A/55/280/Add.2 73. Mr. Shantu Larma, one of the main spokespersons for the ethnic communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and President of the Regional Council, said that the failure to implement the Peace Accord, as well as the incidents reported above, threatened the survival of the cultural and religious identity of indigenous populations. He noted that between 1947 and the present, the Bengali Muslim population in the Chittagong Hill Tracts had risen from 2.7 per cent to 50 per cent, and called upon the UN to persuade the Bangladeshi Government to grant the independence necessary for the preservation of indigenous populations, their culture, traditions, and religion, and thereby to ensure full implementation of the 1997 Accord. V. Status of women 74. The information provided below reflects the Special Rapporteur’s consultations with nongovernmental organizations either representing women or working for their emancipation, and with experts. By way of comparison, reference might be made to the information supplied by the authorities (see sect. II.B and III.A). 75. Non-governmental representatives stressed that the status of women in Bangladesh was problematical in terms of individual human rights. Most of those interviewed recognized that government action programmes had made possible a certain amount of progress — notably the adoption of laws and other legal provisions in favour of women. In this regard, it was stressed that the status of women in Bangladesh was not entirely comparable to that of women in certain Muslims countries -particularly countries of the Middle East. However, the representatives mentioned the limited impact of the advances referred to above, and also described conditions that were detrimental to women, in numerous areas that were not fully, effectively, or efficiently covered by government action. 76. Special mention was made of the difficulties involved in implementing legislation protecting women’s rights, particularly in rural areas, largely because of traditions — notably religious traditions or those attributed to religion. For example, it was explained that legislation on the registration of marriages and the minimum age for marriage conflicted with the widespread practice of forcing minors to marry (aimed mainly at preventing all extramarital sexual relations, which are subject to cultural and religious prohibitions). According to some non-governmental estimates, around 800,000 minors were married without their consent every year. These marriages involving minors (which are illegal under positive law) are not, of course, registered by the authorities, as required under the law on the registration of marriages. It has also been estimated that many marriages, including those involving women of legal adult age, were not registered. This was especially the case in rural areas, due either to the fact that people were not informed about the requirement to register, or to certain illegal practices on the part of officials who demanded money for the registration of marriages. This apparently widespread situation of non-registration of marriages is especially harmful because it encourages the practice of repudiation, and thus reveals the limited implementation of divorce laws. Despite the existence of the Anti-Dowry Prohibition Act, this situation also helps to maintain the tradition of the dowry, thereby placing women in the humiliating position of being objects of bargaining. This practice also contributes to the vulnerability of wives, who are sometimes victims of violence on the part of their husbands concerning goods inherited or due to be handed down by the parents to the married women. According to non-governmental sources, 239 women were subject to dowry-related violence in 1998. Of those victims, 60 per cent were murdered, and three per cent committed suicide. Many wives apparently suffered acid attacks — a practice that appears to be widespread within the context of dowry-related conflicts. 77. Experts stressed the Government’s inaction with respect to polygamy. They said that current legislation authorizing polygamy whenever permission had been granted by the first wife was wholly contrary to human rights and to the dignity of women. While recognizing that the practice of polygamy was very limited (estimates say it occurs in one out of every 60 marriages) — mainly due to economic factors and changing attitudes — they called for the practice to be prohibited by law. 78. With respect to the difficulties involved in implementing the aforementioned legislation, it was stressed that these obstacles were especially serious because they favoured religious personal laws, which 19