Dhaka: Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Sehli Sabreen said that although the human rights situation in Bangladesh has improved significantly under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it has not been recognized in the US human rights report. He said that instead of doing that, the country’s report made many isolated and baseless allegations.
He expressed this opinion at a press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday (April 25) regarding the annual human rights report of the US State Department.
In the written statement, it is said that Bangladesh has taken note of the published report on the 2023 US standards. Human rights conditions are not perfect anywhere in the world, no matter how much we wish they were. Because, considering the socio-economic status of a country, there are various types of limitations.
Sehli Sabreen said that the government of Bangladesh is trying its best to uphold the human rights of its citizens. Indeed, the human rights situation in Bangladesh has improved significantly under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, but the current government has been working since coming to power in 2009 to focus on areas that need further improvement.
The government’s efforts have resulted in significant freedoms in women’s empowerment, gender equality, children’s rights, rights of the elderly, workers’ rights, grievance redressal, access to justice, freedom of religion, freedom of speech and political assembly, the spokesperson said. Despite the many achievements of the government, it is a pity that the US report does not acknowledge many of the government’s achievements and achievements. Besides, some isolated and baseless allegations have been raised. The report is clear that it is not replete with references to individual reported or alleged incidents.
He further said that it is also clear that the report mostly relies on conjectural information from local and international non-governmental organizations. Because of that, inherent and biased issues are evident in the report.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is mentioned in the US report. In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Khaleda Zia is not under house arrest.
The spokesperson said the report accused law enforcement agencies of using excessive force in some cases. But this is not correct. Because, it fails to reflect the violence and vandalism perpetrated by the BNP and its political allies, which often disrupts the lives of ordinary people and damages public and private property. Despite all this, the law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh have shown great restraint and handled the law and order situation with complete professionalism.
Sehli Sabreen said, “It is unfortunate that despite multiple dialogues with the US authorities on human rights and labor rights issues, the report repeatedly overstates the state/government’s perspective on the issue.” A number of cases have been flagged in the report on similar labor rights issues, particularly trade union registration and activities, which have been discussed with relevant US officials in multiple bilateral or multilateral platforms.
The report fails to appreciate several valuable state institutions, including an independent judiciary and some statutory bodies. The Government of Bangladesh has taken note of the overall report and looks forward to engaging under any circumstances with the UN human rights system, the United States and other international partners and stakeholders to uphold their commitment to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by all citizens.
Sehli Sabreen also said that human rights are being violated by Israeli forces in Gaza, Palestine. Bangladesh hopes that the United States will play an appropriate role with the international community in the case of human rights violations there.
Bangladesh Time: 1735 hours, April 25, 2024
TR/MJ
