The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the 2001 EC Bangladesh Cooperation Agreement, which allows the EU to establish a formal dialogue with the Bangladeshi government on Trade, Aid, Governance and Human Rights

–  having regard to Rule 115 of its Rules of Procedure,

(A)  Concerned about repeated bomb attacks on key opposition politicians and minority religious groups, in particular about the two recent grenade attacks where two prominent opposition politicians were targeted: Sheikh Hasina, Head of the Awami League and former Prime Minister, on 21.08.2004 and the former Finance Minister Kibria on 27.01.2005,

(B)  Concerned about recent political developments in Bangladesh, where the risk of fundamentalism is growing; whereas the country has been rated as the most corrupt State according to Transparency International since four consecutive years,

(C)  Concerned that the Bangladeshi government has failed to curtail outbreaks of violence and that threats from Muslim fundamentalist politicians are continuing; notes that paramilitary fundamentalist groups are continuing to operate in the countryside with the support of local police, local Bangladeshi National Party leaders and local authorities,

(D)  Concerned to note that religious minorities, including Hindus, but also moderate Muslim minority groups have fallen victim to a number of violent attacks and intimidation since the present coalition government came to power in October 2001,

(E)  Recognising that the ensuing climate of fear has been created by the misuse of power on the part of Muslim fundamentalist parties in Government which have acted in support of fanatic groups,

(F)  Concerned about the continued failure of the Bangladeshi government to bring to justice those who perpetrate these attacks and the general deterioration in law and order in Bangladesh over the last year;

(G)  Concerned about the fact that the bilateral dialogue between the EU and the Bangladeshi government has not been able to make any substantial progress on issues like good governance, freedom of press, respect of human rights, fight against corruption etc.

(1)  Expresses its deepest concern over the repeated bomb attacks and urges the Bangladeshi government to ensure that international investigators assisting Bangladesh's intelligence forces will have full access to all evidence regarding the attacks in accordance with the Government's own promises and urges the Bangladeshi government to publish the investigation report in full;

(2)  Urges the Bangladeshi government to respect the instructions given by the High Court to avoid abuse of legal instruments in detaining opposition demonstrators and to refrain from repressing peaceful political protests through means of detention and torture;

(3)  In particular urges the Bangladeshi government to put an end to the activities of sectarian forces and to the so-called anti crime operations by the special forces RAB, which come down to extrajudicial killings (more than 40 "deaths in cross-fire" per month);

(4)  Encourages the Bangladeshi government to allow the population to participate in traditional cultural events and to provide security measures so that these events, which reflect a tradition of tolerance and secularism can take place safely;

(5)  Urges the Bangladeshi government to take preventative steps against Muslim fundamentalist paramilitary groups which have spread violence and intimidation in rural areas of Bangladesh;

(6)  Reiterates its support for the demand of the trial of secular and Muslim political forces in Bangladesh known to have participated in the massacre of Bangladeshi citizens and other war crimes during the Bangladeshi liberation war of 1971;

(7)  Considers that in view of the Parliamentary elections scheduled for late 2006, systemic reforms are necessary in order to re-establish the principles of good governance, so that the election commission and the care taker government will be put in place without manipulation and can operate independently; considers that a coordinated approach by all donors worldwide will be necessary to support such reforms;

(8)  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council, the Commission, governments and parliaments of the Member States and candidate countries, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the Bangladeshi government.