Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2001, published 90th ILC session (2002)

1. The Committee recalls that for many years an armed conflict was taking place in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of the country between government forces and the Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity (PCJSS, United Peoples’ Party of the CHT). The Committee noted in its previous observation that a Peace Agreement was signed between the Government and the PCJSS on 2 December 1997. It asked the Government to provide detailed information on its implementation, which has been received. The Committee’s examination of the application of the Convention has been framed against the background of allegations over years of forced displacement of the tribal people of the CHT and settlement in the region of thousands of non tribal people from other parts of the country, large numbers of tribal refugees fleeing the country, and disputes over land and tribal autonomy. While welcoming the Peace Agreement, it is aware that controversy remains over the slow progress of its implementation, as indicated in the Concluding Observations of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination when it last examined the situation of Bangladesh (UN document CERD/C/304/Add.118, 23 April 2001). The Committee requests the Government to provide further information in this respect in its next report.

2. Administration. The Committee notes that an implementation committee for the Peace Agreement was constituted on 20 January 1998, and four meetings have been held. The Chittagong Hill Tracts Regional Council was created in May 1998, on the basis of the Agreement, to coordinate the three Hill District local government councils, and to carry out law and order functions. In September 1998, a 22 member interim regional council was established with the head of the PCJSS as its chairperson. The Committee requests the Government to continue to keep it informed on the progressive transfer of administrative responsibility to the tribal leaders in the CHT.

3. The Committee notes from the report that development allocations for the CHT have been made, and gradually increased, under the Peace Agreement but that the line ministries have taken up their own development programmes in these areas. Please provide more information on the practical implications of this development, with particular attention to the involvement of the tribal leadership in the planning and implementation of all development activities undertaken in the region.

4. Legislation in force. The Committee asked in its previous comments for information on the possible repeal of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Regulation (No. 1 of 1900), which has been the basic legislation in force for the region. The Government states in its report that the CHT Regional Council is to advise on the amendment of the Regulation and the removal of contradictions between it and the Hill Districts (Repeal and Enforcement of Law and Special Provision) Act, 1989, which the Committee understands has not entered into force. Please provide information on the progress of this effort.

5. Return of tribal refugees. The Committee recalls that the return of tribal refugees from India was the subject of an agreement signed within the framework of the Peace Agreement. The Government states in its report that the return of these refugees from Tripura State in India was completed in February 1998 with the return to Bangladesh of 64,433 people belonging to 12,222 families. The Task Force established for the purpose has met regularly, and has now also completed the identification of internally displaced refugees. The Committee notes that the refugees were given rations for one year and nine months, which was more than provided for in the Peace Agreement. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report whether the refugees have been resettled, whether in their former homes or elsewhere. Please also indicate whether the Task Force has issued reports on its work, and if so forward copies.

6. Land - Articles 11 to 14. One of the principal causes of the conflicts has been the loss of tribal land to non tribals. The Peace Agreement provides that the Government is to carry out a cadastral survey in consultation with the Regional Council, with the objective of the Ministry of Land providing two acres of land to landless tribal families. The Committee notes the constitution of a Land Commission for this purpose in June 1999, which is to resolve all the different land disputes in the CHT. It notes with regret, however, that the Commission has not yet begun functioning. Given the importance of resolving these conflicts, the Committee hopes that the Land Commission has now gone into operation, and asks the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this regard.

7. The Government has indicated that the Divisional Commissioner, Chittagong Division of the Ministry of Land, and the deputy commissioners of the three Hill Districts were instructed to take steps to cancel the lease agreements of non tribals who were allotted lands in the CHT for rubber and other plantations and failed to use the lands for the purpose for which they were leased, and that some such leases have now been cancelled. Please indicate how much such land has been leased, how much has been recovered, and whether it has been distributed to landless tribal families.

8. The Committee notes in this regard that the rehabilitation case of 3,000 landless tribals to which reference was made in the Committee’s previous comments has not been resolved, because the documentation for this purpose is still with the Planning Commission for approval. As this particular case has now been pending for several years, the Committee hopes the Government will be able to indicate in its next report that the situation of these families and others has been resolved.

9. The Committee notes the information received concerning reafforestation in the CHT, and requests the Government to keep it informed of progress in this regard.

10. As regards the Committee’s concern about the Government’s attitude towards "jhum" cultivation, which is the traditional shifting cultivation method of the tribal people in the CHT, it notes with interest the remark in the report that the Government is encouraging a different jhum method which it indicates will be less destructive of the environment. Please continue to provide information on discussions and policies in this connection.

11. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided a reply to the following point in the Committee’s previous observation, and requests it to do so:

With reference to its previous comments regarding the power of the district councils to allocate land rights, the Committee notes the Government’s comment that a solution for this issue has been provided for in the Peace Agreement. The Committee also notes that, under section 26 of the Chapter of the Peace Agreement on Chittagong Hill Tracts Local Government/Hill District Council, no lands in a particular district can be leased out, sold, purchased or transferred without prior permission of the relevant district council, regardless of laws that may stipulate otherwise, with the exception of reserved forest, the Kaptai Hydro electric Project Area, the Betbunia Satellite Station area, state-owned industrial enterprises and government-owned lands. Please indicate the proportion of the Chittagong Hill Tracts covered by this exception. The Committee also understands that the Government cannot acquire or transfer any lands, hills and forests under the jurisdiction of a district council without its prior approval.

[The Government is requested to report in detail in 2003.]