TANBAZAR ALERT

This alert is being sent out by Shonghoti, an alliance of 62 organisations in Bangladesh who have come together to protest the human rights violation of sex workers at Tanbazar and Nimtoli and to build solidarity in support of their rights and demands. Shonghoti has emerged out of the Tanbazar Solidarity Action initiative taken by Naripokkho earlier in July 1999.

Pre-Dawn Attack and Forcible Removal on 24th July 1999:

During the eviction late Friday night and the early hours of Saturday morning, the area was cordoned off for several hours. It is reported that several hundred police accompanied by senior officials of the police and social services departments were directly engaged in this operation. Initially, the women were reassured that only those who had opted for "rehabilitation" would be sent to the vagrant homes. However, even those who had not wanted to be "rehabilitated" were forced out and bused away. Although authorities, as quoted in the press, said that only 267 sex workers were removed, eyewitnesses reported that at least four hundred women were forcibly taken away. The rest fled into hiding.

Once inside the buildings, the police beat the women indiscriminately and dragged them into waiting buses. Journalists who have visited the now deserted buildings reported having seen signs of panic and flight.

In the panic mothers were separated from their children. Some mothers were not reunited with their children until several days later. The injured were not given any medical attention. Those who fled were forced to leave their belongings behind. Many who returned later to gather their possessions were forced into buses or trucks and also removed. Those who were able to enter the buildings found that all their possessions had been looted. Relatives of the captured sex workers were not told where they had been taken.

One of the leaders of the sex workers, Sathi, was beaten almost unconscious and dragged into a police truck with her 11 month old daughter. Although it was first reported that she was in police remand, the Narayanganj Police Station denied all knowledge of her whereabouts. The morning after the attack, they denied all knowledge of any untoward incident but later acknowledged that they had "cooperated with the Department of Social Service staff", as reported in several papers.

Immediately after the forcible removal, Shonghoti held a press conference to condemn the Government's actions and expose the horrors of beatings and sexual abuse inflicted upon sex workers being "rehabilitated" at vagrant homes.

The forcible removal of the sex workers violates their fundamental human rights to freedom of movement, shelter, and security. Shonghoti demands that the sex workers of Tanbazar and Nimtoli be allowed to return to their work and homes. They are citizens who have rights like any other citizen. We are concerned that what has happened in Tanbazar and Nimtoli is just the beginning. In the future, all women and children living in brothels in Bangladesh will be under threat.

Recent developments:

On 27th July:

Following the writ petition, so far 80 of the detained sex workers have been released. The government claims that they have been "handed over" to their "guardians". In many cases they were simply released into the custody of pimps who claimed to be relatives. It is clear that the Department of Social Services does not have any clear plan or procedure for the release of the women.

Each released woman was hastily provided with Taka 5,000 in cash and one sewing machine, and alternatively Taka 7,000. It should be noted that this is not even sufficient to compensate them for the loss of their belongings and of rent they had paid in advance to brothel owners. In the name of "rehabilitation" they have simply been made destitute.

On 29th July:

Many of the placards they held complained that there was no one else to whom they could turn, as Bangladesh has neither an independent judiciary, nor an independent human rights commission, nor an ombudsman's office.

On 30th July:

Though this incident took place in broad daylight only 50 yards from the Narayanganj Sadar Police Station, the police took no action to protect the demonstrators, though they were informed of the protest in advance. Though the police had been deployed in the Tanbazar brothel area for over a month, they were conspicuously absent during the demonstration and attack. This incident shows beyond doubt that Narayanganj is held hostage by armed thugs who enjoy the collusion of the police and local administration.

Local thugs, with full support of the Narayanganj police, had patrolled the riverside all morning preventing any woman from crossing the Sitalakhya river suspecting she may be an escaped sex worker attempting to join the human rights workers protest or to return to the brothels.

On 1st August:

1. Why the sex workers in confinement should not be allowed to return to their accommodations in Tanbazar and Nimtoli, and

2. Why the Government's actions should not be considered illegal, in which case the Government should compensate the sex workers for their loss and injury.

Officials of the Ministries of Home Affairs and Social Welfare and the Deputy Commissioner of Narayanganj were made respondent to the complaint. The court issued a Rule Nisi against the Government, granting four weeks in which to reply why its actions should not be considered a violation of fundamental human rights and why the detainment in vagrant homes should not be considered illegal.

On the same day, representatives of Shonghoti met with the UNDP Resident Representative, who is also the Resident Coordinator of all UN agencies in Bangladesh. The UNDP was urged not to remain silent while the sex workers' human rights were violated, and to issue a press note clarifying the fact that the government's recent repressive actions are not linked to the UNDP assisted project. UNDP was also given a letter written by Shonghoti to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights to be forwarded to Geneva.

On 4th August:

Demonstrations continue:

In the meantime, the government has continued its repressive actions by now apprehending floating sex workers in Dhaka. In the Tanbazar area, the apprehension and harassment of any burqa clad (veiled) woman continues. The Prime Minister, during a high-level government meeting on 5 August, has issued directives to expedite the "rehabilitation effort" and has condemned journalists, human rights workers and women's rights activists for protesting the government's noble initiative ! It was also stated that the brothels in Tanbazar and Nimtoli could not be allowed to continue in order to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, especially, HIV/AIDS ! On 6 August, the State Minister of Social Welfare presided over a meeting in Narayanganj where he announced that all brothels in Bangladesh would be eliminated.

Background:

The recent murder in Tanbazar of Jesmin, a sex worker, on 30 June 1999, was used to highlight the underworld nature of brothels to strengthen local opinion against them. The murder provided the pretext for the deployment of police in the area. Once the police were deployed, it became evident that their main purpose was to prevent clients from entering the area, and to prevent sex workers from leaving. Water and electricity were also cut off. These measures left many women and their children facing starvation.

The sex workers at Tanbazar and Nimtoli appear to be victims of power politics. The brothels were largely controlled by supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition political party. Shamim Osman, the local Member of Parliament (MP) who belongs to Awami League, the ruling party, now seeks to curtail BNP influence and access to an important source of funds by eliminating the brothels. A fifty-one member Citizen's Action Committee, led by Mr. Osman, held meetings and rallies under the banner of rehabilitating the sex workers. The ruling party supported Mr. Osman and the local administration was unwilling to protect the rights of sex workers who feared forcible removal.

The Prime Minister's subsequent declaration of an allocation of Taka 20 million (about US$ 400,000) for the welfare of sex workers appears to have provided a pretext for the Government's repressive actions, all of which are being taken in the name of "rehabilitating" sex workers.

The attack and forcible removal of sex workers in Tanbazar and Nimtoli has disrupted a five-year project funded by the United Nations Development Programme and implemented by the Department of Social Services of the Government of Bangladesh. The project was to have spent Taka 100 million (US$ 2 million) to rehabilitate sex workers. The project would have provided on-site services to sex workers in the country's four largest brothels, including Tanbazar and Nimtoli. Skills training, micro-credit, schooling for sex workers' children, health education/awareness, and other services were to be provided. All services were to be delivered in the brothels, without coercion and with the co-operation of the women. The UNDP claims that this project was designed in consultation with representatives of the sex workers.

The week before the police attack on the brothels, a survey was carried out by DSS. The sex workers were asked whether or not they wished to be rehabilitated, although the conditions of rehabilitation were not specified. Most of the women in the brothels had decided that they wished to remain there and that the Government should provide basic services to them there. They stated this clearly in various meetings and press conferences, and particularly in the public rally held on the 22nd of July.

Suggested Protest Actions:

Messages of Solidarity:

• Shonghoti
  C/o Naripokkho,
  House 91/N, Road 7/A,
  Dhanmandi, Dhaka 1209, Bangladesh
  Fax: (880 2) 816148
  E-mail: convenor@naripkho.pradeshta.net

Members of Shonghoti: