http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3210 2026-04-05T23:31:33Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3215 Rohingya Persecutions in Myanmar: Ethnic Cleansing or Genocide? Hossain, Md. Pizuar On 25 August 2017, the Myanmar security forces launched widespread and systematic attacks against the Rohingya people with brutalities unbound. As a matter of fact, such persecution is termed either “ethnic cleansing or “crimes against humanity, or “genocide” by diverse personnel, scholars, organisations, and even representatives of many countries. Each term has its own significance and recognition in the contemporary international law. The term “ethnic cleansing” is an oblique expression that is generally used to avoid the liability of “genocide” or any other mass violations of human rights. In contrast, the 1948 Genocide Convention defines “genocide” denoting it as a punishable offence. These different scenarios generate an ambiguity in the relationships as well as differences between “ethnic cleansing” and “genocidal intent” because the International Court of Justice (ICJ) indicated in the Croatia v. Serbia [2015] case that even a mere campaign of ethnic cleansing may amount to a genocidal act considering its aftermath. This proposition fortified the author to find answer to a universal epidemic question as to whether the persecutions committed against the Rohingyas can be termed merely “ethnic cleansing” or “genocide”. This issue gives birth to certain interconnected questions such as, what is intimately the criminal nature of Rohingya persecution, and what is the consequence of defining the perpetrator’s criminality. This study has focused on the ample answers to these questions. On the basis of the core findings, it has also highlighted the legal inferences of the atrocities to prosecute the individual perpetrators of Myanmar, and to make Myanmar accountable as a State. In order to determine the criminal nature of the persecution, the author primarily relied on qualitative research approaches including focus group discussions. As per relevance, various reports, international instruments, and precedents are also consulted in this study. Working Paper is a routine publication of EWUCRT. This is a preliminary research report published after its review by at least two experts in the field. Thereafter, it is circulated to a wider audience of readers including students, faculty and specialists in the field for comments. EWUCRT earnestly requests comments from the readers of the report and share those with us electronically using e-mail id: ewucrt@ewubd.edu. 2020-12-13T00:00:00Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3214 Impact of Training Program on Awareness and Practice of Computer Ergonomics among Academic Staff Kabir, Rubayat; Sultana, Marzia Zaman; Nahar, Lutfun In this advanced era, the education curriculum has a significant dependence on the use of modern technological devices such as computers. Improper use of such devices may, however, accompany a number of occupational health hazards like repetitive strain injuries. This in turn can affect the productivity of academic staff. The purpose of the study was to assess the knowledge and practice of computer ergonomics and its associated health-related disorders and also to evaluate the effectiveness of training in the given matter. Quasi-experimental research design; one group pretest-posttest of 103 academic staff of two private and two public universities in Dhaka was employed to observe the effectiveness of computer ergonomics training. The study participants were subjected to self-report inventory and observation of computer workstation. Moreover, in-depth interviews were conducted on six participants. After the baseline survey, participants were given training in computer ergonomics and a three month window period was allotted before post-training evaluation. Findings reveal that the major reported pain was in the back, shoulders and neck region. Multivariate analysis shows back pain (p=0.048) and overall MSE pain (p=0.043) to be significantly higher among public university academic staff. The reported complaints among males to some extent was more for shoulders as compared to females (p=0.005). Back pain was lower among those who knew proper distance, height and location of the monitor (p=0.026) and practiced appropriate position of the keyboard and mouse (p=0.026). Neck pain was more among participants below 40 years of age (p=0.048). Then again, it was less for those who knew height adjustments of the workstation chair (p=0.008) and practiced proper monitor angling (p=0.002). Overall MSE pain was lower among participants who knew proper seat tilt, depth and width pan of the chair (p=0.002) and practiced proper monitor angling (0.001). Furthermore, Mcnemar test results show that the awareness and practice related to computer ergonomics significantly increased after training (p=0.000). As analysis reflects, MSDs are less among academic staff who have better knowledge and practice computer ergonomics. Also, the given training is seen to be effective to enhance the knowledge and practice related aspects. Nonetheless, to reduce and prevent the overall risk of MSDs, a multi prolonged approach is required. Working Paper is a routine publication of EWUCRT. This is a preliminary research report published after its review by at least two experts in the field. Thereafter, it is circulated to a wider audience of readers including students, faculty and specialists in the field for comments. EWUCRT earnestly requests comments from the readers of the report and share those with us electronically using e-mail id: ewucrt@ewubd.edu 2020-07-06T00:00:00Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3212 Justice for 1971 War Rapes: Trial and Beyond Afroz, Tureen The history of the Bangladesh War of Liberation records the mass rape of Bangladeshi women by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators. There is evidence that along with rape of Bangladeshi women, other forms of sexual violence such as sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, and forced pregnancy were also committed by the perpetrators. After about 40 years of our Liberation War, the matter of rape of the Bangladeshi women was brought under litigation, to a certain extent, in the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh (ICT-BD). The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is the supreme law of Bangladesh. It explicitly declares in its preamble that Bangladesh should establish a society where ‘… the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedom, equality and justice, political, economic and social, will be secured for all citizens’. The aspect of “equality and justice” is lucidly presented along with the social issue. Thus, our constitution emphasizes the kind of justice which is “complete justice” and provides assurance of both legal and social justice. In this context, one notes that the issue of justice for rape victims of the 1971 Bangladesh War of Liberation still lacks comprehensive social and legal attention. By now a number of war criminals of the Liberation War of Bangladesh are being punished by the ICT-BD. Through this process, it may assume that even though justice had been delayed, it was ultimately not denied. However, a question remained unexplored as to whether ‘legal justice’ essentially ensures ‘social justice’ for the war rape victims in our country. It has been observed that war rape victims are still not socially recognized and/or respected; rather, they are considered as outcasts in our society. Unfortunately, nobody knows as to how justice is being perceived by them. Thus, it remains an unspoken narrative in our country in respect of how war rape victims actually perceive ‘justice’. Another question that arises in this regard is whether ‘complete justice’ is being done in the course of ensuring legal justice to war rape victims. Hence, it can be questioned as to how far ‘justice’ is being done to the war rape victims of Bangladesh only by conductory trial of war criminals? This research would endeavor to get an account from the war rape victims and their families about the socio-legal aspects of the long-awaited justice. It may be mentioned that no systematic and/or comprehensive research has been conducted so far on this subject. This research is of significance because even after a remarkable number of convictions of perpetrators by the ICT-BD and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, it is still not clear how much justice is being done to victims in Bangladesh from socio-legal perspectives. We should not forget, ‘[n]ot only must Justice be done; it must also be seen to be done.’ Hence, this research has covered surveying total 385 rape victims of total 53 Districts of the eight Divisions of Bangladesh. To conclude, it can be stated that sexual violence and rape, committed whether during war or peacetime, was widespread and that the women were often victimized by Pakistani men and their collaborators. The experience of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, when perpetrators used the rape of women as a war tactic, is hardly discussed in the international arena. However, a growing number of cases recognizing war rape as an illegal act have been taken up partly as a result of the heinous use of rape as a tactic of genocide in both Rwanda and Yugoslavia during 1990s. This study has described various legal mechanisms to hold perpetrators of sexual violence liable under the IHL, the ICHL, decisions in recent war crimes tribunals such as the ICTY, the ICTR, the ICC and so on, the Geneva Convention IV, the Genocide Convention, the Hague Conventions on the Laws of War and so forth. Besides, this study shows that the intensive observations of the ICT-BD demonstrated again and again that rape of women was used as a weapon by perpetrators of rape. From the perspectives of Bangladesh, ensuring legal justice is indeed the first step to be taken to redress the wrong done to the victims. The demand of rape victims to get social justice is widespread. This study would like to conclude that while legal justice has been examples, social justice is still demanded by victims of the 1971 Liberation War in Bangladesh. This study claims that there is ample scope to provide social justice to rape victims in various ways so that they can enjoy complete justice to some extent in their lifetime. Working Paper is a routine publication of EWUCRT. This is a preliminary research report published after its review by at least two experts in the field. Thereafter, it is circulated to a wider audience of readers including students, faculty and specialists in the field for comments. EWUCRT earnestly requests comments from the readers of the report and share those with us electronically using e-mail id: ewucrt@ewubd.edu 2020-01-05T00:00:00Z