Friday, May 26, 2006

battered in bangladesh

an action alert from the Clean Clothes Campaign:
UNION OFFICIALS ARRESTED, BEATEN, AND TORTURED IN BANGLADESH FOLLOWING WORKER PROTESTS
Please contact the Bangladeshi embassy to demand the release of labor leaders.

Dear friends,

Most of you will have read in the media about the very serious protests of garment workers in Bangladesh. Two workers are confirmed dead (informal reports speak of five), hundreds have been injured, and at least over a hundred factories have been torched in riots over the past few days. After a worker from FS factory in Gazipur (producing among others for Auchan, H&M, Gap, M&S, Inditex, Tesco and Next) was shot by the police, the fighting spread to the Savar EPZ and further, workers tended to single out factories where there had been problems including Universe Garments, Bandhu, Ringshine and A-One.

The protesters call particularly for and end to the low wages and long working hours. Given the unsafe conditions and the almost complete lack of respect for workers fundamental rights, particularly the right to organize and to bargain (including the development of functional industrial relations and grievance mechanisms ) it should come as no surprise that people take to the streets.

Over the past year CCC has regularly called attention to the need for structural measures to end the consistent and ongoing violations in the Bangladeshi garment industry, repeatedly warning that workers are getting desperate and frustrated. With great persistence we, together with unions and NGOs in Bangladesh, have called upon brands, the Bangladeshi government, factory owners and their associations to take immediate action. This has resulted in a lot of talk but minimal concrete improvements in the lives of the workers. Clearly, many of them by now feel they have nothing to lose.

Instead of launching an immediate investigation into the root cause of the riots and measures to address them, as called for also by the ITGLWF, the government yesterday had the police arrest several union officials, either in their offices or on the road (none of them at the protests). One was released yesterday evening, but this evening (24 may) Dhaka time, BIGUF received reliable information that all three of their staff members who were arrested (two organizers and one cleaner) had been blindfolded and severely beaten and tortured by the police.

The lawyer who is helping them reported that she saw them this afternoon when they were brought to court. She said they were given medical aid before they were brought to the court, and personally saw the bruises and cuts. She also said that the court ordered that they remain in detention five more days for further questioning.

They were arrested at the BIGUF office in Gazipur at about 8AM on May 23, while doing their office work. They (and BIGUF officers) have categorically denied that they were part of the Savar and Dhaka labor unrest. They're accused of vandalism, destruction of properties and labor unrest in the garment industry - case No. 51(5) 06 under Penal Code 147, 148, 149, 323, 360 and 379.

Police also arrested Garments Workers Unity Forum President Moshrefa Mishu on May23, reportedly while she was on her way to a press conference.

Please contact the Bangladeshi embassy in your country today (see list below) and call for their immediate release! This is matter of great urgency. Please also contact brands and your own government (for example via their embassies in Bangladesh) and express your concern.

Draft message (please adapt as you see fit):

TO:
Ambassador Shamsher M. Chowdhury
Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC
3510, International Drive NW
Washington, DC 20008, USA
EMAIL : bdootwash@bangladoot.org
PHONE : (202) - 244 - 0183
FAX:(202) - 244 - 7830/2771


May 2006

Dear Ambassador Chowdhury:

I (my organization) is greatly shocked to learn that you have arrested, beaten and tortured a number of union officials in relation to the worker protests of the past days, which follows years of neglicence of
workers rights.

I (my organization) call upon you to immediately release them and instead launch an investigation in the root causes of the riots, focusing in particular on the following problems:

- repression of unions and failure to respect the right to organize and to collective bargaining;
- unfair dismissals of elected worker representatives
- excessively long working hours;
- low rates of basic earnings;
- abuses in piece rate payments;
- the late payment of wages;
- the use of child labour;
- issues of structural and fire safety in the sector;
- the corrupt police practice of charge sheeting workers on the flimsiest of evidence;
- the practice of supervisors acting as labour contractors and illegally raking off a percentage of wages;
- the practice of using hired goons to terrorise and intimidate workers;
- the behaviour of the police and other paramilitary forces when unrest occurs.

Sincerely,

________________________



for more information on the protests in bangladesh visit:

Protesting Bangladeshis burn factories (reuters)
Bangladesh workers set factories ablaze (china post)
Foreign garment owners to ask compensation from Bangladesh government (people's daily)
Ominous signs on the horizon (financial express)





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