Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Tuesday said that the 2023 Human Rights Report released by the US had exposed the ‘injustice and brutality’ of Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh.
‘The report expressed deep concern over the horrific human rights violations in Bangladesh, including the incidents of enforced disappearance, assassination and torture. It has also pointed out that the citizens’ right to bring a change in the government through a free and fair election has been taken away,’ he said.
Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, Rizvi said that the US report objectively depicted the deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh, including the arrest of opposition leaders and obstruction to their peaceful gatherings.
He said that a certain truth regarding the human right condition in Bangladesh had come out in the report by highlighting the visible incidents of injustice and cruelty.
The BNP leader said thattt Robert S Gilchrist, senior official of the US State Department’s Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labour, described Bangladesh’s human rights situation as alarming during the briefing on the human rights report.
He said that Gilchrist also mentioned that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was removed from the electoral process through plots.
Rizvi said that 15 cases were filed against Sheikh Hasina while only four cases were filed against Khaleda Zia during 1/11 political changeover.
When Sheikh Hasina came to power, he alleged that all the 15 cases against her were hurriedly withdrawn while Khaleda was convicted in the ‘false’ cases using the judiciary.
‘We talked about these things many times. It has now come up in US reports. People used to believe that Begum Khaleda Zia was a victim of political vengeance of the government. The democratic world has now pointed it out through their very objective observation,’ the BNP leader said.
On Monday, the US Department of State released the 2023 Human Rights Report, which the US embassy described as a ‘factual and objective’ record on the status of respect for human rights worldwide.
The 2023 Human Rights Report covers 198 countries and territories.
There were reports of widespread impunity for human rights abuses like extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, restrictions on freedom of expression and media and peaceful assembly, said the report in its Bangladesh chapter.
In most cases, it claimed that the government did not take credible steps to identify and punish officials or security force members who may have committed human rights abuses.
Rizvi said that BNP had long been reportedly talking about the repression, brutality, enforced disappearances, murders and other misdeeds of the government.
‘There is nothing more now to hide in a bag. The incidents of injustice, bloodshed and various misdeeds by Sheikh Hasina are slowly coming out to the democratic world. The entire world is condemning it,’ he said.
