Staff Reporter:
Bangladesh has censured the recently released US State Department’s ‘2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh’, noting that the report has failed to recognise the improvements and achievements of the government and brought unfounded allegations as part of a systematic trend.
“Regrettably, many of the improvements and achievements of the government have not been acknowledged in the report. On the other hand, isolated and unfounded allegations continue to be flagged as part of a systematic trend,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Seheli Sabrin, said at the weekly briefing of the ministry in the capital on Thursday.
She said the government of Bangladesh, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been doing its best to uphold the human rights of its citizens and consequently human rights situation has significantly improved in the country.
“Any discerning observer would notice that such efforts resulted in significant improvement in women empowerment, gender parity, children’s rights, rights of elderly persons, workers’ rights, grievance redressal, access to justice, religious freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of assembly and so on,” she said.
Stating that the human rights situation is not perfect anywhere in the world, Sabrin said some areas need further improvement and the current government, during its consecutive terms in office since 2009, continued to invest in realising meaningful advancement in the human rights situation.
According to her, a thorough reading of the Report would make it evident that it is replete with references to individual reported or alleged incidents that were used to draw broad, generalised inferences.
“The Report mostly relies on assumptions and unsubstantiated allegations drawn from local and international non-government organisations (including anonymous sources), many of which are supported by the US government or related entities,” the foreign ministry spokesperson said, adding that some of the inherent and evident biases in the reporting pattern are quite evident.
Terming Begum Khaleda Zia a convicted person with a suspended sentence under the Executive authority, she said the former prime minister is not under any form of ‘house arrest’.
She also said one of the gross missing elements in the report is about the systematic campaign launched last year by the anti-state and anti-government elements ahead of the 12th National Elections to create unrest, violence and anarchy.
“While the Report alleges the law enforcement for use of excessive force in some cases, it fails to reflect the violence and vandalism perpetrated by BNP and its political allies, which often disrupted lives of general people and resulted in damage of public and private property,” Sabrin observed.
“It is ironic that when the State was engaged in protecting public life, order and property against such orchestrated campaign, it has been held responsible in the Report for even taking recourse to some lawful actions and remedies,” she added.
The spokesperson said it must be registered that the law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh exercised utmost restraints and dealt with any law-and-order situation with full professionalism.
“Coupled with the government’s sincere support and professional conduct of elections by the Election Commission, 28 of 44 registered parties participated in the 12th National Election with 42% people exercising their voting rights despite boycotts from BNP and some other parties,” she said.
According to her, it is unfortunate that despite having a series of dialogues with the US authorities on human rights and labour rights issues, several recurrent complaints or allegations have been flagged in the report discounting the state/government perspective on those matters.
For instance, she said, the Rohingya people continue to be termed as “refugees” or “stateless persons”, thus undermining their legitimate claims to be recognised as citizens or residents of Myanmar.
In another instance, certain ethnic minority groups continue to be labelled as ‘indigenous peoples’ contrary to the constitutional provisions of the country, which often amounts to attempts to incite unwarranted tension and divisions, she said.
Citing several cases, she said the report tends to omit or neglect substantive evidence or information shared with the US authorities on individual cases and mentioned that the other incidents of killings are now under judicial proceedings.
The report continues to maintain the trend of projecting incidents committed by private individuals or entities as part of systemic abuse of human rights, without often elaborating on the subsequent administrative and judicial measures taken to ensure redress and accountability, she noted.
In general, the government of Bangladesh takes note of the overall report and looks forward to remaining engaged with the UN Human Rights mechanisms, the US and other international partners, and stakeholders towards upholding its commitment to ensuring the full enjoyment of human rights by all citizens under any circumstances, she mentioned in the statement.
She also reiterated the government of Bangladesh’s concerns about the continued trampling of human rights in Gaza by the Israeli occupation force and hopes that the US will play a leadership role in the ongoing efforts of the international community to stop serious human rights violations, killing of innocent women and children, and crimes against humanity in Palestine.
