Bangladesh Newspaper
Bangladesh
Newspaper ownership and content are not subject to direct government restriction. However, if the Government chooses, it can influence journalists through financial means. Government-sponsored advertising and allocations of newsprint imported at a favorable tariff rate are central to many newspapers' financial viability. Government-sponsored advertising is the largest source of revenue for many newspapers. In allocating advertising through the Department of Films and Publications, the Government states that it considers circulation of the newspapers, wage board implementation, objectivity in reporting, coverage of development activities, and "attitude towards the spirit of Bangladesh's War of Liberation." In the past, commercial organizations often were reluctant to advertise in newspapers critical of the Government due to fear of government or bureaucratic retaliation; however, this appears to no longer be the case. ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
On May 12, 2002, 12 unidentified persons broke the lock and opened the main gate of Dabua Benubon Bihar Buddhist Monastery at Beltoli before inmates and local residents chased them away. Using a compilation of newspaper reports, Ain-O-Shalish Kendra (The Law and Arbitration Center), a human rights NGO, filed a writ petition with the High Court asking that the Government be ordered to investigate the incidents reported in the newspapers and to submit its findings to the court. The Government submitted its report to the court in August stating that it had taken action against perpetrators of violence against members of the minority communities wherever such incidents took place. The Government report said investigations revealed that many of the reports were false or exaggerated. ... [Read More]
Public Statements on South Asian Policy
1111--03/17/04 The Promise of Our Partnership; Secretary Colin L. Powell; Op-Ed; The News (Pakistan Newspaper) ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Many Muslims Feared Killed in World Trade Center Attacks
The Los Angeles Times newspaper reports that people with ties to Yemen were killed in the World Trade Center attacks. Several Yemeni men worked in a restaurant on the 106th floor of the north tower and Yemenis worked in the Yemeni-owned Manna Trading Group, an import-export company, on the 33rd floor of the north tower, the Times reported. The newspaper added that Manna is one of dozens of companies that have disappeared. ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
The U.S. Government routinely discusses general and specific religious freedom issues with officials at all levels of the Government as well as with political party leaders and representatives of religious and minority communities. The U.S. Embassy twice encouraged Jamaat Islami to reiterate publicly its position that it supports tolerance and minority rights in the context of an attack on a religious minority member. Both times Jammat Islami demurred. Democracy and governance projects supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) include tolerance and minority rights components. The Embassy successfully encouraged the leader of a major political party to condemn attacks on Ahmadis. An article that the Ambassador wrote for local newspapers on Human Rights Day on December 10, 2003, stressed the importance of religious tolerance and other basic rights. ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
In June a leading English-language newspaper ran a story about three sons of M.P.'s who were allowed to leave the country after being implicated in criminal cases. When the story was quoted in foreign newspapers, an official from the Prime Minister's Office pressured the newspaper's management to fire the author of the story. The author resigned under pressure a few days later. On August 6, a daily newspaper in Chittagong issued a notice retracting a story it had run the previous day, implying that a ruling party faction was involved in the July 12 murders of eight persons in a van (see Section 1.a.). The reporter who authored the original story was fired. According to press reports, the General Secretary of a local Awami League chapter declared at a public rally in Laxmipur on October 4, that he would "chop off the hands and legs" of journalists who continue to write about him (see Section 2.a.). He threatened to "throw opposition activists into the ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
Newspaper ownership and content were not subject to direct government restriction; however, the Government was able to influence journalists because it sponsored advertising and allocated cheap newsprint, central to the viability of many newspapers. Unlike in previous years, commercial firms were not as reluctant to advertise in newspapers critical of the Government. The Government owned and controlled most radio and television stations, and most of these stations focused the bulk of their coverage on the Government. Opposition party news often received little coverage in the government-owned media. ... [Read More]
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Belize is a transit and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of labor and sexual exploitation. Women and children are trafficked to Belize, mainly from Central America, to work in Belize’s growing sex industry. Girls are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, sometimes with the consent and encouragement of their parents. There are also reports of sexual and labor exploitation of men and women in Belize’s banana, sugarcane, and citrus industries. Some Chinese and Indians are trafficked to Belize for debt bondage. Exact numbers of trafficking victims are unknown, particularly the number of transnational trafficking victims, given Belize’s lengthy and porous borders. The Government of Belize does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. B ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
Newspaper ownership and content were not subject to direct government restriction. However, the Government influenced journalists through financial means such as government advertising and allocations of newsprint imported at favorable tariff rates. The Government stated that it considered circulation of the newspapers, compliance with wage board standards, objectivity in reporting, coverage of development activities, and "attitude towards the spirit of Bangladesh's War of Liberation" as factors in allocating advertising. In the past, commercial firms often were reluctant to advertise in newspapers critical of the Government; however, this appeared to no longer be the case. ... [Read More]
Bangladesh
Newspaper ownership and content were not subject to direct government restriction. However, the Government influenced journalists through financial means such as government advertising and allocations of newsprint imported at favorable tariff rates. The Government stated that it considered circulation of the newspapers, compliance with wage board standards, objectivity in reporting, and coverage of development activities as factors in allocating advertising. In the past, commercial firms often were reluctant to advertise in newspapers critical of the Government; however, this appeared no longer to be the case. ... [Read More]
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