Bangladesh dismisses US report on human rights as being biased

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh has rejected a US report on the country's human rights issues, extrajudicial killings, and democracy, calling it one-sided and questioning even American police's excessive use of force and killings of ordinary citizens.

Bangladesh Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud told reporters in Dhaka on Wednesday that the US State Department report "2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," which was released on Monday, is one-sided and biased.

The report stated that Bangladesh's general elections in 2018 were unfair and marred by gross irregularities, and it also highlighted the current government's poor human rights record, including unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearance, torture, and arbitrary or unlawful detentions by the government or on its behalf.

It added that Bangladesh has issues with peaceful assembly rights, restrictions on freedom of movement, and elections that have not been found to be genuine, free, or fair.

"The information used in the report was obtained from various anti-government NGOs," The Bangladeshi minister claimed, pointing to the US election, which has also been criticized by the opposition.

"In the US, police kill an estimated thousand people each year," Mahmud said, adding that the US has no right to raise the issue of extrajudicial killings in other countries.

He did, however, acknowledge that extrajudicial killings occur in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, he claimed that legal actions are taken after investigations and that punitive measures are taken against those involved.

According to the US report, corruption and bias in the legal system have caused people in Bangladesh to lose faith in the country's judicial system, and the judiciary cannot function independently.

The minister did not, however, dismiss the entire report. “But, the overall report on Bangladesh elections, human rights, and democracy is biased," he claimed.​​​​​​​