Our peace-building program achieves a major milestone when it succeeds in bringing leaders from opposing parties together at the sub-district level to sign a “peace treaty” – a Code of Conduct.
Example Code of Conduct in English
Code of Conduct
Commitment of Political Parties to Uphold Dignity, Security
and Diversity to Establish Peace and Harmony
Union: Haripur, Upazila: Nasirnagar, District: Brahmanbaria, Date: 05 March 2018
- Title:
1.1 This Code of Conduct, developed with an objective to establish peace and harmony, would be called The Code of Conduct for Dignity, Security and Diversity.
1.2 This Code of Conduct will become effective as soon as it is ratified.
2. Consensus on Principles: Dignity, Security and Diversity – these are the three unique, interrelated and essential core values of this Code of Conduct. These three core values underlie the principles to be upheld to prevent the growing intolerance, violence and extremism, and create a free, liberal, tolerant, pluralistic, secure, dignified and humanistic society in our country. The signatories would always regard these core values as sacred in their behavior and actions. They would also discourage and resist any actions conflicting or breaching these core values.
2.1 Dignity: Dignity is the deepest need of human beings. Dignity requires the acknowledgement and acceptance of a person’s identity, satisfaction of being felt worthy and assurance of enjoying liberty and justice. Irrespective of identity, every human being has the right to dignity, which is sacrosanct and unalienable. This sense of dignity is the core value underlying human rights and it is the basis of all human right laws and covenants. Undermining dignity clearly violates human rights and threatens peace and stability. According to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” In its preamble, the dignity and equal rights are recognized as fundamental to freedom, peace and justice in the world. Article 11 of our Constitution also guarantees “human dignity and worth” along with “democracy, fundamental human rights and freedoms”.
2.2 Security: Security is the most important compulsion behind people’s getting organized as societies. It is the most important aspect of the citizens’ social contract with the state as well. The state and society both are thus obligated to ensure security for their citizens. The security is not merely limited to one’s biological or physical safety, it also includes the assurance of the person’s’ cultural expressions, beliefs and values, freedom of thoughts and opinions, and the acknowledgement of individual’s identity and the way of life. The individual’s right to security must not be at the cost of dignity and sacrifice of identity.
2.3 Diversity: In all ages and in every community, diverse groups of people have been living side by side. This diversity of race, religion, caste, class, gender, language and way of life is the essential attributes of human societies. Even though the people belonging to a particular identity may become the dominant group or even the majority in terms of number, ideological adherence or political strength in a particular geographic area, diversity is a common phenomenon of every society – the existence of homogenous societies is merely a myth. In fact, the dynamics and progress of a society are the reflections of conflicts, interactions and cooperation of the people of different identities. Pluralism is the most essential attribute of a stable and advancing society – a society where diversity is embraced and social cohesion is achieved by ensuring equality and justice.
3. Codes of Conduct in General:
The signatories do solemnly commit to practice the following in their day-to-day actions and to do they-
3.1 Avoid violence and uphold the democratic values and citizens’ rights:
3.1.1 Will uphold democratic values by respecting citizen’s rights of freedom of thoughts and expressions, tolerance for opposing views, and rights of assembly and association.
3.1.2 Will completely avoid violence during political activities and show highest respect to safety and security of persons and their properties.
3.1.3 Will resist the criminalization of politics by preventing parties from patronizing the perpetrators of crime and violence.
3.1.4 Will take initiatives to ensure internal democracy within the party to promote democratic values among the party activists.
3.2 Respect individual sense of self-respect and freedom of self-expression:
3.2.1 Will be respectful of individual’s sense of self-respect, freedom of self-expression and way of life, and refrain from any detrimental action as a means of creating a developed, humanistic and dignified society.
3.2.2 Will be courteous and considerate in action and expression toward opposing parties and individuals. Will contribute to creating a healthy political culture by refraining from using abusive and defamatory languages against opponents.
3.2.3 Will take initiatives to arrange social events in order to promote inter-party interactions and good relations.
3.3 Recognition of diversity and pluralism:
3.3.1 Recognizing that Bangladesh is a land of diverse races, religions and cultures, will be committed to diffuse identity-based prejudices to ensure equal rights for everyone with the purpose of creating a society based on equity, justice, tolerance and pluralism.
3.3.2 Will show equal respect to others’ opinions, ideologies, cultures, way of life and also sacred places.
3.4 Resistance to racial or religious extremism and intolerance:
3.4.1 Will remain highly alert about the spread of radicalization, identity-based conflicts, activities sparking hatred and revulsion, and resist any such provocations and actions.
3.4.2 Will resist within the party any discriminatory practices based on race, religion, political affiliation and opinion, gender and language, and prevent the party from initiating programs which will create hatred and animosity or spark violence.
3.5 Opposition to gender discrimination
3.5.1 Will sincerely oppose any violence and discriminatory attitudes and action against women, and commit to creating a society based on gender equality.
3.5.2 Will encourage the women to hold significant offices within the party in order to promote their leadership, rather than merely meeting the quotas, and commit to create an enabling environment for the development of their leadership. Will remain conscious about nurturing a culture of gender equality within the party.
3.6 Initiatives to ensure appropriate development and realization of the fullest potential of the youth:
3.6.1 Will protect the power of the youth – the largest segment of our population – from substance abuse, hooliganism, extremism or otherwise being misled.
3.6.2 Will create opportunities for their involvement in sports, cultural and extra-curricular activities to ensure their full physical and mental development.
3.6.3 Will create a sense of social responsibility among the youth and encourage them to participate in socio-political activities to become future leaders.
3.6.4 Will play an active role to develop an enabling environment for creating youth employment and youth entrepreneurship.
3.7 Reliance on dialogue:
3.7.1 Will rely on dialogue as the first and foremost means of resolving disputes and conflicts.
4. Code of conduct during elections:
In order to ensure peaceful and harmonious atmosphere before, during and after elections, the signatories solemnly commit that they-
4.1 Will fully and sincerely abide by the electoral code of conduct formulated by the Election Commission, and will refrain from committing violence and electoral offenses during elections.
4.2 Will refrain from intimidating any opposition candidate, their supporters and voters or committing violence and using forces, which are serious violations of electoral laws. Will take united action against such violations.
4.3 Will refrain from misusing religious sentiments or institutions during electoral campaigns.
4.4 Will pay special attention to the safety and security of the women voters and those belonging to racial or religious minority groups, and will ensure their unhindered access to polling centers for casting votes.
4.5 Will accept the results of elections peacefully, but pursue legal recourse if aggrieved. In special situations, the parties will enjoy the right to arrange peaceful protests to create public opinion to influence the decision of the authorities to redress electoral irregularities.
4.6 Will show restraints in celebrating electoral victories or reacting to defeats. The victors and losers will refrain from intimidating or indulging in violence against opposition activists, supporters or voters.
5. Special or emergency situation:
In case of agitation or instability caused by any national, international or local issues, the signatories commit that they-
5.1 Will uphold peace, harmony and human rights as the highest priority and meet with, on an emergency basis, all political parties and civil society organizations to chalk out immediate response.
5.2 Will promptly identify vulnerable locations and communities and take immediate and effective actions to protect individual’s property, dignity and social standing, especially the security and dignity of the women and religious and racial minorities.
5.3 Will identify the opportunists and saboteurs and effectively mobilize the larger community to resist them.
6. Enforcing the Code of Conduct:
6.1 The signatories will be morally accountable to abide by this Code of Conduct.
6.2 All the parties will come to a consensus to form a Committee composed of acceptable individuals from the local political and civil societies to ensure the adherence to this Code of Conduct.
6.3 If any statement or act of any or of all ratifying parties is in violation of this Code of Conduct, the Committee will immediately notify the concerned party or parties.
6.4 If any party is involved in continuous infringement of this Code of Conduct and creates the risk of rendering it ineffective, the Committee will enjoy the freedom to condemn such acts and make such condemnation public through press briefing, notifications or public assemblies.
6.5 Any objection against the observation of the Committee shall be conciliated in presence of the signatories.
6.6 Summary of this Code of Conduct shall be publicized and displayed as leaflets and billboards in public places.
7. Declaration:
We, the undersigned, as citizens of this locality and the representatives of our respective organizations, do hereby confirm our solidarity towards this Code of Conduct with the goal of developing a liberal, tolerant, pluralistic, secure, dignified and humanistic society to meet the growing challenges of intolerance, violence and extremism. We reaffirming Dignity, Security and Diversity as the core values underlying this Code of Conduct and commit adhere to it to the best of our ability.
| Signatories: ……………………………..President/Gen. Secretary Bangladesh Awami League Haripur Union, Nasirnagar Brahmanbaria | ……………………………..President/Gen. Secretary Bangladesh Nationalist Party Haripur Union, Nasirnagar Brahmanbaria |
Witnesses:
| Sl. No. | Name | Designation | Organization | Mobile no. | Signature |
| | | | | | |
Note: Fourteen individuals have signed as witnesses to this document
Codes of Conduct Signed as of January 2022
| SL | Region/District | District | Upazila CoC Signed |
| 1 | Sylhet | Brahmanbaria | Nasirnagar |
| 2 | | Sunamgonj | Derai |
| 3 | | | Jamalganj |
| 4 | | | Dishwambarpur |
| 5 | | | Sunamganj Sadar |
| 6 | | Habiganj | Habiganj Sadar |
| 7 | Rajshahi | Rajshahi | Charghat |
| 8 | | | Paba |
| 9 | | | Tanore |
| 10 | | Nogaon | Dhamoirhat |
| 11 | | | Sapahar |
| 12 | | | Mohadevpur |
| 13 | | Natore | Gurudashpur |
| 14 | | Bagerhot | Fakirhat |
| 15 | Rangpur | Rangpur | Gangachara |
| 16 | | Gaibandha | Sagatha |
| 17 | | Dinajpur | Khansama |
| 18 | | Kurigram | Ulipur |
| 19 | Khulna | Khulna | Batiaghata |
| 20 | | Satkhira | Assasuni |
| 21 | | | Kaligonj |
| 22 | Barisal | Jhalokathi | Nolciti |
| 23 | Chottogram | Cox’s Bazar | Cox’s Bazar |
| 24 | Jashore | Kushtia | Kushtia Sadar |