage attempt.”

On Friday, rescuers managed to dig out 118 victims from the debris of the building which was erected over 56 decimals of land.

Rescue workers dug several tunnels to pull out the possible survivors trapped under the debris of the building using drilling machines as use of heavy machines could trigger further collapse.

However, heavy equipment have been brought to the site. A huge hydraulic crane reached the spot at around 2pm Saturday.

“Each life matters to us. We are carefully conducting the operation to rescue everyone trapped in the wreckage alive,” ISPR Director Shahinur Islam told reporters in the afternoon.

He said they have put seven special cameras through holes to scan those parts of the debris which are yet to be explored. “We have dug 25 such holes,” he added.

Another rescuer, Brigadier General Sayeed Masud said they could still see signs of life inside the wreckage.

He said heavy equipment would be used only after consulting the relatives and common people engaged in the rescue operation.

Maj Gen Suhrawardy said the rescue drive was very risky. “The rescuers are putting their lives to risk,” he said.

He also rejected the possibility of taking foreign assistance in the rescue operation. “We are capable enough. We don’t need foreign assistance.

Relatives of the missing were still assembled at the site and going running to find their loved ones.

ICT indicts Mobarak for war crimes

2013-04-23


charges against former Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mobarak Hossain on five specific allegations of war crimes committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

The three-member ICT-1 led-by ATM Fazle Kabir passed the order on Tuesday indicting him for war crimes he allegedly committed during the Liberation War.

Mobarak later joined the Awami League and following massive allegations of war crimes against him, the ruling party later expelled him from the party.

The tribunal fixed May 16 for hearing on opening statement and asked the prosecution and defense to submit lists of witnesses to the tribunal before the hearing date.

The charges are-

1. Killing of 33 unarmed civilians in village Tanmandail under Akhaura police station on August 22 and 23, 1971.
2. Occupying Anondomoyi Kalibari, a temple, vandalizing the idles, looting, renaming the temple, capture, torturing and subsequently killing of one Ashuranzan.
3. Abduction and killing of Abdul Khalek in village Chatiyan under Sadar police station on November 11, 1971.
4. Abduction and torture of Khadem Hossain Khan, sympathizer to Freedom Fighters. Khadem was later killed.
5. Abduction and torture of Abdul Malek and Mohammad Shiraz. Shiraz was later killed.
The tribunal read the charges in whole and asked the accused who was sitting in the dock, whether he understood the charges.
Mobarak then said he does not understand English making the tribunal to repeat the whole proceeding in Bangla.
Mobarak then pleaded not guilty. Earlier today, the same tribunal rejected a bail petition of Mubarak.
On March 22, the tribunal took the war crimes charges against Mubarak into cognizance and proceeded with his trial.
On February 25, the prosecution submitted formal charges against Mubarak in ICT-1.
On January 24, the ICT investigation team of the case submitted the 294-page final probe report to Prosecution.
The investigation agency said they found evidence supporting allegations of his involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity.
Investigation officer Shyamal Chowdhury started the investigation on July 16 last year and completed on January 22 this year.
On May 3 in 2009, Khodeja Begum, daughter of martyr Abdul Khalek, who was allegedly killed by Mobarak during the Liberation War, filed a case with Brahmani Chief Judicial Magistrate Court.
Later, the case was transferred to tribunal.
On July 16 last year, Mobarak got bail from the tribunal for second time in the case.