On March 15, the United Nations General Assembly voted 170–4 to create a new Human Rights Council, effectively dissolving the oft-criticized Commission on Human Rights. Candidates for the Council will need to be elected by an absolute majority of 96 votes in order to secure a position, and once elected members can serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.

An indigenous Garo youth was killed on January 3 by forest guards during a protest of the Ministry of Environment’s Botanical Garden and Eco-Park in the Modhupur forest of the Chandranath Hills.[1] Although no specific individuals are presently accused, the Modhupur forest people blame Bangladesh Nationalist Party members for intimidating indigenous protestors from agitating against the Eco-Park.

Officials of Western governments and international donor agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank will gather in Dhaka next month for the Bangladesh Development Forum. As they forge, and weigh, past and potential commitments to the country, the Peace Campaign Group hopes to draw their attention to the dire situation of the Jumma, the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh.