Civil society for strengthening democratic instts, protecting rights

Civil society members in Dhaka on Tuesday laid emphasis on taking proper measures to strengthen democratic institutions and protect minorities and indigenous people’s rights and human rights defenders, space for ‘mainstream’ opposition parties. They expressed concern over the reported irregularities in the upazila elections now being held in phases, extrajudicial killings and disappearances; the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act apart from underlining the importance of ‘genuine dialogue’ among major political parties to hold the next national election in a free, fair and inclusive manner. The observations were made during a meeting with the visiting delegation of the European Parliament (EP) at Sonargaon Hotel in the city. Distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Dr Iftekharuzzaman and rights body Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan, among others, represented the civil society at the meeting, according to a news agency.