Dhaka, Apr 16 (UNB) – BNP standing committee members have hailed the US State Department's report on Bangladesh’s human rights practices as they think it has exposed the genuine scenario of the country’s judiciary, elections and the human rights situation.
The BNP policymakers at their meeting on Friday also viewed that the allegations of serious violation of human rights by the current ‘fascist’ regime and making opposition leaders and activists disappear and killing and torturing them by law enforcers have been established as truth internationally through the US report, said party Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul.
Speaking at a press conference at BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office, he said, “The US sanctions on the RAB and its seven (former and current) officials established that truth further.”
Read: BNP urges judiciary to work impartially, independently
Earlier on Tuesday night, The US State Department released the 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, an annual report.
The reports also highlighted the rights issues, including harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrests or detentions, political prisoners, serious problems with the independence of the judiciary and arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy.
Fakhrul said their standing committee meeting thinks the US report revealed the real truth regarding the extrajudicial killings, deaths in custody as a result of brutal torture by law enforcement agencies, the arrest of protesters' parents, siblings, influencing the judicial process, especially sentencing Begum Khaleda Zia in a ‘false’ case and sending her to jail due to political influence.
“It has been now proved that this unelected and immoral Awami League government wants to hang onto power unjustly by using the state machinery,” he said.
The BNP leader said the US report also described the 2018 election in Bangladesh as a farce since it was marred by massive rigging, terrorism and stuffing of ballots at the night before the voting, intimidating voters and preventing them from coming to the polling stations.
He said the US report also suggests that free, fair and participatory elections are never possible under the ‘unelected’ Awami government.
Read: Opposition being deprived of justice: BNP
Fakhrul said their meeting voiced concern over a report of Transparency International Bangladesh on irregularities of Tk 23,000 crore in procuring vaccines and tackling the Covid situation.
He said the meeting also expressed worries as a US court dismissed a Bangladesh Bank case against a Philippines business entity, which was accused in the unprecedented cyber-heist faced by the central bank six years ago.
The BNP leader said they think the case was filed with the US court to hush the money heist incident.