IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author): “Information on the 1991 referendum on constitutional change to a parliamentary system, on the occurence of violence during the campaign; on the position of the Jatiyah Party, the Awami League (AL), the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Jaamat during the campaign and on whether these political parties participated actively in the referendum campaign [BGD23682.E]”, Document #1288017

Information on the 1991 referendum on constitutional change to a parliamentary system, on the occurence of violence during the campaign; on the position of the Jatiyah Party, the Awami League (AL), the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Jaamat during the campaign and on whether these political parties participated actively in the referendum campaign [BGD23682.E]

Information on whether violence occured during the 1991 referendum campain for the restoration of parliamentary democracy could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB. However, a 6 August 1991 Agence France Presse (AFP) report states that Bangladesh's National Assembly voted unanimously on 6 August 1991 to amend the country's Constitution in order to re-establish parliamentary democracy. A 15 September 1991 AFP report states that opposition parties, including the Awami league, supported the return of parliamentary democracy during the campaign leading up to the 15 September 1991 referendum. For background information on the circumstances which led to the restoration of parliamentary rule, and on the constitutional amendment itself, please consult the attached excerpts from the 1991 Coordinating Council for Human Rights in Bangladesh report entitled Bangladesh: State of Human Rights, 1991.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse [Hong Kong, in English]. 15 September 1991. "Rain, Flooding Mars Voting." (FBIS-NES-91-179 16 Sept. 1991, pp. 48-49)

_____. 6 August 1991. "Bill for Swich to Parliamentary Rule Passed." (FBIS-NES-91-152 7 Aug. 1991, pp. 45-46)

Attachments

Agence France Presse [Hong Kong, in English]. 15 September 1991. "Rain, Flooding Mars Voting." (FBIS-NES-91-179 16 Sept. 1991, pp. 48-49)

_____. 6 August 1991. "Bill for Swich to Parliamentary Rule Passed." (FBIS-NES-91-152 7 Aug. 1991, pp. 45-46)

Bangladesh: State of Human Rights, 1991. 1992. Edited by Father R.W. Timm and Philip Gain. Dhaka: Coordinating Council for Human Rights in Bangladesh, pp. 12-15.

Additional Sources Consulted

Keesing's Record of World Events. Yearly. Edited by Roger East. London: Longman.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1991.1991. United States Department of State. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Material from the Indexed Media Review (IMR) or country files containing articles and reports from diverse sources (primarily dailies and periodicals) from the Weekly Media Review.
e1996/04/00

ecoi.net description:: Information on the 1991 referendum on constitutional change to a parliamentary system, on the occurence of violence during the campaign; on the position of the Jatiyah Party, the Awami League (AL), the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Jaamat during the campaign and on whether these political parties participated actively in the referendum campaign [BGD23682.E]

Country:: Bangladesh
Source:: IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Published:: 29 April 1996
Document type:: Response
Language:: English
Document ID:: 1288017 (former ID 169660)