On July 27, 2023, fourteen leading members of the US Congress addressed a letter to their representative at the United Nations, Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The letter strongly urges her to take up with the UN high authorities rescuing Bangladesh out of the serious democracy and human rights crises it has been facing under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, and many other rights organizations documented serious human rights abuses under Sheikh Hasina in defiance of global outcries against them. The rights abuses included “intimidation, assault, false imprisonment, torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.” These abuses were committed largely by the notorious Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which along with a few of its top members, had been proscribed by the US in December 2021. But the violations continued unabated, at times with added intensity, the letter mentioned.

The Congressmen made three specific recommendations to the United Nations:

1.To suspend Bangladesh from the United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the Hasina regime’s “protracted prosecution of journalists and human rights defenders” and “political opponents.

2.To prevent any RAB members from being deployed in the UN Peace Missions.

3.The UN, with other impartial governments, should participate in conducting a free and fair election in Bangladesh. This should also include the provision of peacekeeping forces in the country to prevent any intimidation, harassment or assault on the voters.

The Coalition for Human Rights & Democracy in Bangladesh (CHRD Bangladesh) greatly appreciates the concerns of the US Congress about the devastated human rights and democracy situation in Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina, illegally in power through massive election fraud since 2009.

CHRD Bangladesh also greatly applauds the initiative of the Congressmen with the United Nations, the custodian of the world order. We particularly strongly support the recommendation that a UN-led neutral election team conduct the next election in Bangladesh.

We urge you, Honorable Members, to kindly follow up your initiatives for a positive result at the soonest. As you asserted that you stood with the people of Bangladesh in their fight for a free and fair election, as well as their struggle against “violence perpetrated by the state authorities,” they too are sincerely praying for the success of your mission.