Should the US Hold Hearings on Bangladesh?

I recently returned from several days in Washington where I met with legislative leaders and staff, as well as members of various rights commissions from the United States government. Much in the meetings concerned Bangladesh's admittedly false prosecution of Muslim journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who accompanied me to various offices in Washington. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say I accompanied him, as his case continues to raise concerns in Washington where it has been a significant impediment to better US-Bangladesh relations.

In the meetings, however, I also furthered previously held discussions about the ongoing and government-supported persecution of Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh. In 1948, after the population transfers that accompanied India's partition, Hindus were about one third of East Pakistan's population. In 1971, when East Pakistan became Bangladesh, they were just under one in five. Today, they are only nine percent. Normal demographic processes do not explain that kind of decline; and SUNY Professor Sachi Dastidar estimates that over 40 million Hindus are "missing" from the Bangladeshi census--killed, forced to convert, forced to emigrate, or never born as a result.

The current Bangladeshi government took office this year with a pledge to change that; but, if anything, persecution has gotten more severe under the center-left Awami League. In its first two months of office alone, we verified one and a half serious attacks on Hindus every week: murder, rape, child abduction, assault, land grabs, forced conversion, and religious desecration. In every case, the victims were attacked because they were Hindu by victimizers who did so because the Awami League allows them to do as as Muslims; it is even enshrined in Bangladeshi Law, the Vested Property Act. In some instances, the government even participated in the attacks. Throughout 2009, these attacks have continued with a wink and a nod from the government.

Several US bodies investigate these matters from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the US House of Representatives and many other pertinent bodies. The key to US concern, besides the human rights atrocities, is that the government does nothing to stop them or even participates. That is what we have in Bangladesh. Moreover, US citizens purchase Bangladeshi garments and other goods, and US companies might decide to do business in Bangladesh. Moreover, Bangladesh contributes the second largest contingent to UN peacekeeping missions, which are in large part supported by US taxpayers. We also give millions in aid each year to Bangladesh.

Shouldn't our government make these Americans aware that by doing so they are supporting ethnic cleansing of Hindus--so that Americans can choose to spend their dollars on countries that do not support our enemies?

Islamists Gaining under Awami Leage in Bangladesh

Ever since the Awami League's ascension to power in Bangladesh, there has been a regular cottage industry of apologists claiming that the left-center government will navigate the country away from patronizing Islamists and oppression minorities. If anything, things have worsened under Sheikh Hasina and her cronies. Violence against minorities is not only increasing but becoming more severe--and open--day by day. I have vetted numerous allegations and have established a severe anti-minority action in Bangladesh at the rate of about one per week and a half. The real figures probably are higher.

Now, Muslim dissident journalist, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury reports on new evidence of how open pro-Islamist rhetoric is, including the demonization of other religions--things far worse than what their allies decry as "hate speech."

Shoaib has been arrested and tortured as a result of his pro-US, pro-Israel, and anti-Islamist actions; and still faces capital charges of treason, sedition, and blasphemy.

He writes from Dhaka,"Hizbut Towhid, a notorious Islamist group in BANGLADESH, recently published a book and DVD named DAJJAL, which is sold openly in all major bookstores in this country.

"This book is written by Selim Ponni, the kingpin of this group. He terms Jews and Christians as "enemies of humanity" and asks people to start JIHAD against Jews and Christians. This is an extremely provocative book and DVD.

"I am surprised, how Awami League, which proclaims to be a secularist party is allowing this. Hizbut Towhid never could sell such hate materials openly before.

For those who look at that and say, "free speech," you might be missing the point. We can put aside the debate on whether or not governments should censor "hate speech," which is what Hizbut and other Islamist groups offer their readers. Shoaib's points are two. The first is that Islamists are more powerful and can spew their hatred openly. (Were this book and DVD an isolated incident, it might not be enough to conclude that, but taken with the uptick in anti-minority activity and Islamist strength, it is significant.) The second is that we are letting our enemy socialize the Muslim world for jihad by default--just because the US is occupied with serious domestic battles, like health care, does not mean our enemies have stopped their nefarious deeds, the worst of which have little to do with the crisis in Iran.

Third, the Awami League continues to lie with a straight face, telling the world that none of this is happening. The PM has lied again and again about repealing the racist Vested Property Act (VPA) and other anti-minority legislation on the books. (The VPA allows the government to seize non-Muslim property and distribute it to its Muslim cronies.) Just this month, US Secretary of State continued the fiction with a syrupy sweet speech about the Awami League's democratic and moderate Islam ideals. What nonsense! Worse, it gives the Awami League the notion that it is getting away with ethnic cleansing and supporting the worst jihadists while telling a gullible West that it is fighting both!

Is Shoaib Choudhury's ordeal coming to an end?

Shoaib’s July 15 court appearance was surprisingly different from what we have experienced for months. With no warning to the defense, the government called three new witnesses. (Their only previous witness remained AWOL). Each testified briefly. The former Assistant Commissioner of Bangladesh’s Special Branch said Shoaib committed a crime by trying to go to Israel. He also said he committed the crime of hurting the "religious sentiments of Muslims by praising Christians and Jews." A non-governmental computer technician testified that the government seized Shoaib's computers but did not say what was found on it. He also got into a protracted discussion with Shoaib’s attorney about whether the items seized were computers, printers, or other peripherals. The Inspector of Police also accused Shoaib of breaking the law by trying to go to Israel. Shoaib’s attorney did get him to admit that Shoaib had no airplane ticket to Israel, however, alleging he was going to Bangkok and Singapore then on to Tel Aviv; an odd route even under Dhaka’s travel ban.

The point is that none of this is new or even compelling. If this is all the government can regurgitate after five and a half years, there cannot be much of a case, at least on the basis of Bangladeshi law. Even the judge seemed to agree, asking the defense to explain exactly what Shoaib is accused of doing, after the day’s lame testimony. (The government seems to have finally given up on the false and easily-disproved allegation of a “Hello Tel Aviv” article since the judge asked for evidence of the allegation.) When Advocate Govinda said that Shoaib's crime was exposing the rise of radical Islam and its use of madrassas, Judge Bashir Ullah--and this might sound familiar--said he should be rewarded for that and not condemned. Shoaib said the Public Prosecutor was smiling at that point.

Whether he was smiling because he knows a guilty verdict will be handed down regardless, because he knows our expectations of vindication will be dashed as were our previous hopes, or because he sees an end to Shoaib’s ordeal crowned with a not guilty verdict; is a matter of speculation. We seem to have gone through this before under previous governments only to be disappointed. But Shoaib believes that the government has decided to finish the trial, he expects as early as August. They could have done so months, even years ago but did not. Perhaps the economic hard times have led them to re-cast their strategy as regards trade. Perhaps they have read recent articles urging the United Nations to bar Bangladesh from peacekeeping missions. Bangladesh provides more UN peacekeepers than any other country except Pakistan, and doing so has become critical for the Bangladeshi economy. It was also one of the underlying reasons for the 2007 coup there. Or maybe it is they, not us, who ultimately tired of it all.

If Shoaib is right, here is what we can expect. Once the government concludes its case, the court will set a date for "argument," or the defense's rebuttal. Once that is concluded, the judge will retire to determine verdicts and set a date when judgement will be read. Today’s events certainly made it seem that the government had despaired of presenting any serious evidence for the charge; a hopeful sign. We must remember, however, that if the real decision is to continuing placating the radicals, the lack of evidence will not factor into Shoaib’s fate. It certainly has not up till now.

Next date: July 22, 2009.

Pro-Peace Muslim threatened the day President Obama speaks to the Muslim world of peace

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 4, 2009
CONTACT: Richard L. Benkin, Ph.D.; +1-847-922-6426;
drrbenkin@comcast.net; http://www.InterfaithStrength.com

Dhaka, Bangladesh—The Bangladeshi government resumed its harassment of pro-peace journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, despite repeated promises not to. Intelligence agents have been staking out his house “past few days,” according to neighbors; and the family cornered a man insisting that he was from Bangladesh’s DGFI intelligence service. “Sergeant Rafiq” was ask when Choudhury left and returned home, his license plate, and so forth. Choudhury called numerous government agencies, but only one replied, denying it had sent anyone. With crimes by persons claiming to be from the government increasing daily in Bangladesh, the family was concerned. Ultimately, however, the agent admitted being charged with investigating five dissidents, including Choudhury. Bangladeshi’s Washington Embassy agreed that our concern was especially justified Choudhury’s tenuous position. Such visits often are meant as threats in Bangladesh. As of tonight, the police refuse to take any action in the matter or even accept Choudhury’s complaint.

The Muslim world’s only self-proclaimed Zionist, Choudhury was arrested in 2003 by government agents and Islamist forces after advocating relations with Israel, religious equality, and exposing the rise of radical Islam in Bangladesh. He was tortured and held for seventeen months and only released after strong pressure by human rights activist Dr. Richard Benkin and US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL). The government then charged Choudhury with the capital offenses of sedition, treason, and blasphemy “for praising Christians and Jews,” regularly admitting that the charges are baseless and maintained to appease radical Islamists. Though the government has not produce a single piece of evidence for the charges, and its sole witness keeps refusing to appear, the government continues the case in an effort to intimidate him into Choudhury and to drain his financial resources. As one DC insider put it, “They’ve made the process the punishment.”

The life of this courageous dissident journalist is in danger unless the world renews the protests it lodged during previous governments.

For further information, contact Dr. Richard Benkin at the telephone or email above.

Hey Sheikh Hasina, no one's forgotten Shoaib Choudhury!

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury’s struggle once played out in dramatic events: his 2003 arrest; my storming Washington’s Bangladeshi embassy in 2004; his 2005 release after a tense meeting involving Bangladesh’s ambassador, US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), and me; middle of the night battles to prevent his re-incarceration; international accolades for the Islamic world’s only “Muslim Zionist” and supportive resolutions from the US Congress and others in 2006 and 2007. But five and a half years since Shoaib’s arrest, things have settled into a Kafkaesque holding pattern with no end in sight. As one Washington insider quipped, "The Bangladeshis have made the process the punishment."

In 2003, Shoaib Choudhury broke Bangladesh's blackout on positive, or even objective news and information about Israel and the Jewish people. The ever more powerful Islamists there were already furious with him for exposing their rise to power and use of madrassas, or Muslim religious schools, to radicalize young Bangladeshis. So, for doing nothing more than his profession as a journalist, they engineered his arrest and torture, getting the government to try in vain to extract a false confession from him that he was an Israeli spy.

After 17 months, with the help of US Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), I succeeded in forcing his release, but though multiple government officials have promised to drop the charges against him--charges they admit are false--the charges remain. More than one Bangladeshi official also admitted that they fear dropping the charges because they do not want to anger Islamic radicals. No less an expert than Professor Irwin Cotler--former Canadian Law Minister and attorney for luminaries like Nelson Mandela and Andrei Sakharov--has identified over a dozen violations of Bangladeshi law in their prosecution of Shoaib Choudhury.

Yet, May 26th marked his 50th court appearance in the 49 months since his release. As usual, he was forced to wait outside for hours only to be told that his case was continued because the government’s sole witness did not show. This is draining his economic and emotional resources; the possibility of reincarnation or even execution is ever present.

His defenders have tired of waiting and are ready to do battle again--just as we forced Bangladesh's notorious RAB to release him last year after only a few tense hours. We will continue to oppose--successfully--all legislation designed to reward Bangladesh with tariff relief or other trade benefits when its government continues to play fast and loose with human rights while allowing Islamists to take over every social institution in the country. We will seek to implement Foreign Ops language that would strip Bangladesh of US aid for its defiance of international outrage and norms of civilization. And we will look to exclude Bangladesh from participating in UN Peacekeeping Missions since it cannot even keep the peace within its own borders.

To appease Islamic radicals and reward its own cronies, the Bangladesh government has continuedthis false prosecution--not so much at their own expense, but at the expense of their people. Their willful infliction of misery on their own people is contrary to what every civilized people expects of its government.

We have stood by Shoaib for five and a half years, and we have no intention of abandoning him--not now, not ever.

Concern Mounting again for pro-Israel Muslim, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury

The fact that the fight for Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has reached an impasse should lead no one to conclude that his defenders have given up. Not a week goes by when I do not receive at least one interrogatory about it; and even as I have been speaking about saving the Bangladeshi Hindus from government-tolerated discrimination, the host always begins by asking me for an update on Shoaib.

Calls and emails come from media and from average citizens wanting to know if he is all right and what they can do to help. And people still ask about boycotting Bangladeshi goods, something I have opposed to this point. And there is continued concern from governments, as well. The Australian Foreign Ministry expressed interest in meeting with me for an update on the case and to see what might be proper for it to do. In a recent letter to Australian Senator Ursula Stephens, it wrote that “The Australian Government will continue to encourage the Government of Bangladesh to ensure that Mr. Choudhury’s trial is conducted in an expeditious and transparent fashion in accordance with proper judicial process and that his human rights are respected at all times. A high ranking member of the ruling party, Stephens is close to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and has been an outspoken advocate for Shoaib Choudhury.

The Foreign Ministry’s letter points to the next phase of the international struggle for justice in this case. First focused on gaining Shoaib’s release from imprisonment and torture, we shifted after that success when several government officials admitted that the charges against him were “false…and only maintained to appease the radicals.” We exposed the truth behind the prosecution, but the former (BNP) government went forward with the case; and in doing so, decided their political need to “appease the radicals” was more important than the damage they were doing to the people of Bangladesh. Their decision has meant that every piece of legislation intended to provide tariff relief for Bangladeshi imports to the United States has been defeated. (The United States imports about 70 percent of Bangladesh’s garment exports, and has free trade agreements and other relationships with several garment exporting countries that are steadily eroding Bangladesh’s place in the US market as a result.) Several members of the Bangladeshi government were told that these consequences would follow their continued need to placate radicals, as “the American people do not intend to spend their money to support their enemies.”

Once the legal proceedings began, internationally famed human rights attorney Irwin Cotler filed an amicus curiae brief that identified almost two dozen ways in which the case violated Bangladesh’s own laws and international human rights laws. Dr. Cotler has defended such luminaries as Nelson Mandela, Andrei Sakharov, and Saad Ibrahim, as well as Shoaib Choudhury. Moreover, the proceedings have been carried out contrary to accepted principles of justice worldwide: in five and a half years since the charges were brought, the government has been unable to provide one shred of evidence to support them; on August 6, 2008, when it made a completely fictitious allegation alleged that Shoaib wrote an article entitled, “Hello Tel Aviv” for USA Today, the trial judge demanded proof of the article, or he would dismiss the case; the government never provided any, and the judge never raised the issue again. The government had one witness, the officer in charge of Shoaib’s 2003 arrest, and he has not shown up to testify for the past several court dates. There is a legal principle in civil societies world wide that “justice delayed is justice denied”; and so in any society of laws, the court would have issued a warrant for the witness to testify or dismissed the case. Bangladesh has done neither. These various illegal irregularities on the part of the Bangladeshi government, prompted one US official to suggest to me in April that “because they have no case against Shoaib, the Bangladeshis are making the legal process his punishment.”

Many people have wondered if Bangladesh’s Awami League government will break from the policies of its predecessor or continue them, making only cosmetic changes to enhance it own image. On January 12, several members of the US Congress (Republicans, Democrats, and committees that determine appropriations and trade legislation) sent a letter to the then newly elected Prime Minister. They congratulated Sheikh Hasina on her electoral victory and noted that her first step in bringing “democracy, integrity and prosperity to Bangladesh” should be “to quickly drop all charges against Bangladeshi journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury.” “Doing so,” they noted, “will take a significant step toward restoring faith in the Bangladeshi government and removing a significant obstacle in Bangladeshi-American relations.”

It has not, which means that Bangladeshi goods will continue to be assessed higher tariffs than those of its competitors. The fact that the Awami League government has done nothing to demonstrate that it is any different from is prompting some legal experts to explore a case against Bangladesh at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Others are looking to see if Shoaib’s persecution should exclude Bangladesh from UN peacekeeping forces.

In a meeting at the Bangladeshi Embassy in Washington, Ambassador M. Humayun Kabir addressed Bangladesh’s inability to gain favorable trade status in the US by asking me, “How can you hold up aid for 150 million people because of one man?”

“How can I? How can you?” I responded. “You’re the ones prosecuting a case you have admitted to be false. You’re the ones telling the rest of the world that you place the feelings of the radicals above your own laws. All you have to do is stop it. How can I? How can you do this to your people?”