Mushfiqul Fazal, UN correspondent
The United Nations continued to engage on the issues of fundamental rights and voting rights of the people in Bangladesh, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations’ secretary-general, said on Tuesday.
He said this while replying to a query by this correspondent at a noon briefing held at the UN headquarters in New York.
The correspondent in his question mentioned that six leading international human rights organizations, including Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and ICAED, urged the international community to stand for the protection of fundamental rights in Bangladesh, as the regime makes the whole country in prison ahead of the so-called general election.
He wanted to know the steps the UN was taking to rescue the fundamental rights and voting rights in Bangladesh.
In reply, Dujarric said, “I mean, we continue to engage on this issue and continue to call for the organization of free and fair elections in which every Bangladeshi can vote, free of intimidation, or free of any repercussions.”
Earlier, on Monday, six international rights organisations, including the United States-based Robert F Kennedy Human Rights, have expressed concern about Bangladesh’s current human rights and civic space situations as the country heads towards the general election on January 7.
In a joint statement they also urged an immediate halt to violence, repression, and intimidation targeting political opponents.
“We stand with the people of Bangladesh as they strive for a fair, democratic, and peaceful society. We strongly urge an immediate halt to the violence, repression, and intimidation targeting political opponents,” the statement said.
They alleged that the crackdown had resulted in 17 people being killed, including a journalist, and 8,249 opposition leaders being injured.
MR/
