Bangladesh responds to UN concerns on human rights

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday responded to the concerns of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHR on human rights in Bangladesh.

Earlier, the United Nations called on all sides of Bangladesh to refrain from violence. The organization also expressed concern over the violence surrounding BNP's political program. The United Nations Secretary General's spokesman Stephen Dujarric expressed these calls and concerns at a briefing in New York last Monday. Meanwhile, the issue of violence in Bangladesh was discussed in the briefing of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday afternoon.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the government's response on Wednesday. With reference to a press briefing note, issued by Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 31 October 2023 on Bangladesh, the response of the Government of Bangladesh is as follows:

"The Government of Bangladesh is deeply shocked at the unprecedented show of violence and public disorder by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the name of its one-point unconstitutional demand of holding the next general elections under a non-party caretaker administration. As per BNP’s request, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) gave permission to hold its rally in front of its party office on 28 October 2023 under some specific conditions. However, BNP activists took recourse to indiscriminate street violence, arson and other forms of attacks on persons and properties. The main targets of such rampant violence have been the apolitical law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, innocent civilians, state institutions and public properties.

Numerous horrific images and video footages show that a member of the Police was mercilessly beaten to death – in broad daylight, on wide-open public street, dozens of other law enforcement agents were attacked and injured, a bus conductor was burned alive along with the bus, scores of other vehicles including fire service trucks were torched, the residences of the Chief Justice and other judges of the highest court of the land were vandalized, police hospital premises and ambulance were set on fire and several police stations were vandalized, reporters and camera personnel were attacked. Even in the face of such continued atrocities of the BNP, the Government of Bangladesh and its law enforcement forces showed utmost restraint and patience and applied minimal and optimal force to ensure public order.

From BNP’s activities, it is evident that it is resorting to violence, particularly arson with a clear intention to create a public nuisance, disturb life and livelihood, disrupt economy, collapse of public communication, transport and logistics and ensure total anarchy in the country. The BNP also resorted to misinformation in order to misguide the international community and thus gain sympathy. In a press conference in BNP Headquarters, it introduced a fake ‘adviser to the US President’. The motive of BNP behind terrorizing the nation and misguiding the people of Bangladesh and the international community is to disrupt the ensuing election and constitutional processes. Unfortunately, the OHCHR may have fallen for BNP’s misinformation campaign.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is mandated by the Member States to champion human rights globally. Its work must reflect the principles of objectivity, neutrality, impartiality and non-selectivity. In this context, it is advisable that the Office reviews its method of collection and verification of the information before publishing. The Government expects that the OHCHR will rectify its 31-October press briefing note based on authentic facts. If the OHCHR's statements are not highly objective, the Office will lose people's support, acceptability and credibility."