Interference of locally formed arbitration bodies, mostly comprising local influential, religious, traditional and political leaders, and chairmen and members of union parisad and municipalities, are hindering rule of law, particularly in combating violence against women.
Apparently, the government has no specific monitoring mechanism regarding the formation and jurisdiction of such local bodies.
In many areas, these arbitration bodies, also known as “shalish committees,” even deal with serious crimes such as attempt to rape and rape, stepping completely out of their jurisdiction.
Lawyer Sara Hossain, executive director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), said: “The traditional dispute resolution bodies that we have in the country have no jurisdiction to award punishment.”
According to existing laws of the country, locally formed bodies can only deal with petty civil and criminal offences such as burglary and scuffle.
A recent incident of child rape revealed that an alleged rapist named Hakim Bhandari, 54, had violated three female relatives before that and all he had to face every time was local arbitration.
Hakim, however, was nabbed on January 31 for his fourth alleged rape of the minor girl.
Pranab Chowdhury, OC of Sadarghat police station in Chittagong, said they had found in investigation that Hakim, locally known as a “pir” or a religious teacher, had earlier violated his stepmother, stepsister and one of his aunts.
“Until victims inform us about such crimes, we cannot take steps. Even if local arbitration body, who dealt with the previous rapes, informed us, the rape of the eight-year-old girl could have been prevented,” said Pranab, who arrested Hakim after primary investigation in a case filed by the girl’s father.
There are, however, several landmark directives of the country’s highest court regarding the authority of such local arbitration bodies. Those directives were issued in 2001, 2010 and in 2012 following writ petitions filed by several rights groups.
A High Court directive in 2001 mainly declared “fatwa,” a religious edict, illegal by local shalish.
Later, two individuals named Mufti Mohammad Toyeeb and Abul Kalam Azad filed appeals with the Supreme Court against the HC verdict on the point that fatwa could not be declared illegal because it was a Quranic provision.
Following their petition, on May 12, 2012, the Appellate Division declared fatwa legal, on condition that fatwas must come from a select few renowned scholar and not affect the legal rights and the dignity of a person. The full verdict of 2012 is yet to be published.
Sara, executive director of BLAST, which was a party in these petitions, pointed out: “The absence of the full verdict is also creating problems and confusion regarding the jurisdiction of the locally formed shalish bodies.”
Adampur Union Parishad Chairman Mohammad Sabbir Ahmed Bhuiyan told the Dhaka Tribune that as a local government body, they tried to solve petty cases, some of which were connected with violence against women. “Yes, I have dealt with a number of violence against women cases along with dealing with other kinds of civil issues.
“Whenever there are incidents such as stalking and attempt to rape, people come to us instead of going through the formal legal or judiciary bodies,” he said.
According to a 2010 HC directive, the persons responsible for imposition of extra-judicial punishments and the abettors should be held responsible under the relevant sections of the Penal Code and other laws.
When informed about the scenario, Ashok Madhab Roy, additional secretary of the Local Government Division, told the Dhaka Tribune: “If you can bring out specific cases in specific areas, we will take care of such local bodies.”
When asked if the division had any kind of monitoring mechanism about the formation of shalish bodies, he said: “The division gets these information from the government officials such as deputy commissioners.”
However, Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Mostafa Kamal said his office might know about the formation of shalish bodies if they were formed by Union Parishad and Municipality members. “But, informing us is voluntary, not mandatory.”
BLAST, in a recent study, pointed out a number of cases where victims of violence against women, particularly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, did not receive justice because of interference by local arbitration.
Last week, there had been several media reports which cited a number of cases where political leaders interfered and freed alleged violators.