JusticeMaker Bangladesh preparing to launch human rights training sessions

DHAKA, October 16, 2010
2010 Asia JusticeMakers Fellow from Bangladesh Adv. Shahanur Islam has completed preparations on training materials on torture and human rights. Mr. Shahanur, who is also the executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Human Rights (BIHR), will organize training sessions for different professionals in respective fields, such as lawyers, prison and police officials, judicial representatives and journalists, to increase their capacity as well as their knowledge about the international human rights instruments available to them.

2010 JusticeMaker Shahanur Islam republishes the human rights information flyer

In preparation for a community information session that he will conduct in the near future, JM 2010 Shahanur Islam recently republished a brochure about human rights standards in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Institute for Human Rights (BIHR), published the brochure several months ago, in preparation for a door-to-door campaign to highlight the problem of torture in prisons. The pamphlet empowers ordinary Bangladeshis by informing them—in language easily understood by a layperson—of their rights once they are behind bars. As part of the community information session, Shahanur intends to distribute the brochure to residents of Dhaka and outside of Dhaka who have fallen victim to police abuse.

Shahanur says that his intention in creating and publishing the pamphlet was to remove a “veil of silence” that keeps torture victims from asserting their rights as human beings and citizens of their own country. Understanding that citizen activism is often muffled by illiteracy and a lack of education, the brochure contains short, impactful phrases that ordinary citizens can learn ad share with their neighbours and friends, to help amplify their voices.