September 19, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 11, 1423

DHAKA, Sept 18: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recently observed that the state of ‘human security’ in Bangladesh is very poor, while the many laws and practices of the criminal justice system dealing with human security are anti- poor.

The UNDP made the observations in a report titled ‘Human Security in Bangladesh: In search of Justice and Dignity’, released last week.

The study listed a number of legal provisions, including those in the Special Powers Act, 1974, which help the executive wing of the State in general, and the police in particular, against general public.

Furthermore, the study found that the current rules on grant of a bail favour the wealthy and penalizes those without money or influence.