The United States has acknowledged the Bangladesh government’s steps to expose to justice some security force personnel accused of human rights violations as it released the “2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” worldwide.
“The government took few measures to investigate and prosecute cases of corruption and abuse and killing by security forces”, read the report that covered 198 countries and territories for the calendar year 2021.
The report said the US state department prepared the “fact-based” document in consultations with experts on workers’ rights, police and security issues, women’s issues, and other topics.
US embassy officials in a media briefing in Dhaka, meanwhile, said their country’s report on Human Rights practice not only found incidents of human rights abuses but also saw positive trends which were going on in Bangladesh.
“The (Bangladesh) government took (measures) to either correct those (human rights) abuses or to roll out programmes to human rights and other areas,” an embassy spokesperson told the briefing at the American Centre.
She said since Bangladesh and the US mark this year their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties “promoting democracy, good governance, and human rights will remain paramount”.
The official said the US did not only report on human rights abuses, “We also come alongside countries to work together to make things better”.
Another US embassy official said the Biden administration announced specific goals to strengthen democracy, protect human rights, and fight corruption across the globe.
“As we invest in the human rights of our own people, we support our partners around the world at the same time,” he said, giving an example that a discussion is ongoing between Washington and Dhaka regarding sanctions imposed on the Rapid Action Battalion.
The report mentioned that a wide range of human rights violations took place in Bangladesh during the said period that included unlawful or arbitrary killings, extrajudicial killings; forced disappearance; torture or cases of inhuman and serious restrictions on free expression and media.
The report also said LGBTQs were also exposed to threats or intimidation while alleging that there were serious problems of independence of the judiciary as well.
The US embassy later issued a press release as well saying the country reports covered observance of and respect for internationally recognised human rights and worker rights guided by the United Nations’ Universal Declarations on Human Rights and subsequent human rights treaties.
“Working together, we must commit ourselves to promote respect for human rights … progress on human rights begins with the facts,” it said quoting US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas.
The release said that the country reports do not draw legal conclusions, rate countries, or declare whether they failed to meet standards.
The embassy said President Biden was committed to a foreign policy that unites “our democratic values with our diplomatic leadership, and one that is centred on the defence of democracy and the protection of human rights”.
