Staff Reporter :
The government has been satisfied at the recent report presented by the UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet for not saying anything about the human rights situation in Bangladesh.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that her report clearly proved that Bangladesh has not violated any human rights.
He also said that the United States has imposed sanctions on some Bangladeshi law enforcement officials without any specific information.
He told the journalists after attending a conference at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Saturday.
“The report presented by Michelle Bachelet proves there is no concern about the human rights situation in Bangladesh. Many have hatched plot and delivered unrealistic speech abroad. I request them to come to the country and talk like the daughter of Bangabandhu. Do no misguide people with false information,” the minister said.
In reply to a query of the sanctions on RAB, he said, “US has imposed the sanctions without any specific information.”
Replying to a question, the minister said, “Whatever the BNP says is totally baseless. Bachelet understood this and that’s why she didn’t raise any concern about the human rights condition of Bangladesh.”
Michelle Bachelet in a press conference in Geneva on August 25 narrated her visits to a number of countries including Bangladesh in the last few months.
She did not directly mention anything about the human rights situation in Bangladesh or any other country, but she in general said, There are always many pressing demands,
challenges and problems to address. But governing is about prioritizing – and human rights must always be a priority.”
“In many situations my Office has been covering, there is a lack of political will to take the necessary steps to really tackle a situation head on. Political will is key – and where there is a will, there is a way,” she added.
She also said, “States often invoke their own particular context when faced with allegations of human rights violations and when called upon to take steps to address them. Context is indeed important – but context must never be used to justify human rights violations.”
In her address, she said, “The journey to defend human rights never ends – and vigilance against roll-backs of rights is vital. I honour all those who, in their own ways, are working to defend human rights.”
She concluded her speech saying, “When we in the UN Human Rights Office raise the alarm, it is crucial that it rings loudly.”
Earlier, Michelle Bachelet in her recent visit to Bangladesh, she in reply to the question of journalists in the capital urged the government to form in independent mechanism to investigate the allegations raised against the enforced disappearances.
Now after the Geneva press conference, Bangladesh government said that she did not raise concerns about the human rights situation of the country.
Meanwhile, opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party criticised the government saying that the conditional visa issued against the Inspector General of Police Dr. Benazir Ahmed is insulting for Bangladesh.
“The US has imposed sanctions on the personnel of RAB for enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing. Now US has issued visa in the name of IGP with some conditions. It has created some confusion among people. We think such conditional visa has insulted Bangladesh,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said in a programme on Saturday.
