FROM PAGE 12
If the government wants to make changes, it should first approve the ordinance, turn it into law and amend it later, he said.
“But if that is not done, then once the law expires on April 11, there will be no legal definition of enforced disappearance from April 12,” he said.
In reply, Asaduzzman said the way the ordinances of the Human Rights Commission and Enforced Disappearance Prevention have been framed would be unjust to victims of enforced disappearance.
The ICT Act already included the definition of enforced disappearance under crimes against humanity. The law did provide for trials and investigations of the crime.
“At the same time, in the enforced disappearance ordinance, we are proposing a separate investigation process. Under the ICT Act, the maximum punishment for perpetrators of enforced disappearance is either the death penalty or life imprisonment. But in the ordinance on enforced disappearance, the maximum sentence has been limited to 10 years.”
If the Human Rights Commission ordinance is kept in its current form, victims of human rights violations will face additional harassment and further violations in the name of investigation because of the time frame stipulated in the law, said Asaduzzaman, who was previously the Human Rights Affairs secretary of the BNP central executive committee.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, also a victim of enforced disappearance, recounted his days awaiting death, and spoke about how he was then dumped in a neighbouring country where he faced trial, and eventually returned to Bangladesh.
“There is no reason to think that those responsible for enforced disappearance will be able to slip through the cracks of the law. That is why we have said: the punishments prescribed in the enforced disappearance ordinance, the investigation procedures mentioned there and the provisions in the ICT Act regarding crimes against humanity must not conflict with one another. For this reason, these laws need careful scrutiny,” he added.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad said the matter raised by the Jamaat MP Ahmad was “very important”.
“The law minister has assured us that a stronger law to prevent enforced disappearance will be introduced later.”
Many prominent individuals and innocent political activists have been victims of enforced disappearance, he said.
“We hope that the government, ruling party members and opposition members together will enact such a strong law that no citizen will ever again fall victim to enforced disappearance. Please be patient. This parliament will surely pass such a law.”
Global oil shock
FROM PAGE 12
Countries have begun releasing a historic amount of oil from emergency stockpiles to offset the war’s impact. But much of the broadening supply crunch stems from a shortage of naphtha, a petroleum by-product and critical feedstock for synthetic materials, of which producers have far fewer reserves and no substitute.
Some petrochemical companies in Asia, which gets more than half its naphtha from the Middle East, have cut output or declared force majeure in recent weeks due to limited raw materials.
South Korea has taken advantage of a suspension of US sanctions on certain Russian oil and petroleum products to buy its first load of naphtha from Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war. Seoul has also imposed an export ban on naphtha to preserve domestic supply.
Martin at Dezan Shira & Associates, who works with manufacturers in Vietnam, said the scarcity of naphtha is leading to higher input costs for clients, particularly those that make products with strict specifications, such as semiconductors, automotive parts and medical or food-grade packaging.
Turning to plastic alternatives could also come at a high cost, said Stephen Moore, founder of MLT Analytics, a plastics trade data platform. He said the global supply of recycled and bio-based plastic material is already constrained, and bio-based plastic generally costs five to seven times more than plastic made from fossil fuels.
“If everything returns to normal in the Strait of Hormuz tomorrow, I think it’s still several months at least until there’s a semblance of normalcy for the plastic sector in Asia,” he said.