VZCZCXRO8228
OO RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #0586/01 1531055
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011055Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6830
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 8468
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 2197
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 9702
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0669
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 1316

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000586 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/28/2018 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM BG
SUBJECT: HOME AFFAIRS ADVISER PROMISES HUMAN RIGHTS 
SUPPORT, SEEKS U.S. AID FOR DRUGS, PASSPORTS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
 ----- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Home Affairs Adviser Maj. Gen. (retired) M.A. Matin 
told the Ambassador on 5/28 that Bangladesh was making 
progress in human rights but could do even better. Matin 
strongly supported an Embassy request for permission to 
observe the graft trials of former Prime Ministers Sheikh 
Hasina and Khaleda Zia to ensure transparency and due 
process. Matin sought USG assistance in fighting narcotics 
use and trafficking and in introducing machine-readable 
passports. He also asked the Ambassador to urge political 
parties to participate in elections set for December, hinting 
that a boycott could provoke military rule. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS AND DUE PROCESS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Home Affairs Adviser Maj. Gen. (retired) M.A. Matin 
stressed the importance of human rights in two recent 
meetings with USG officials, the first on 5/20 with visiting 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and 
Labor Erica Barks-Ruggles and the second on 5/28 with the 
Ambassador. In both meetings, Matin said he had zero 
tolerance for extrajudicial killings by law enforcement 
agencies. He also said he had issued strict instructions that 
custodial deaths were "absolutely prohibited." In the second 
meeting, he said the Caretaker Government (CTG) was aware of 
the Department of State's 2007 Human Rights Report that 
claimed human rights in Bangladesh had deteriorated under 
Emergency Power Rules and had "noted the points" it raised. 
Matin said the Government was considering allowing trade 
unions to resume their traditional activities, which had been 
sharply proscribed under Emergency Power Rules in effect 
since January 2007. He said a proposal for creating a Human 
Rights Commission was with the Law Adviser for final vetting. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador Moriarty again requested permission for 
the Embassy to observe the graft trials of the two former 
prime ministers, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and 
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia. 
Home Affairs Additional Secretary Abdur Rashid cited security 
and overcrowding in an attempt to discourage Embassy 
representatives from attending the trials; Matin, however, 
said an Embassy observer would be "very good for us" because 
it would put pressure on defense attorneys to stop shouting 
and otherwise misbehaving in court. He noted that "everything 
was calm and quiet" last month when Cherie Blair, the wife of 
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, visited the 
courtroom where Sheikh Hasina was on trial. Matin said he 
would take the Ambassador's request directly to the Law 
Adviser. 
 
------------------- 
FIGHTING CORRUPTION 
------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Matin also detailed the ongoing anti-corruption 
campaign, saying that 59 people, including several 
high-profile politicians that include former ministers, had 
been convicted so far with about 50 other cases on trial. He 
said so far the campaign had netted 197 people. Matin headed 
the national coordinating committee that helps the 
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigate graft 
allegations; he explained the CTG had set up five-member 
cells (each one headed by an army major and including 
representatives of the ACC, the Special Branch, the National 
Bureau of Revenue and the police) to investigate the 
corruption cases. He said the volume of graft cases was so 
great that the Caretaker Government earlier this month had 
approved formation of a Truth and Accountability Commission 
under which corruption suspects could avoid going to prison 
by surrendering illegally earned wealth. (Note: Political 
parties have criticized the plan because it would not apply 
to people, including senior political leaders such as Sheikh 
Hasina and Khaleda Zia, already jailed on graft charges. End 
note.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
SEEKING FUNDING AND MORAL SUPPORT FROM THE USG 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. (SBU) Matin told Ambassador Moriarty that Bangladesh 
needed funding assistance in several areas such as fighting 
 
DHAKA 00000586  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
narcotics trafficking, developing machine-readable passports 
and building more prisons. He said use of narcotics was on 
the rise in Bangladesh and that the vast majority of drug 
cases were dropped because of limited investigative 
capability. The Ambassador said the USG should attempt to do 
more to help Bangladesh and promised to explore additional 
assistance. Matin noted the International Organization of 
Migration was assisting Bangladesh in drafting tender 
documents for creating a machine-readable passport system, a 
project he estimated would cost 60 million to 80 million 
euros ($94 million to $125 million). The Ambassador said the 
USG had assisted other countries converting to 
machine-readable passports and asked the Home Affairs Adviser 
to provide concrete suggestions for the Embassy to consider. 
While voicing sympathy for Bangladesh's overcrowded prisons, 
the Ambassador said the USG did not build jails for other 
countries. 
 
¶6. (C) The Home Afairs Adviser reiterated that the Caretaker 
Government was determined to return Bangladesh to democracy 
this year but voiced concern that major political parties 
might not participate in Parliamentary elections scheduled 
for December unless their jailed leaders are released. Matin 
urged the Ambassador to influence top politicians not to 
boycott the vote. He said that in the absence of the 
Caretaker Government or a civilian political government there 
"obviously would be a third force to take over," a reference 
to the military. The Ambassador replied that he worried the 
political parties could prove intransigent, adding that he 
was pushing them to compromise. 
Moriarty