The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Sheik Hasina, a member of the National Parliament of Bangladesh, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/179/11(a)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 178th session (May 2006),

Taking account of the letter from the Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh, dated 14 October 2006,

Recalling the following: Sheik Hasina was the target of a grenade attack during a rally of the Awami League held on 21 August 2004 in the centre of Dakar which left her with a permanent hearing disability, took the lives of 25 people and left hundreds maimed for life; seven other members of parliament sustained injuries from grenade pellets; the attack reportedly involved the explosion of a dozen Arges grenades, and occurred in broad daylight in the presence of over 300 policemen and scores of government intelligence and surveillance agents; noting in this respect that, in his letter, the Speaker stated that Sheik Hasina was on a truck and that there were other Awami League leaders gathered around the truck; nobody was injured nor was any splinter found on the truck,

Considering that in his letter the Speaker repeated his earlier statement to the effect that the Awami League had failed to cooperate in the investigation; more particularly, he stated that it had not cooperated with the FBI, Scotland Yard and Interpol, for which reason those agencies had left, that it did not give evidence before the Judicial Inquiry Commission and did not produce before it Sheik Hasina's bullet-proof jeep which was allegedly hit; that at the investigation stage the Awami League leaders did not extend any manner of cooperation for a full investigation and that, whenever the prosecution asked for remand of any suspect, the Awami League lawyers preferred writ petitions before the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, thus staying the investigation proceedings,

Noting that the source has strongly refuted this and stated the following: after the attack, Sheik Hasina's vehicle was examined at least six times between 24 August and 10 September 2004, and complete access to the bulletproof vehicle was given on demand to the investigators from the FBI, Interpol and their Bangladeshi counterparts; the source provided the names of eight Bangladeshi investigators who went to Sheik Hasina's residence to examine the vehicle; according to the source, full and unhindered access was given to the damaged vehicle whenever a request was made by a Bangladeshi government agency; moreover, the Awami League did not prevent any of its workers or activists from giving testimony to Justice Md. Joynul Abedin, the single judge of the Judicial Inquiry Commission; many Awami League members are said to have provided such testimony, as acknowledged in the Executive Summary of the Judicial Inquiry Commission's Report, which has not as yet been made public; moreover, the source affirms that Awami League leaders have always declared their readiness to provide testimony to any government agency,

Recalling that, according to the source, the crime scene was not protected, and evidence was allowed to be contaminated; unexploded grenades were not preserved for forensic tests, but detonated instead; no punitive action was reportedly taken against any member of the security personnel for their lapses, and some are said to have been promoted since; nine FBI and Interpol officials visited Dhaka to assist the Criminal Investigation Department (CID); Interpol reportedly made an eight-point recommendation but it is unclear whether those recommendations are being followed; moreover, the investigation officers in charge of the case have reportedly been changed four times,

Recalling that, according to the information provided earlier by the Speaker, 20 persons were arrested in connection with this case, and considering in this respect that, according to the source, 17 have been released on bail as the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) found them not to have any links with the attacks, and that the remaining three who are in detention, namely Abdul Hasem, alias Rana, Shafiqul Islam, alias Shafiq and Joj Mia, alias Jalal Ahmed, made confessional statements on 16 November 2005, 17 November 2005 and 26 June 2005, respectively, which, however, have not led to any charges against them; in their statements, they reportedly said that some 18 people were involved in the grenade attack and gave the names of 11 of them whom the police are reportedly trying to track down,

Noting that, with regard to action taken by the Parliament of Bangladesh, the Speaker stated that parliamentarians belonging to the Awami League had raised the issue in Parliament and deliberated on a point of order; thus the matter had been discussed and the Speaker had concluded that judicial proceedings should not be deflected or influenced by discussion in the Parliament and that since the matter was under investigation the law would take its own course, for which reason he also hoped that the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians would drop the case; recalling that, according to the source, at a meeting of the parliamentary House Committee on 23 August 2004 members of the opposition party proposed the adoption of an all-party resolution condemning the attack, offering condolences for the deceased and prayer for the recovery of the wounded; however, the Committee Chairperson reportedly ruled the resolution out of order; moreover, attempts to discuss the attack in Parliament through adjournment motions have proved futile, despite the fact that the leader of the opposition and other parliamentarians had been injured.

Bearing in mind that elections are due to be held in Bangladesh in January 2007 and that a caretaker government will be put in place upon the expiry of the present Government's tenure on 27 October 2006,

1. Thanks the Speaker for his letter; wholly fails to understand, however, how he can possibly state, contrary to all evidence, that nobody was injured in the grenade attack;

2. Regrets that he has not taken note of the information supplied by the source regarding the alleged lack of cooperation of the Awami League with the investigating authorities, which was conveyed to him earlier for comment;

3. Is appalled at the lackof progress in the investigation, which has now been under way for almost two years; and fears that this may indicate little resolve on the part of the competent authorities to shed full light on the grenade attack;

4. Strongly recalls that it is the duty of all States to provide justice and thus to conduct effective, independent and thorough investigations into any crime, especially one of this magnitude, in order to identify the culprits and prosecute and punish them in accordance with the law; and urges the authorities to comply with this duty;

5. Wishes to ascertain whatfollow-up, if any, has been given to the Judicial Inquiry Commission and to the recommendations made by Interpol; would also like to know why the results of that Commission have not as yet been disclosed to the aggrieved parties;

6. Strongly believes that the attack, in which not only the leader of the opposition and seven other parliamentarians were injured, but also 25 people were killed and hundreds maimed for life, should be a matter of deep concern to the Parliament, which, as a guardian of human rights, must ensure that justice is done, and affirms that raising such matters in parliament is in no way interference in the judiciary but constitutes parliament's duty to ensure due administration of justice;

7. Requests the Secretary General to inform the authorities and the source accordingly;

8. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 116th Assembly (April-May 2007).

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