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 Ten-
nessee, 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 Con-
stitution 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 commu-
nity 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 con-
stitution 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 report-
ing 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 Ban-
gladesh, 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 em-
powerment of women and strengthening the process of 
social moderation and modernization in Bangladesh; and 
Whereas Bangladesh’s long-term political stability and eco-
nomic progress are critical to the security of the South 
Asian region: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses its strong support to the restora-
tion of democracy in Bangladesh so it will be able 
to address economic and political challenges, and 
urges all stakeholders to play a constructive and for-
ward looking role to strengthen such a process; 
(2) appreciates the decision of the caretaker 
Government of Bangladesh to hold free, fair, cred-
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•HRES 1402 IH 
ible, peaceful, and transparent elections by the third 
week of December 2008; 
(3) welcomes the decision of the Government of 
Bangladesh to hold dialogue with all political parties 
and other civil society organizations to create a con-
genial atmosphere for holding elections and to en-
sure participation of all political parties in that proc-
ess; 
(4) urges all political parties to participate in 
the elections so that democratic governance can be 
maintained, which could continue fight against cor-
ruption and institutional and policy reforms; 
(5) calls on the Government of Bangladesh to 
lift the state of emergency and remove other restric-
tions on political activity to allow free and fair elec-
tions to occur; 
(6) urges the caretaker Government of Ban-
gladesh to complete a transparent voter registration 
process that will facilitate the enrollment of the 
maximum number of eligible voters to protect the 
voting rights of all eligible voters regardless of reli-
gious affiliations or ethnic background, to use all 
practical technical means of ensuring the security of 
the ballot, to prevent violence before and after elec-
tions, and to permit and facilitate international and 
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•HRES 1402 IH 
domestic nongovernmental monitoring of the entire 
electoral process; 
(7) urges the caretaker Government of Ban-
gladesh to invite foreign nationals to observe and 
monitor the December 2008 elections; 
(8) urges the Government of Bangladesh to en-
sure the due process and equal treatment under the 
rule of law for all suspects, witnesses, and detainees; 
(9) notes the initiatives of the caretaker Gov-
ernment of Bangladesh to eradicate corruption from 
all levels of government and society through institu-
tional and policy reforms; 
(10) expresses concern at the reported abuse of 
human rights and urges the Government of Ban-
gladesh to ensure human rights, freedom of speech, 
assembly, and association; 
(11) urges the caretaker Government of Ban-
gladesh to protect the rights of religious and ethnic 
minorities, particularly Hindus, Christians, Bud-
dhists, Ahmadis, and non-Muslim tribal peoples; 
(12) urges the President to work toward the re-
turn of democracy to Bangladesh as a high priority 
of United States foreign policy and affirm the will-
ingness of the United States to provide assistance; 
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•HRES 1402 IH 
(13) urges the President to use the voice and 
vote of the United States in multilateral organiza-
tions to strengthen the rule of law and democracy in 
Bangladesh; and 
(14) urges the President to consider, upon com-
pletion of an internationally-accepted free and fair 
election, extending generous economic support to 
Bangladesh as an incentive. 
Æ 
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