Fourteen US congressmen and women have written to the US ambassador to the United Nations, urging the UN to arrange for peacekeeping forces in Bangladesh during the elections "to prevent intimidation, harassment or assault of voters."
The UN should participate in supervising and conducting free and fair elections in Bangladesh, it said.
The letter was addressed to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN.
It also stated that the UN should immediately suspend Bangladesh's membership in the human rights council until an investigation is done into the government's alleged crimes against journalists and political opponents.
"Over the past 6-8 months, thousands of peaceful and courageous protesters have demonstrated in support of free and fair elections. These demonstrations have often been met with violence, teargas and brutal assault by the police, other state actors..." read the letter.
The letter also urged the ambassador to ask the UN to prevent any member of Rab from being deployed in peacekeeping missions until their human rights records are investigated.
They said that the prevention should be temporary until a full and transparent investigation is done.
"The particularly egregious alleged abuses by paramilitary Rab also include torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings, demanding immediate condemnation," said the letter by the 14 legislators.
It was signed by Bob Good, Scott Perry, Anna Paulina-Luna, Josh Brecheen, Ralph Norman, Andrew Clyde, Eli Crane, Cory Mills, Paul A Gosar, Doug LaMalfa, Ronny L Jackson, Randy Weber, Brian Babin and Glenn Grothman on July 27.
Bob Good tweeted, "The people of Bangladesh deserve free and fair elections. I sent a letter to the US ambassador to the UN with 13 of my colleagues, expressing concern over violence by the Bangladeshi government against peaceful demonstrators."
