IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1402 

Supporting a transition to democracy through free, fair, credible, peaceful, 

and transparent elections in Bangladesh. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2008 

Mr. CROWLEY (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WEINER, Mr. MEEKS

of New York, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. WATSON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. 

ACKERMAN, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. WALZ of Minnesota, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. HODES, Mr. CHANDLER, 

Mr. NADLER, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 

MCNULTY, Mr. HONDA, Mr. CARNEY, Mr. TANNER, Mr. SHULER, Ms. 

CLARKE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of 

Texas, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. 

BOYDA of Kansas, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting a transition to democracy through free, fair, 

credible, peaceful, and transparent elections in Bangladesh. 

Whereas the independent, sovereign republic of Bangladesh 

was first proclaimed on March 26, 1971, and the Constitution of Bangladesh, ratified in 1972 following a war 

of independence, established a democracy ruled by and 

for the people; 

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•HRES 1402 IH 

Whereas Bangladesh has a population of 154,000,000 people 

and is the world’s third most populated Muslim country, 

and has been known to be a stable, moderate, democratic 

Muslim Nation; 

Whereas Bangladesh has held what the international community has viewed as three free and fair elections in 1991, 

1996, and 2001; 

Whereas in October 2006, as set up by the constitution, 

power was handed over to a caretaker government before 

the January 22, 2007, scheduled election; 

Whereas the caretaker Government of Bangladesh imposed a 

national state of emergency on January 11, 2007, that 

suspended fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution and detained a large number of politicians and 

others on suspicion of involvement in corruption and 

other crimes; 

Whereas the state of emergency has restricted media reporting and it has been reported that journalists have been 

harassed, detained, or threatened by the authorities; 

Whereas the anti-corruption campaign is creating institutions 

to fight rampant corruption throughout the government, 

including in the police and ports, but also has resulted 

in the reporting of human rights abuses; 

Whereas the caretaker Government of Bangladesh reportedly 

arrested 18,000 persons with questionable records since 

May 28, 2008, and subsequently released most of them; 

Whereas the Chief Adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, announced 

that elections will be held by the third week of December 

2008; 

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•HRES 1402 IH 

Whereas the current political situation has been exacerbated 

by food prices that have doubled within the past year, 

compounding economic challenges for the people; 

Whereas Bangladesh has established an estimated 6 percent 

real growth rate in the last 4 years, and a 6.5 percent 

growth rate in 2007; 

Whereas the Grameen Bank, through microfinancing in Bangladesh, has been able to provide lending to 7,300,000 

stakeholders and has empowered women to control 97 

percent of the Bank, alongside other agencies in rural 

Bangladesh creating a new climate of economic growth 

and increasing social capital; 

Whereas the economic support extended by the United States 

has helped to create an opportunity for employment and 

growth in Bangladesh, with particular impact on the empowerment of women and strengthening the process of 

social moderation and modernization in Bangladesh; and 

Whereas Bangladesh’s long-term political stability and economic progress are critical to the security of the South 

Asian region: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) expresses its strong support to the restora3 tion of democracy in Bangladesh so it will be able 

4 to address economic and political challenges, and 

5 urges all stakeholders to play a constructive and for6 ward looking role to strengthen such a process; 

7 (2) appreciates the decision of the caretaker 

8 Government of Bangladesh to hold free, fair, credmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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•HRES 1402 IH 

1 ible, peaceful, and transparent elections by the third 

2 week of December 2008; 

3 (3) welcomes the decision of the Government of 

4 Bangladesh to hold dialogue with all political parties 

5 and other civil society organizations to create a con6 genial atmosphere for holding elections and to en7 sure participation of all political parties in that proc8 ess; 

9 (4) urges all political parties to participate in 

10 the elections so that democratic governance can be 

11 maintained, which could continue fight against cor12 ruption and institutional and policy reforms; 

13 (5) calls on the Government of Bangladesh to 

14 lift the state of emergency and remove other restric15 tions on political activity to allow free and fair elec16 tions to occur; 

17 (6) urges the caretaker Government of Ban18 gladesh to complete a transparent voter registration 

19 process that will facilitate the enrollment of the 

20 maximum number of eligible voters to protect the 

21 voting rights of all eligible voters regardless of reli22 gious affiliations or ethnic background, to use all 

23 practical technical means of ensuring the security of 

24 the ballot, to prevent violence before and after elec25 tions, and to permit and facilitate international and 

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1 domestic nongovernmental monitoring of the entire 

2 electoral process; 

3 (7) urges the caretaker Government of Ban4 gladesh to invite foreign nationals to observe and 

5 monitor the December 2008 elections; 

6 (8) urges the Government of Bangladesh to en7 sure the due process and equal treatment under the 

8 rule of law for all suspects, witnesses, and detainees; 

9 (9) notes the initiatives of the caretaker Gov10 ernment of Bangladesh to eradicate corruption from 

11 all levels of government and society through institu12 tional and policy reforms; 

13 (10) expresses concern at the reported abuse of 

14 human rights and urges the Government of Ban15 gladesh to ensure human rights, freedom of speech, 

16 assembly, and association; 

17 (11) urges the caretaker Government of Ban18 gladesh to protect the rights of religious and ethnic 

19 minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, Bud20 dhists, Ahmadis, and non-Muslim tribal peoples; 

21 (12) urges the President to work toward the re22 turn of democracy to Bangladesh as a high priority 

23 of United States foreign policy and affirm the will24 ingness of the United States to provide assistance; 

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1 (13) urges the President to use the voice and 

2 vote of the United States in multilateral organiza3 tions to strengthen the rule of law and democracy in 

4 Bangladesh; and 

5 (14) urges the President to consider, upon com6 pletion of an internationally-accepted free and fair 

7 election, extending generous economic support to 

8 Bangladesh as an incentive. 

Æ 

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