The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Sheikh Hasina, opposition leader of the Parliament of Bangladesh at the time the communication was submitted, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/187/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 186th session (April 2010),

Noting that, at the session it held during the 123rd Assembly, the delegation of Bangladesh handed over to the Committee a report on the investigation into the grenade attack of August 2004 against the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina and other Awami League members which left scores of people dead and wounded,

Recalling that, according to the Home Ministry’s report of March 2010, the investigation into the grenade attack, which is still under way, has revealed the following: the grenade attack was decided on at a meeting in the government quarters of then Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu; Mr. Salam Pintu’s brother, Mr. Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin, supplied the grenades for the attack; former State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and Mr. Salam Pintu provided administrative and financial back-up and support; the government of the time arranged for Mr. Tajuddin to leave Bangladesh; considering that, according to newspaper reports forwarded by the source, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrested in August 2010 Saiful Islam Duke, nephew of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, at the time of the grenade attack Prime Minister; that Duke is accused of having helped Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin to flee the country on the instructions of the then  Prime Minister’s office,

Recalling that the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Home Affairs is monitoring the case, that the Ministry has been directed to report on progress to the Standing Committee at each of the latter’s meetings and that the Ministry has indeed been reporting regularly to the Standing Committee; noting that the report conveyed by the delegation of Bangladesh provides no new information,

1. Thanks the Parliament of Bangladesh for its cooperation and appreciates the fact that it is monitoring the investigation;

2. Is confident that the arrest of another suspect will result in further progress and possibly the completion of the investigation, so that justice can take its course;

3. Requests the Secretary General to invite the parliament to keep the Committee informed of fresh developments;

4. Requests the Committee to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session, to be held on the occasion of the 124th IPU Assembly (April 2011).

Note: you can download a complete electronic version of the brochure "Results of the 123rd IPU Assembly and related meetings" in PDF format (file size 587K approximately). This version requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download free of charge.

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