Justice For All

he Rohingya in Burma who continue to be targeted by the Burmese government. The Rohingya are described as the world’s least wanted and most persecuted of minorities. As part of the Muslim minority in Burma, the Rohingya comprise of descendants of immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent, China and some parts of the Arab world. They have been persecuted by the Burmese Junta since 1978. They have been denied citizenship, and are not allowed to travel without permission and are not even allowed to own land. According to Amnesty International, over the past several decades they have been subjected to various forms of extortion and arbitrary taxation; land confiscation; forced evictions; financial restrictions on marriage; forced labor; killings; r**e; targeted religious persecution; summary executions and torture. This has cause over a quarter million Rohingya to flee to neighboring areas such as Bangladesh.Our Mission is to:Engage Burmese Buddhists and Muslims in dialogueIncrease awareness on the plight of Burmese MuslimsTo pressurize the Burmese government and the democratic opposition: to stop ethnic cleansing; to dismantle concentration camps and try police officers and soldiers or anyone who r**ed women or participated in ethnic cleansing as a war crime; to provide access to media; to international relief organizations, to human rights organizations; to allow full freedom of religion by opening all mosques, permit Muslims to marry, freedom to have children, and restore full citizenship by cancelling 1982 law which makes them stateless peopleTo systematically approach, educate, develop relationships and build networks with the existing human rights, legal, and journalistic organizations in the US to focus on the grave human rights situation in BurmaBANGLADESHconnect to our Bangladesh ProjectBangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The Liberation War was bloody and devastating as the Pakistan army resisted the movement, and groups resisted the independence movement. The Indian government assisted the Bangladesh independence movement. The escalation of violence during this period therefore lead to a division amongst the population – on the one side pro Islamic and on the other, pro Secular. Blood was lost on both sides of the war. However, in the interests of peace and progress, the leader of the independence movement Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared a general amnesty to those who were seen as violators during the Liberation war. Over the four decades since its independence, the two sides have often worked together towards building the country, and indeed much progress has been made.In 2010, upon the re-election of the Awami League party, Sheikh Hasina, its leader and the daughter of Mujibur Rahman, reversed her father’s decision of amnesty and instituted a War Crimes Tribunal, which was given the mandate of trying purported war criminals. The act, has served to open the old wounds that divided Bangladesh in the 1970s and has triggered violent and polarized responses. The War Crimes Tribunal has been criticized by the several international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as well as by special groups within the United Nations. The Economist magazine has also exposed several shortcomings in the administration of the Tribunal and it is apparent that the judicial body has become an agent through which the government is targeting its opposition.Our Mission is to:Raise awareness on human rights issues in BangladeshPromote and further the causes of justice, due process and the rule of law in BangladeshAdvocate and create awareness of the failings of the current War Crimes Tribunal in order that the necessary measures are taken to stop these egregious violations of human rightsDialogue building among key stakeholders who wish to see Bangladesh prosper and build the capacity of the third group of Bangladeshi’s who share this idea and who we hope will push for the reconciliation of Bangladesh