Kapaeeng Foundation

On 08-09 February 2014, Kapaeeng Foundation (KF) and the CHT Headmen Network organized a community seminar on the human rights issues of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh at SAS Seminar Room in Rangamati.

This 2-day long community seminar was organized to build and enhance the knowledge and skills of a total of 25 indigenous human rights defenders of the CHT Region, in relation to basic understanding of human rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, women’s rights, legal aid, and documentation. The seminar was also aimed at building strong networks among theparticipating indigenous HRDs with diverse working background belonging to five indigenous communities- Chakma, Marma, Pankhoa, Tanchangya, and Tripura.

The community seminar comprised of a total of 8 sessions. The inaugural session was presided over by Shakti Pada Tripura, Organizing Secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum (BIPF) and the President of the CHT Headman Network while SantiBijoy Chakma, general secretary of the CHT Headmen Network, Bipasha Chakma, research coordinator of KF and Hiran Mitra Chakma, Acting Coordinator of KF also addressed in this session. Other (technical) sessions were facilitated by indigenous experts and/or practitioners on international and domestic human rights mechanisms, gender issues, legal aid, and documentation.

A very important session of the community seminar was sharing best practices regarding strategies of human rights protection and promotion by the participating HRDs. In this part the HRDs shared their experiences of working on the grounds with their colleagues present at the seminar. Sharat Jyoti Chakma, convener of BIPF, Chittagong Region, a participant of the seminar, shared his experience of being a part of KF’s on-site enquiry team at a village in Mirsarai areas of Chittagong following an incident of rape of an indigenous girl child. He explained how they addressed the enormous challenges they faced during collection of data and consequently organized a press conference in order unveil the incident to the people of the country. Another participant Popen Tripura, a journalist, however, shared his worst experience he faced while collecting data from the government officials of an incident of killing of an indigenous person in Khagrachari district. It is worth mentioning that the seminar was a refresher one for a few of the HRDs, while it was absolutely new for the most.

Most of the technical sessions covered different issues of international human rights including basic understandings of human rights and human rights instruments including Universal Declaration of Human Rights, relevant conventions and declarations, and special procedures. Also, international human rights instruments and institutions specific to indigenous peoples such as ILO Convention No. 107 and No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Issues were analyzed in the seminar among others. In order for equipping the defenders on the ground with more instruments, the participants were also provided with knowledge about getting access to justice and domestic legal system. As a very imperative issue of the indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, a separate session was on violence against indigenous women. Furthermore, the seminar covered the principles and strategies of documentation of human rights situations/incidents with a view to strengthen the capacities of the HRDs to document human rights incidents and carry on their advocacy work.

Finally, participating human rights defenders discussed their strategies to strengthen the network of the indigenous HRDs. In order for that, they proposed and agreed to carry on their advocacy work together. As a part and parcel of that, they would jointly address few cases of human rights violations against indigenous peoples in the CHT. Accordingly, KF promised them to continue its supports to carry out the actions undertaken by the defenders.