US embassy cable - 05DHAKA13

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000013 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/01/2010 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, EAID, BG 
SUBJECT: BELEAGUERED NGO LEADER HOPEFUL BDG WILL RELEASE 
BLOCKED FUNDS 
 
REF: 04 DHAKA 1647 
 
Classified By: P/E Counselor D.C. McCullough, reason 1.4(b) 
 
1. (C) Summary. Proshika Chairman Qazi Farooq is cautiously 
optimistic that "sympathetic" BNP leaders will release the 
USD 50 million in donor funds blocked for three years by the 
NGO Affairs Bureau because of Proshika's alleged financial 
and political misdeeds.  Farooq blames Proshika's woes on 
Jamaat Islami disinformation, but BNP suspicions of socially 
progressive NGO's like Proshika run deep.  End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) On December 30, polcouns met for 65 minutes with 
Proshika NGO Chairman Qazi Farooq Ahmed in Proshika's 
14-story headquarters for an update since their last meeting 
in May (reftel) two days before Farooq's latest detention. 
 
Beleaguered Proshika 
-------------------- 
 
3. (C) Farooq stated that: 
 
-- There are 20 outstanding cases against him and senior 
Proshika officials, 15 relating to corruption, two to 
"anti-state" actions (i.e., pro-opposition political 
support), and three tied to assaults on Proshika premises 
last spring--"all with total government connivance and 
totally without foundation."  All reflect First Information 
Reports (FIR), with no formal charges having been filed.  "As 
far as I know, no investigation is being carried out."  He 
has "anticipatory" bail for 17 cases.  The High Court has 
excused him from appearing personally for the monthly court 
hearing on three cases, and the 15 corruption cases are, for 
his convenience, all heard on a single day.  There are also 
22 tax cases against him, and eight against Proshika. 
 
-- High Court action forced the BDG to release him after his 
latest period of detention, and blocked efforts to hold him 
on remand, which contacts in the intelligence community had 
told him meant torture in a military interrogation cell. His 
current health is good, though his wife initially had trouble 
getting him insulin for his diabetes when he was in jail, 
where he also developed some heart problems. He lost 9 kilos 
in his one month of detention, before serving another month 
under house arrest. 
 
-- He has the right to travel abroad but doesn't for fear his 
re-entry would be blocked or he'd be charged with 
"absconding." 
 
-- The National Revenue Board (tax authorities) two days ago 
wrote one of Proshika's banks saying its accounts should be 
frozen because of a pending criminal tax liability, ignoring 
Proshika's legal right to appeal.  Proshika's lawyers have 
told this and its other banks that compliance with this 
letter would be illegal and expose them to counter-claims. 
 
-- People with close ties to the top of the BDG know the BDG 
has "over-reached" against Proshika, that there is little 
else they can do to harass it, and that the time has come for 
dialogue and reconciliation. 
 
-- Two weeks ago, the High Court struck down the NGO Affairs 
Bureau's new demand for NGO's to re-register every five 
years, saying the requirement had no basis in law.  A less 
onerous demand for renewing NGO licenses every five years 
remains in place. 
 
4. (C) In September and November, Farooq said, he met 
separately with Local Government Minister/BNP Secretary 
General Abdul Mannan Bhuyian, PMO Political Secretary Haris 
Chowdhury, and several BNP MP's, including Prime Minister 
Zia's brother.  All allegedly expressed support for 
Proshika's position, affirmed a desire to work with it on 
poverty alleviation, and undertook to promote a positive 
resolution of Proshika's standoff with the NGO Affairs 
Bureau.  They did not raise Farooq's alleged pro-Awami League 
actions, and Bhuyian reportedly characterized the blocking of 
nearly USD 50 million in donor funds to Proshika for three 
years as a "mistake." 
 
5. (C) Farooq continues to blame Proshika's woes on 
"rumor-mongering" by Jamaat Islami, which objects to 
Proshika's traditional emphasis on women's empowerment 
programs.  He urged the international community, including 
the USG, to "urge but not pressure" the BDG to release 
Proshika's funds. 
 
Election Prospects 
------------------ 
 
6. (C) Farooq hopes for a generally free and fair general 
election in 2007 provided the Electoral Commission and BDG 
accept proposed reforms to: 
 
-- raise but then enforce the currently unrealistic spending 
cap of 300,000 taka (about USD 5,000) per constituency, and 
stop the sale by BNP and the Awami League of seat nominations 
for between 10-20 million taka; 
 
-- use people other than inherently pro-BDG District 
Commissioners as election returning officers; and 
 
-- use electronic voting. 
 
7. (C) Farooq acknowledged concerns that the Caretaker Chief 
Adviser presumptive, the current High Court Chief Justice, 
has a BNP lineage but said, "He has been a good judge and has 
been able to rise above his party affiliation.  Maybe he can 
do that again."  Asked to comment on the speculated 
appointment this spring of Home Secretary Omar Farooq as the 
new Chief Election Commissioner, Farooq replied, "He would be 
totally unacceptable.  He is not a man of integrity, and he 
has a long history as a Jamaat cadre.  It is said that the 
Rohyingas became armed and terrorists because of him, when he 
was commissioner in Chittagong." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8. (C) While it is positive that senior BNP figures like 
Bhuyian and Chowdhury received Farooq, BNP hard-liner 
suspicions of socially progressive NGO's like Proshika run 
deeper than Jamaat disinformation, and re-opening Proshika's 
donor pipeline seems unlikely.  More typical of the BDG's 
approach to such NGO's is the apparent "Confidential" report, 
passed to us by another beleaguered NGO, Rupantar, from the 
Home Ministry's "Political Section" urging the NGO Affairs 
Bureau to cancel Rupantar's registration because of the 
alleged financial and political misdeeds of its CEO, Swapan 
Guha, who is essentially accused of being an Indian agent. 
More encouragingly, the High Court's intervention on behalf 
of Farooq and the NGO's shows Bangladesh's apex judiciary 
still has the ability to constrain BDG excesses, and the 
difference between it and the BDG-controlled lower courts. 
For the BNP, such independence underscores why the BDG is 
dragging its feet on implementing High Court directives and 
its own campaign promises to separate the judiciary from the 
executive. 
 
THOMAS