aimed at having them take adverse action against specific individuals. In September media reported the Ministry of Home Affairs sent Bangladesh missions abroad a list of those committing “anti-state” activities in foreign countries, asking those missions to pressure host governments to take any possible legal action against them. Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies Individuals and organizations may seek judicial remedies for human rights abuse; however, lack of public faith in the court system deterred many from filing complaints. Courts or other mechanisms were insufficiently independent to provide effective civil remedies for human rights abuses. Property Seizure and Restitution The government did not implement a 2001 act to accelerate the process of return of land primarily to Hindu individuals. The act allows the government to confiscate property of anyone whom it declares to be an enemy of the state. It was often used to seize property abandoned by minority religious groups when they fled the country, particularly after the 1971 independence war. Minority groups continued to report land ownership disputes that disproportionately displaced members of ethnic minorities, especially in areas near new roads or industrial development zones where land values had increased. They also claimed local police, civil authorities, and political leaders were sometimes involved in evictions or shielded politically influential land grabbers from prosecution (see section 6, Indigenous Peoples). While the law allows for land restitution for Indigenous persons living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), this rarely occurred. f. Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence The law does not prohibit arbitrary interference with private correspondence. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies may monitor private communications with the permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs, but police rarely obtained such permission from the courts when monitoring private correspondence. Human Page 15