Crime against humanity may be prevented by enforcing the international rules on human rights enacted by the UN member states since the 1948 Universal Declaration. Scores of conventions, covenants and declarations aimed at protecting individuals and groups from political and economic violence have been signed. Prominent among the conventions and covenants are the International convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination , International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Most states have signed and ratified these texts but did not bother to implement them. 

Struggle continues for establishing human rights world over. Despite some achievements in this field they are still flouted almost everywhere. The unbridled sway of market forces around the globe threatens the stride made in the past half century. So the long battle for “ all rights for everyone” is far from over. The authoritarian governments never run out of ways to keep a grip on their people. Even today, the autocratic rulers and the governments muster supports from the major powers. Emma Bonino, a human right militant and European Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, rightly pointed out, ”You still do not have to be a democrat to have friends in the West”. Major powers, often change the rules according to their political interest or economic imperatives by condemning or pardoning the crimes committed by countries, depending on whether they are “enemies” or potential “allies”. Unfortunately we had to witness the philosophic resignation of two major powers when the genocide was committed in Bangladesh by the Pakistani armies during our liberation war. There is a perception that this time too, when the crimes against humanity are committed on the political opponents and religious minorities by a section of people belonging to the ruling front, the major powers are turning blind eyes to it for their economic interest. 

It all started just after the caretaker government took over power. Initially there were intimidation and sporadic violence in the country where political activists of former ruling party and the religious minorities were made the targets. As the time went by the magnitude and dimension of the crime increased by leaps and bounds. The care taker government without trying to stop the episode of violence and terrorism rather encouraged it, which was evident from the utterances of their advisers. They posed a question, “ When did you not hear the allegation of minority bashing during the election time in Bangladesh?” This was enough of a signal to the aggressors to go ahead. The civil administration and law enforcing agencies either kept quite or connived with the perpetrators. This had its effects on the election results. The front got 46% of the votes cast but gained 215 seats in the 300 seats parliament. On the contrary, the former ruling party got only 62 seats though they received 41% of total cast votes. This disproportionate relationship between popular vote and number of parliament seats has been a riddle yet to be solved. The intelligentsia of the country wonders how such a small difference in the popular votes can make so big a difference in the parliamentary seats. Some of them ridiculed with disbelief that even the father of statistics Fischer would have found it difficult to distribute the 5 % excess votes to 300 constituencies to have the front so many seats. Soon after the publication of the results, the new wave of violence and terrorism was unleashed. Killing, rape, maiming, arson and loot continued unabated all over the country.

The underlying causes of the crime against humanity now perpetrated in Bangladesh are difficult to ascertain as its nature and dimension are different from the previous ones. Generally party/front winning landslide victory behaves rationally and shows tolerance. But what is happening here is quite opposite. One may explain this aggressive behavior on the following basis; (i) the ruling front does not feel comfortable with such narrow margin of votes, by which they earned victory, despite formation of the front and, blatant interference by the administration in their favour. So they took recourse to intimidation, oppression and torture of the political opponents to break their moral, and also to force the religious minorities to leave country. If they are successful to achieve the target than they can keep the Awami League, single largest party, out of power perpetually as mass migration of the minorities out of country will substantially reduce the AL vote bank. (ii) The immediate gains of the perpetrators are plundering the booties, occupying the lands and satisfying their carnal desire by raping the minority girls. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that hundreds of people got killed and more than a thousand girls and women have been raped. The incidence of rape was so brutal and pervading that minor girls to old women have not been spared. The village after village were rampaged, houses looted, homestead burnt, males were killed or maimed, women were abducted and raped. The reports those came out in the press are only comparable to the atrocities committed during the Bangladesh liberation war and that during the partition of India. Many of the front leaders or their compatriots suffered humiliating defeat at the hand of the freedom fighters, 30 years back. Now they are taking the revenge on the freedom fighters and their families after their landslide victory in the election. 

The psychological factor behind this carnage is also no less important. Ibn Khaldoun’s (1332-1406, North Africa) observation, “ A tendency towards tyranny and mutual oppression is an innate part of human nature “, may also have played a role. Since July 15, 2001, these people have been committing crime one after another without any let or hindrance. As a result, their innate tendency towards tyranny and mutual oppression got buoyed up rather than being challenged or punished. 

The under development also created a climate conducive to violations of fundamental rights and inhibited the emergence of a civil society capable of entering into dialogue with the state. Not only does this foster individualism or an “every man for himself” attitude, but also hinders the development of legal protection existing for civil and political rights. 

The human right situation globally is no better. Terrorism has engulfed many places in Europe, Asia and Africa. After the end of cold war, conflicts are erupting not as a consequence of newly found freedom but as a reaction to earlier oppression or repression, suspicion or hatred built up over decades. The widening asymmetry within and between the countries, environmental degradation and proliferation of arms sales raise doubts about many eternal values on which civilization stands. This has resulted in strife and violence. In recent years violence and strife erupting in many places across the globe are arising mainly out of ethnic and religious conflicts. Hundreds of thousand people got killed or are subjected to inhuman torture including rape in those incidences. Ethnic cleansing, a barbaric act, has been committed in the strife torn places of Europe and Africa. The incidences of human indignity, brutality and genocide are not uncommon in our sub-continent. These crimes are committed time and again in the name of religion, race and ethnicity during last fifty years or so. The violence is still raging with all its ferocity in Srilanka, in Jammu and Kashmir, in Karachi and in other places of Pakistan, in Afghanistan and of late in Bangladesh.
It is difficult to comprehend that in this age of third industrial revolution, violence and strife are emanating from the religious belief. Most of the religions advocate for promotion of love, affection, tolerance and forbearance. As for example, Islam pleads for peace and suggests persuasion and dialogue for resolving conflicts. It also dictates its followers to be most tolerant to the views of others. In Mahabarata it is stated, “ All duties lie in this one; do not treat others in such a way that would make you suffer if you received the same treatment.” In Judaism ( The Talmud ) it is stated, “ Do not do unto your neighbor what you find hateful. That is the core of law. The rest is only commentary.” If we seek the truths stated in the religions in truest sense of the term there can be no violence and strife arising out religious issues.

Alongside this bleak scenario, the mankind has began to demonstrate a new skill in resolving conflicts as they have done in Mozambique, in El Salvador, in the Philippines, in South Africa, in Northern Ireland and in Chittagong Hill Tracts. These achievements demonstrate that peace can be restored by dialogue, mediation, negotiation and imagination and not by resorting to force. History teaches us that no situation is hopeless if risks are identified early enough and intervention implemented. The other major achievements in the area are that the resistance of the people in their respective countries, and the pressure of the international public opinion brought down the regimes like Marcos in the Philippines, Somoza in Nicaragua, Pinochet in Chile, Pol Pot in Cambodia and apartheid in South Africa. Recently, the former Yugoslav President Slovoden Milosevich has been put under trial for war crimes. These are no mean achievements in the realm of human rights movement globally.

Side by side, the heinous act of terrorism of 11 Sept in New York resulted in the loss of life of thousands of innocent people. In retaliation U.S. and its allies waged war against Afghanistan, to be precise against Talibans and their mentor Osama Bin Laden. As a result, hundreds of innocent people got killed and hundreds of thousand rendered homeless. The war is over now; but its objective, to me, has only partially been achieved. Being an ardent supporter of peace and humanism I am not sure whether mere launching a peace offensive can be an effective means to deal with the terrorists of to-days world. Neither can we advocate unleashing war. Finding solution of strife and violence using peaceful means is very difficult. “The problems of the world are complex. They can not be solved by changes in political and economic institution alone nor can they be solved by a handful of wise men. The solution lies within our hearts,” adds the World Peace Prayer Society. 

As the citizens of the world, we are equally responsible for the care of our planet. If each and every one of us commits ourselves to establishing universal love, then and then only peace and harmony will prevail on earth. Each of us is responsible for replacing the logic of force with the logic of reason and also for showing respect for each others’ views. We must not only do away with the approaches based on force and imposition but also profoundly change our cultural attitude and daily behavior. That is how we can create a culture of peace and abhor the culture of violence, strife and war. 

Education, formal or informal, can play a vital role in promoting the culture of peace. The reason is very simple. The seeds of non- violence, peace and harmony should be sown early in life to get the fruition at the prime time of life. Teaching or preaching will have little effect when it is imparted at a grown up age as by then the die will be cast. The need for such an approach has never been felt so intensely in the past as it is now.

The phenomenon of globalization whose cardinal principles are shrunken world, integration with the global market and economic recovery based on private initiatives and redefinition of state’s role may not always create conducive condition for establishment of fundamental human rights. In this process, the domestic reforms seeking to create an economic and social relationship in accordance with the international norms of productivity, capital return and competitiveness are directly or indirectly affecting the long held rights. The aim is to redistribute resources from less productive sectors such as social welfare, health and education to more productive areas. This has incalculable social costs. This has expedited the process of marginalization and exclusion. This also adversely affects the fundamental human rights. The marginalized people and the unemployed take recourse to violence , strife and many other anti-social activities. This is how tension develops in the society. That ultimately leads to violence and strife. As money becomes the most powerful determinant of social status and can purchase every thing we see in the society, the eternal human values recede to the background. Love, affection, regard and respect, tolerance and forbearance, honesty and integrity are not considered as the virtues by many, now a days. That is seriously affecting the social fabric and posing a threat to the peace and harmony of the society. 

But with courage and vision, imagination and resolution we can go to the roots of the world problems and nip them in the bud or better still prevent them. In the words of Federico Mayor, former Director General of UNESCO, “ Learning to leave together means daring to share, daring to do things differently, daring to dream of a better, safer, more just and humane world. It also means having the resolve and courage to transform our dreams into reality”.

Tolerance is so important in transforming the system that can only be felt from the quotable quote of Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837, Italy) which says, “No human quality is more intolerable in everyday life, or in fact less tolerated than intolerance”. So one should guard oneself against intolerance. With the relentless efforts by the people, governments and UN systems we can create a culture of peace and bid farewell to the culture of violence, strife and war and that is how we can prevent the crime against humanity being committed in the country and elsewhere in the globe.