Statement on the draft The International Financial Organizations (Amendment) Act-2004 to provide immunity

1. The government of Bangladesh has drafted a law regarding giving Immunity to the World Bank from all legal procedures of the country, which will be presented in the next September session of the Parliament for its approval. The law will be named as The International Financial Organization (Amendment) Act-2004.
2. In order to operate in the partner- countries Word Bank has to follow an Article of Agreement, which has approval from its Board of Directors. As per this article a law in the name of The International Financial Organization (Amendment) Act-1972, is already exists in the country. Under this law, a variety of facilities have been made available for the World Bank. For example, World Bank does not need to pay tax to the countries for it's income and properties, no legal action can be taken against any staff if he or she carries any activities as per
the order of the world bank, no immigration laws can be applied for it's non-local staff.
3. Now World Bank is creating pressure on Bangladesh to have more absolute immunity as an institution from all legal proceedings of the country even which is not a statutory requirement or obligation of the countries where the Bank operate according to its article of agreement. And which is not within the frame of The International Financial Organization (Amendment) Act-1972. And this pressure has a link with the penalization of a case (case no-225/2000) by the ex-world bank Dhaka Based officer Ismat Zerin Khan. She was an employee of the Bank who was terminated. Zerin Khan than made an appeal to word bank Staff Association Tribunal that stated that there is a number of weakness and injustice in the dismissal. She fields this case in local court.
4. Despite facing the trial properly, World Bank has been making pressure on Bangladesh to immune himself or herself from any sort of legal procedure. But the article-8 The International Financial Organization (Amendment) Act-1972 and article-3 of 7of the Article of Agreement state that World Bank will not get immunity but as per article 8 of 7 it's staff will get the same as they have carried out the order. World bank has been exerting the pressure since 2001 i.e., from the time of caretaker government.
5. This amendment, which is proposing immunity to the Bank as an institution, is totally different from other partner countries of World Bank and as a result no citizen or state can file a case against World Bank if they are losers by the later. So it is violation of basic rights as
mentioned in the constitution of Bangladesh and even if it is the violation universal human right.
We feel the Bank is a public institution although in spite of difference in relation to the voting power in the World Bank management system
due to difference in yearly subscription and sharing in investment. Since partner countries invest those subscription and share out of public
tax money, our demand World Bank must show accountable and transparent to the local people.
6. Although the Bank show the slogan " world without poverty" but World Bank and its supported institutions like IMF, IDA, and IBRD in fact have been working for protection of the interests of the multi national countries of the rich nations. In the name of financial assistance to the developmental project World Bank is serving the interests of a few vested people of the developing nations and so called advisors and intellectuals hired from rich nations.
7. We believe that the poor people, who are the victims of World Bank's sponsored projects, have the rights to sue them for compensation. To demand for legal justice from a public institution is a basic right of the people. We have achieved this constitutional right at the cost of our ancestor's blood in Bangladesh. We request to the government to dignify our constitutional rights by preventing World Bank enjoying such immunity from any legal implications.
In the same way we demand government to reconsider the law of immunity extended to the Asian Development Bank. Because this practice will encourage other donor agencies and multinational companies to come out with such demand of immunity which will destroy our entity as a sovereign nation. The campaign against World Bank's Immunity is carried out by Alliance against World Bank's Immunity of which VOICE is one of the
founding members.
Please endorse the statement at info@voicebd.org