Bina D'Costa

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Bina D'Costa is an Australian-Bangladeshi academic who specializes in conflict and gender studies in South Asia. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Career

D'Costa was at the Global Justice Center in New York City in 2008. [5] D'Costa was a professor of International Relations at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs of the Australian National University. She was a visiting scholar at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva from 2012 to 2014. [6] She was a visiting scholar at the Refugee Studies Centre under Department of International Development of University of Oxford from 2011 to 2012. She served as the Asia Rapporteur of Asia-Europe Meeting in 2017. [5] She is a member of the Dristhipat Writers' Collective. [7]

In March 2023 the Human Rights Council added new members to its Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and D'Costa was one of them joining Miriam Ekiudoko of Hungary, American Dominique Day and Catherine S. Namakula of Uganda. [8]

Publications and research

In her 2011 book Nation Building, Gender, and War Crimes in South Asia, D'Costa wrote about the murder of Bihari citizens during the Bangladesh Liberation war. [9] The Daily Star described her book as a "mammoth task"; she provided a gendered analysis of conflict in South Asia. [10] She has also carried out research on Birangona, rape victims of the Bangladesh Liberation war. [11] She also tracked down Australian doctor Geoffrey Davis, who carried abortions for rape victims after the war ended. [12]

D'Costa has written on how Rohingya people have been excluded and marginalized by the government of Myanmar. [13]

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Bangladesh</span>

Bangladesh is the eighth-most populated country in the world with almost 2.2% of the world's population. As per the final results of the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, the country's population is 169,828,911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladesh Liberation War</span> 1971 Bangladesh–Pakistan armed conflict

The Bangladesh Liberation War, also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Myanmar</span>

Human rights in Myanmar under its military regime have long been regarded as among the worst in the world. In 2022, Freedom House rated Myanmar’s human rights at 9 out 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohingya people</span> Indo-Aryan ethnic group of western Myanmar

The Rohingya people are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an estimated 1.4 million Rohingya lived in Myanmar. Described by journalists and news outlets as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world, the Rohingya are denied citizenship under the 1982 Myanmar nationality law. There are also restrictions on their freedom of movement, access to state education and civil service jobs. The legal conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar have been compared to apartheid by some academics, analysts and political figures, including Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid activist. The most recent mass displacement of Rohingya in 2017 led the International Criminal Court to investigate crimes against humanity, and the International Court of Justice to investigate genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladesh genocide</span> 1971 genocide of Bengalis by Pakistan

The Bangladesh genocide was the ethnic cleansing of Bengalis, including Bengali Hindus, residing in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War, perpetrated by the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Razakars. It began on 25 March 1971, as Operation Searchlight was launched by West Pakistan to militarily subdue the Bengali population of East Pakistan; the Bengalis comprised the demographic majority and had been calling for independence from the Pakistani state. Seeking to curtail the Bengali self-determination movement, erstwhile Pakistani president Yahya Khan approved a large-scale military deployment, and in the nine-month-long conflict that ensued, Pakistani soldiers and local pro-Pakistan militias killed between 300,000 and 3,000,000 Bengalis and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women in a systematic campaign of mass murder and genocidal sexual violence. In their investigation of the genocide, the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists concluded that Pakistan's campaign involved the attempt to exterminate or forcibly remove a significant portion of the country's Hindu populace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Bangladesh</span>

Human rights in Bangladesh are enshrined as fundamental rights in Part III of the Constitution of Bangladesh. However, constitutional and legal experts believe many of the country's laws require reform to enforce fundamental rights and reflect democratic values of the 21st century.

There is a history of persecution of Muslims in Myanmar that continues to the present day. Myanmar is a Buddhist majority country, with significant Christian and Muslim minorities. While Muslims served in the government of Prime Minister U Nu (1948–63), the situation changed with the 1962 Burmese coup d'état. While a few continued to serve, most Christians and Muslims were excluded from positions in the government and army. In 1982, the government introduced regulations that denied citizenship to anyone who could not prove Burmese ancestry from before 1823. This disenfranchised many Muslims in Myanmar, even though they had lived in Myanmar for several generations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)</span> Domestic war crimes tribunal

The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.

During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, members of the Pakistani military and Razakar paramilitary force raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women and girls in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. Most of the rape victims of the Pakistani Army and its allies were Hindu women. Some of these women died in captivity or committed suicide, while others moved from Bangladesh to India. Imams and Muslim religious leaders declared the women "war booty". The activists and leaders of Islamic parties are also accused to be involved in the rapes and abduction of women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohingya conflict</span> Sectarian conflict in western Myanmar since 1947

The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State, characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown on Rohingya civilians by Myanmar's security forces, and militant attacks by Rohingya insurgents in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, and Rathedaung Townships, which border Bangladesh.

The "Bihari" minority in Bangladesh were subject to persecution during and after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, experiencing widespread discrimination.

Birangana is the title awarded by the Government of Bangladesh to women raped during the Bangladesh Liberation War by the Pakistan army, Razakar paramilitaries, and their local collaborators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Hossain</span> Bangladeshi lawyer

Sara Hossain is a Bangladeshi lawyer. She is a barrister in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. She is the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), a major legal aid provider. She has been at the forefront of advocating for women's rights in Bangladeshi courts and played a key role in drafting legal reforms to protect women. She was the plaintiff's lawyer in the landmark case of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLW) v. Bangladesh, in which the Supreme Court supported the judicial practice of referring to international human rights law in the absence of domestic legislation. She is known for her role in challenging fatwa violence when a fatwa is issued to mete out punishment to women and girls. She co-edited 'Honour': Crimes, Paradigms and Violence Against Women with Lynn Welchman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AK Abdul Momen</span> Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh

Abul Kalam Abdul Momen, known as AK Abdul Momen, is a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat, and politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh from January 2019 to January 2024. He served as Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations from August 2009 until October 2015. He was elected a member of Jatiya Sangsad from the Sylhet-1 constituency at the 2018 general elections. Following his election, he was appointed the minister of foreign affairs by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rohingya genocide</span> Ongoing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar

The Rohingya genocide is a series of ongoing persecutions and killings of the Muslim Rohingya people by the military of Myanmar. The genocide has consisted of two phases to date: the first was a military crackdown that occurred from October 2016 to January 2017, and the second has been occurring since August 2017. The crisis forced over a million Rohingya to flee to other countries. Most fled to Bangladesh, resulting in the creation of the world's largest refugee camp, while others escaped to India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other parts of South and Southeast Asia, where they continue to face persecution. Many other countries consider these events ethnic cleansing.

Violent clashes have been ongoing in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State since October 2016. Insurgent attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) have led to sectarian violence perpetrated by Myanmar's military and the local Buddhist population against predominantly Muslim Rohingya civilians. The conflict has sparked international outcry and was described as an ethnic cleansing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In August 2017, the situation worsened and hundreds of thousands of refugees fled Myanmar into Bangladesh, with an estimated 500,000 refugees having arrived by 27 September 2017. In January 2019, Arakan Army insurgents raided border police posts in Buthidaung Township, joining the conflict and beginning their military campaign in northern Rakhine State against the Burmese military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International reactions to the Rohingya genocide</span>

The Rohingya genocide is a term applied to the persecution—including mass killings, mass rapes, village-burnings, deprivations, ethnic cleansing, and internments—of the Rohingya people of western Myanmar.

Khorshed Ara Haque was a Bangladesh Jatiya Party politician and Member of Parliament. She was elected from reserved seats for women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razia Sultana (lawyer)</span> Bangladeshi lawyer

Razia Sultana is a Bangladeshi lawyer who was born in Myanmar and has won the International Women of Courage Award 2019.

Mahbub Uz Zaman ia a Bangladesh diplomat and former Ambassador of Bangladesh to China. He is the former Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is the former High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka and Singapore.

References

  1. ↑ Maini-Thompson, Sapan. "'They all became animals': My grandfather remembers the trauma and violence of India's Partition". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 2020-07-28. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  2. ↑ Islam, Kajalie Shehreen (2018-12-16). "The discursive silence of women in 1971". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  3. ↑ Perveen, Rakhshinda (2017-12-03). "The forgotten Biharis". Daily Times (Op-ed). Archived from the original on 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  4. ↑ D'Costa, Bina (2019-12-15). "A pathway to justice through jurisdiction?". The Daily Star (Opinion). Archived from the original on 2020-01-23. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  5. 1 2 Director (Research Services Division). "Professor Bina D'Costa". researchers.anu.edu.au. Archived from the original on 2020-07-09. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bina D'Costa". unicef-irc.org. Archived from the original on 2020-08-05. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  7. ↑ "Bina D'Costa". bdnews24.com (Opinion). 2010-12-15. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  8. ↑ "Current and former mandate holders (existing mandates)". OHCHR. 1 May 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Ahmed, Mir Aftabuddin (2019-10-29). "Stranded, unwanted, and persecuted". Dhaka Tribune (Opinion). Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  10. ↑ Murthy, Laxmi (2017-03-26). "The Birangana and the birth of Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  11. ↑ Roy, Mallarika Sinha. "The Women of 1971, on Either Side of the Bengal Border". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  12. ↑ D'Costa, Bina (2010-12-15). "1971: Rape and its consequences". bdnews24.com (Opinion).
  13. ↑ D'Costa, Bina (August 2012). "Rohingyas and the 'Right to Have Rights'". Forum. The Daily Star.
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